Depressing movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant depressing movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out depressing, sad, serious, realistic, emotional and touching films and TV shows about / with coming of age, depression, suicide, death, psychology, love, loneliness, flashback, life is a bitch and sadness plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Romance genres shot in USA, UK, Japan and other countries.
depressing
 1828
depressing movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as depressing: Detachment (2011), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Lilya 4-Ever (2002), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Seven Pounds (2008), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), Never Let Me Go (2010), An Elephant Sitting Still (2018), Oldboy (2003), Mysterious Skin (2004).

List of depressing movies

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 7.7
 98K
Detachment (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher, Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long ...
Style: depressing, psychological, bleak, thought provoking, touching ...
Audience: teens
Plot: teacher, depression, suicide, teachers and students, dedicated educator, school, unhappy, social problems, life is a bitch, human relationship, teen angst, society ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
Style: psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, emotional ...
Audience: kids, adult
Plot: addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, mental illness, junkie, drug, depression, dream, loneliness, drug addict ...
Time: year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place: new york, america, britain, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 49K
Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Lilya lives in poverty and dreams of a better life. Her mother moves to the United States and abandons her to her aunt, who neglects her. Lilya hangs out with her friends, Natasha and Volodya, who is suicidal. Desperate for money, she starts working ...
Style: bleak, depressing, sad, harsh, brutal ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: human trafficking, poverty, prostitution, suicide, sexual abuse, prostitute, life is a bitch, teenage prostitution, teenage life, youth, rape, slavery ...
Time: year 2002
Place: europe, denmark, russia, soviet union, eastern europe ...
Is relevant ?
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story: After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
Style: sad, depressing, heartbreaking, psychological, emotional ...
Audience: teens, family friendly, adult
Plot: family drama, sadness, loneliness, depression, loss, suicide attempt, death, nephew, grief, uncle nephew relationship, dysfunctional family, adoption ...
Time: 2010s, year 2016
Place: massachusetts, boston, nebraska, new england
Is relevant ?
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 7.6
 314K
Seven Pounds (2008)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
Style: touching, sad, emotional, depressing, tear jerker ...
Audience: chick flick, teens
Plot: redemption, depression, life philosophy, self sacrifice, life changing experience, true love, existentialism, life & death, suicide, philosophy, sadness, tragic event ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Spain
Duration: 112 min.
Story: After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
Style: disturbing, psychological, bleak, depressing, gloomy ...
Audience: teens, toddlers, teen drama, adult
Plot: psychopath, evil child, school shooting, high school, depression, mental illness, sociopath, teenager, antisocial behavior, childhood, mother son relationship, boy ...
Time: year 2011, 90s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: america, united kingdom, connecticut, usa, new york
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 153K
Never Let Me Go (2010)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min.
Story: As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy spend their childhood at an idyllic and secluded English boarding school. As they grow into adults, they must come to terms with the complexity and strength of their love for one another while also preparing for ...
Style: sad, depressing, melancholic, heartbreaking, psychological ...
Audience: chick flick, teens, girls' night, date night, teen drama ...
Plot: boarding school, dystopia, distopia, existentialism, cloning, childhood, sadness, love triangle, alternate reality, transplant, couples, love and romance ...
Time: year 1978, 2010s, year 2010, 50s, 80s ...
Place: england, europe
Is relevant ?
An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: China
Duration: 230 min.
Story: In the northern Chinese city of Manzhouli, they say there is an elephant that simply sits and ignores the world. Manzhouli becomes an obsession for the protagonists of this film, a longed-for escape from the downward spiral in which they find ...
Style: depressing, melancholic, realistic, rough, emotional ...
Plot: suicide, manslaughter, life is a bitch, life turned upside down, family problems, youth, city life, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, destiny, children, stoner, big city ...
Time: 2010s
Place: china
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 630K
Oldboy (2003)
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 120 min.
Story: With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors.
Style: bleak, twist ending, intense, psychological, neo noir ...
Audience: adult
Plot: revenge, incest, vengeance, older man younger woman relationship, psychopath, hypnosis, mind game, psychological torture, kidnapping, plot twist, confined, torture ...
Time: year 2003, 80s, distant future, y2k, near future ...
Place: south korea, korea, persia, oceania, east asia ...
Is relevant ?
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Style: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: child abuse, coming of age, gay, sexual abuse, homosexuality, homosexual, pedophilia, male rape, child molestation, youth, homosexual rape, haunted by the past ...
Time: 90s, year 2004, 2000s, near future, y2k ...
Place: kansas, new york, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 184K
25th Hour (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story: The filmed adaptation from David Benioff's novel of the same name. Set in New York, a convicted drug dealer named Monty has one day left of freedom before he is sent to prison. Anger, blame, frustration, betrayal, guilt and loneliness are ...
Style: depressing, psychological, emotional, bleak, atmospheric ...
Plot: friendship, organized crime, drug, drug dealer, drug lord, 9/11, betrayal, freedom, redemption, great ending, mistrust, prison ...
Time: year 2002, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new york, usa
Is relevant ?
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.
Style: melancholic, touching, emotional, depressing, sad ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: dysfunctional family, disability, self discovery, mental illness, small town, mentally challenged, responsibility, life philosophy, brothers, coming of age, family drama, family problems ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1993, 60s, 70s
Place: iowa, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
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 8.0
 31K
Nobody Knows (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min.
Story: In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Style: depressing, touching, serious, atmospheric, bleak ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: childhood, poverty, dysfunctional family, boy, young kid, innocence lost, children, child abandonment, brother brother relationship, tragedy, coming of age, family relations ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: japan, tokyo, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Style: inspirational, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, motivational ...
Audience: family outing, chick flick, teens, family friendly
Plot: homeless, life, human spirit, life philosophy, family drama, rags to riches, success, rise to the top, single father, against the odds, life is a bitch, down on your luck ...
Time: 80s, year 2006, 2010s, 20th century
Place: usa, san francisco, bay area, california, america
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 253K
The Road (2009)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the ...
Style: bleak, harsh, depressing, rough, suspense ...
Audience: adult
Plot: survival, apocalypse, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, distopia, father son relationship, cannibalism, end of the world, dystopia, starvation, on the road, catastrophe ...
Time: future, year 2009, near future, 20th century, 2000s ...
Place: pittsburgh, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 245K
21 Grams (2003)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: This is the story of three gentle persons: Paul Rivers an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré, Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife, happily married and mother of two little girls, and Jack Jordan, an ...
Style: mind bending, emotional, bleak, gloomy, depressing ...
Plot: life is a bitch, guilt, tragedy, grief, drug addiction, multiple storylines, drug addict, drug, loneliness, loss, mathematician, hit and run ...
Time: year 2003, 2000s, 21st century
Place: usa, new mexico, persia
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 84K
Kids (1995)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: A controversial portrayal of teens in New York City which exposes a deeply disturbing world of sex and substance abuse. The film focuses on a sexually reckless, freckle-faced boy named Telly, whose goal is to have sex with as many different girls as ...
Style: disturbing, depressing, psychedelic, independent film, bleak ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, kids, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, aids, innocence lost, virginity, youth, puberty, sex, underage sex, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, street kid, teenager ...
Time: 90s
Place: new york, seattle, los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 63 min.
Story: Takaki and Akari are two classmates in elementary school. During their time together they have become close friends. Their relationship is tested when Akari moves to another city because of her parents' jobs. Both of them struggle to keep their ...
Style: anime, sad, depressing, touching, emotional ...
Audience: kids, date night, teen drama
Plot: love and romance, coming of age, relationships, young lovers, lovers apart, nostalgia, teenage love, hopes, love, love story, friendship, bittersweet ...
Time: 2000s, 20th century, future, 90s, 21st century
Place: japan, tokyo, asia
Is relevant ?
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4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: Romania, Belgium
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Gabita is pregnant, abortion is strictly forbidden in Romania during the communist regime. Despite this it is common practice and Gabita wants an abortion. The movie follows her and her friend Otilia during the day she has made the appointment with ...
Style: depressing, disturbing, bleak, melancholic, tense ...
Audience: teens
Plot: abortion, sexual abuse, friendship, unwanted pregnancy, communism, rape, realism, communist, doctor, coming of age, young woman, character study ...
Time: 80s, year 2007, 2000s, year 1987, 20th century
Place: romania, transylvania, eastern europe, europe
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 34K
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min.
Story: The story of Joseph a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals into turmoil a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. Their relationship ...
Style: bleak, depressing, disturbing, psychological, realistic ...
Plot: abuse, rage, domestic violence, abusive husband, violence, society, frustration, brutality, social problems, cuckold, family drama, faith ...
Time: 2010s, year 2011, year 2010, 21st century
Place: england, yorkshire, northern england
Is relevant ?
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Genre: Animation, Drama, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story: In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no ...
Style: anime, touching, depressing, heartbreaking, tear jerker ...
Audience: kids, adult
Plot: world war two, hunger, war, orphan, homelessness, survival, siblings relations, children, desperation, death of child, anti war, boy ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 1988, year 1945, post world war two
Place: japan, east asia, asia, tokyo
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 413K
The Machinist (2004)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, France, UK, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ...
Style: psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, surreal, mind bending ...
Audience: adult
Plot: insomnia, insanity, obsession, mysterious character, losing-it hero, paranoia, hallucination, life is a bitch, uncover truth, schizophrenia, secrets, mental illness ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: persia, america, usa, los angeles
Is relevant ?
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story: A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.
Style: bad ending, depressing, heartbreaking, crying, bleak ...
Audience: girls' night, date night, chick flick
Plot: adultery, marriage, abortion, mental illness, infidelity, dysfunctional family, depression, death of wife, under the surface, family problems, cheating wife, midlife crisis ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, year 1955, year 2008, 20th century ...
Place: usa, new york, paris france, connecticut
Is relevant ?
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 9.3
 854K
Chernobyl (2019)
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 330 min.
TV show
Story: A dramatization of the true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Style: dark, atmospheric, rough, realistic, thought provoking ...
Plot: radiation, nuclear holocaust, radiation poisoning, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, disaster, save the day, nuclear explosion, salvation, scientist, nuclear radiation, nuclear threat ...
Time: year 1986, 2010s, 80s, 20th century
Place: chernobyl, ussr, soviet union, ukraine, moscow russia ...
Is relevant ?
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: After spending eight months in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.
Style: romantic, touching, offbeat, depressing, realistic ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, teens, girls' night, adult
Plot: mental illness, bipolar disorder, love, family drama, depression, life philosophy, adaptation, supportive parent, male female friendship, father son relationship, happy ending, social misfits ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, 21st century
Place: philadelphia, pennsylvania, usa, peru, america ...
Is relevant ?
The Light Between Oceans (2016)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, India, Australia, New Zealand, USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story: A lighthouse keeper and his wife living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from an adrift rowboat.
Style: touching, sentimental, melancholic, tear jerker, heartbreaking ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, date night, kids
Plot: lighthouse, love, lighthouse keeper, island, husband wife relationship, adoption, trying to get pregnant, miscarriage, missing child, mother love, isolation, couples ...
Time: 1920s, year 2015, victorian era, 20th century, year 1918
Place: australia
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 29K
Christiane F. (1981)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 138 min.
Story: This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the ...
Style: disturbing, rough, bleak, depressing, harsh ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: addiction, heroin, drug addiction, junkie, drug abuse, drug addict, downfall, teenage girl, drug overdose, teenager, friendship, life is a bitch ...
Time: 70s, 80s, year 1981
Place: berlin germany, west berlin west germany, germany, europe, west germany
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 116K
Precious (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, ...
Style: bleak, depressing, emotional, rough, sad ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: rape, dysfunctional family, sexual abuse, teacher, poverty, child abuse, aids, illiteracy, domestic violence, african american, life is a bitch, parents and children ...
Time: 2000s, 20th century, year 1987, 80s
Place: new york, america, harlem, new york city, usa, harlem ...
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 26K
I Stand Alone (1998)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 93 min.
Story: The Butcher (known from Noe's short film Carne) has done some time in jail after beating up the guy who tried to seduce his teenage mentally-handicapped daughter. Now he wants to start a new life. He leaves his daughter in an institution and ...
Style: depressing, disturbing, psychological, bleak, controversial ...
Audience: adult
Plot: loneliness, incest, butcher, revenge, violence, alienation, nihilism, insanity, existentialism, macabre, violent, obsession ...
Time: year 1998, 20th century, 80s
Place: paris france, france, europe
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 68K
Control (2007)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK, USA, Australia, Japan, France
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Control is the biography of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, taking his story from schoolboy days of 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.
Style: depressing, atmospheric, black and white, stylized, sad ...
Audience: teens
Plot: music, punk, singer, depression, suicide, musician's life, punk rock, musician, rock and roll, biopic, epilepsy, music band ...
Time: 70s, y2k, year 2007, year 1980, year 1973 ...
Place: england, manchester, london, northern england, europe
Is relevant ?
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