Harsh movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant harsh movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out harsh, serious, suspense, realistic, bleak and suspenseful films and TV shows about / with death, violence, murder, blood, survival, profanity, danger, brutality, fight and cigarette smoking plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, UK, Germany and other countries.
harsh
 4360
harsh movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as harsh: Eden Lake (2008), The Pianist (2002), Winter's Bone (2010), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The Revenant (2015), An American Crime (2007), Apocalypto (2006), The Road (2009), A Prophet (2009), Road to Perdition (2002).

List of harsh movies

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 6.7
 94K
Eden Lake (2008)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Eden Lake is a relentlessly tense and immaculately paced horror-thriller about modern youth gone wild. When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. ...
Style: suspense, brutal, slasher, scary, bleak ...
Audience: teens, boys' night
Plot: survival, torture, camping, forest, fear, youth, gory, chase, murder, strong violent content, sadistic horror, danger ...
Time: year 2008, year 2000, 21st century
Place: england, united kingdom, britain
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 904K
The Pianist (2002)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story: The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he ...
Style: emotional, harsh, bleak, reflective, heartbreaking ...
Audience: adult
Plot: holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, pianist, nazi occupation, hunger ...
Time: 1940s, year 2002, 20th century, year 1945, 1930s ...
Place: poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, persia ...
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 150K
Winter's Bone (2010)
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: 17 year-old Ree Dolly sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin's code of silence and ...
Style: depressing, atmospheric, harsh, bleak, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, adult, teen drama
Plot: poverty, missing person, small town, family in crisis, female protagonist, bail, dysfunctional family, down on your luck, mental illness, rural setting, family crisis, uncle niece relationship ...
Time: year 2010, 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: missouri, usa
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 ?
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 8.0
 867K
The Revenant (2015)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA
Duration: 156 min.
Story: In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
Style: atmospheric, breathtaking, scenic, suspenseful, harsh ...
Audience: manly, date night, boys' night, adult
Plot: survival, wilderness, revenge, vengeance, native american, snow, bear attack, life & death, nature, winter, obsessive quest, hunter ...
Time: year 2015, 2010s, 19th century, 90s, distant future ...
Place: los angeles, usa
Is relevant ?
An American Crime (2007)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
Style: disturbing, harsh, serious, bleak, brutal ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: child abuse, true crime, torture, dysfunctional family, murder, captivity, courtroom drama, family problems, domestic violence, court, trial, mistreatment ...
Time: 60s, year 2007, 20th century
Place: indiana, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 329K
Apocalypto (2006)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 139 min.
Story: Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate ...
Style: exciting, suspense, brutal, harsh, visually stunning ...
Audience: adult
Plot: survival, ancient history, slavery, manhunt, tribe, jungle, chase, native, solar eclipse, warrior, ancient civilization, violent ...
Time: 16th century, middle ages, year 2006, 2000s, medieval times
Place: persia, mexico, central 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 ?
Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident (2020)
Genre: Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller, War
Country: Russia
Duration: 54 min.
TV show
Story: Russia, 1959. A KGB major investigates the mysterious deaths of a group of nine student hikers in the Ural Mountains. Troubled by his past as a WWII veteran, he has a sixth sense and death seems to follow him around as he digs deeper into the ...
Style: bad ending, harsh, serious, gloomy, suspenseful ...
Audience: teens
Plot: survival, death, uncover truth, student, missing person, investigation, natural disaster, danger, rocky mountains, hiking, escapades, group of friends ...
Time: year 1959, 1950s, 20th century
Place: russia, soviet union
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 102K
A Prophet (2009)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 155 min.
Story: Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of ...
Style: harsh, tense, bleak, rough, atmospheric ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: prison, mafia, gangster, prison life, cruelty, organized crime, coming of age, prison gang, racial slur, jail, guilt, respect ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, year 2010, 90s, 21st century
Place: france, europe, paris france, marseille
Is relevant ?
Road to Perdition (2002)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure, however after his son is witness to a killing, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in attempt to save the life of his son and at the same time ...
Style: harsh, atmospheric, visually stunning, bleak, tense ...
Audience: date night
Plot: mafia, vengeance, organized crime, hitman, criminal's revenge, violence, revenge, road trip, murder, on the road, on the run, assassin ...
Time: 1930s, 20th century, 2000s, year 1931, year 2002
Place: illinois, chicago, usa, persia, michigan
Is relevant ?
 6.5
 9K
Undertow (2004)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: The Munns, father John and sons Chris and Tim, recede to the woods of rural Georgia. Their life together is forever changed with the arrival of Uncle Deel, though the tragedy that follows forces troubled Chris to become a man.
Style: harsh, suspense, suspenseful, depressing, intense ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: coming of age, dysfunctional family, juvenile delinquency, murder, brutality, tragedy, homelessness, danger, lifestyle, parents and children, violence, boy ...
Time: year 2004, 21st century
Place: georgia, usa, iceland, nebraska, mexico
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 7.5
 237K
Sleepers (1996)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Style: disturbing, sadistic, harsh, suspenseful, suspense ...
Audience: family friendly, teens, teen drama
Plot: lawyer, courtroom drama, child abuse, vengeance, friendship, childhood, rape, sexual abuse, haunted by the past, pedophilia, pedophile, murder trial ...
Time: 90s, 60s, 20th century, 80s
Place: new york, usa, madison square garden manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story: In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In ...
Style: motivational, heartbreaking, disturbing, harsh, bleak ...
Audience: teens
Plot: slavery, racism, survival, civil rights, torture, african american, freedom, american history, life is a bitch, black history, interracial relations, kidnapping ...
Time: 19th century, year 2013, 2010s, victorian era, ancient times ...
Place: louisiana, new orleans, america, africa, usa ...
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 57K
Colonia (2015)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, France, Luxembourg, UK, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: A young woman's desperate search for her abducted boyfriend that draws her into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a sect nobody ever escaped from.
Style: suspense, harsh, psychological, political, exciting ...
Audience: chick flick
Plot: religious fanatic, kidnapping, religion, genocide, torture chamber, escape, sect, torture, military coup, prison, survival, military dictatorship ...
Time: 70s, year 2015, year 1973
Place: chile, peru, south america, latin america
Is relevant ?
A History of Violence (2005)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, UK, Germany
Duration: 96 min.
Story: An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
Style: neo noir, harsh, disturbing, tense, psychological ...
Audience: date night, manly
Plot: gangster, self defense, revenge, sex scene, violent, small town, mobster, mafia, attempted robbery, organized crime, redemption, twists and turns ...
Time: year 2005, 2000s, 21st century
Place: indiana, philadelphia, usa, pennsylvania
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 96K
Shot Caller (2017)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
Style: clever, suspense, harsh, twist ending, crime thriller ...
Plot: prison, prison gang, prisoner, gang, criminal, organized crime, estranged father, prison life, skinhead, criminal heroes, arrest, aryan brotherhood ...
Time: year 2017, 21st century
Place: california, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 360K
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 183 min.
Story: A group of working-class friends decides to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in ...
Style: depressing, epic, harsh, psychological, emotional ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: vietnam war, anti war, russian roulette, friendship, war, hunting, escape, suicide, survival, friendship between men, hunter, death of friend ...
Time: 20th century, year 1978, 60s
Place: vietnam, pittsburgh, asia, usa, pennsylvania ...
Is relevant ?
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The Corpse of Anna Fritz (2015)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 76 min.
Story: Anna Fritz is a beautiful and famous actress. Suddenly her body is found in a hotel and the news of her death goes around the planet. The young, shy caretaker Pau works at the hospital where they carried the body of Anna Fritz. He and his friends ...
Style: disturbing, suspense, psychological, harsh, enigmatic ...
Plot: necrophilia, hospital, female nudity, fandom, corpse, raped woman, morgue, murder, death, fear, blood, presumed dead ...
Time: 21st century
Place: spain
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 16K
The Fool (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Russia
Duration: 116 min.
Story: The Fool is a movie about a simple plumber. An honest man, he is up against an entire system of corrupted bureaucrats. At stake are the lives of 800 inhabitants of an old dorm that is at risk of collapsing within the span of the night.
Style: atmospheric, realistic, suspense, bleak, serious ...
Plot: fighting the system, society, apartment building, corruption, injustice, tragedy, rebellion, moral dilemma, violence, small town, courage, dishonesty ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, 90s, 21st century
Place: russia, soviet union
Is relevant ?
The Magdalene Sisters (2002)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 114 min.
Story: Four women are given into the custody of the Magdalene sisterhood asylum to correct their sinful behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a premarital child, Margaret got raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly ...
Style: bleak, disturbing, brutal, controversial, harsh ...
Audience: teens
Plot: nun, convent, life is a bitch, human spirit, corporal punishment, mistreatment, catholic church, evil nun, religion, sexual harassment, humiliation, catholic ...
Time: 60s, 20th century, year 1964, year 2002
Place: ireland, europe, dublin ireland
Is relevant ?
 6.0
 26K
Birthday Girl (2001)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A shy bank clerk orders a Russian mail order bride, and finds his life turned upside down.
Style: sexy, harsh, tense, suspenseful, dark comedy ...
Audience: adult
Plot: sex scene, mail order bride, bank clerk, manipulation, brutality, gangster, con artists, couple relations, romancing a criminal, hand job, female nudity, voyeur ...
Time: 21st century
Place: russia, europe, england
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 ?
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 6.5
 74K
Changing Lanes (2002)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two ...
Style: psychological, harsh, realistic, psychological thriller, suspense ...
Plot: lawyer, revenge, legal, court, courtroom, justice, drug addict, custody battle, business, corruption, brutality, character study ...
Time: year 2002, 21st century
Place: new york, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.2
 78K
Cold Pursuit (2019)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Norway, China, Canada, USA, France
Duration: 119 min.
Story: Nels Coxman's quiet life comes crashing down when his beloved son dies under mysterious circumstances. His search for the truth soon becomes a quest for revenge as he seeks coldblooded justice against a drug lord and his inner circle.
Style: black comedy, dark comedy, harsh, action comedy, suspenseful ...
Audience: adult
Plot: revenge, snow, winter, one man army, snowstorm, vigilante justice, vigilante, vigilantism, skiing, drug cartel, final showdown, life turned upside down ...
Time: 2010s
Place: colorado, denver colorado
Is relevant ?
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, India
Duration: 157 min.
Story: A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May, 2011.
Style: suspenseful, suspense, political, realistic, harsh ...
Audience: chick flick, family friendly, boys' night, adult
Plot: terrorism, cia, espionage, military, 9/11, special forces, manhunt, al qaeda, islamic terrorism, propaganda, terrorist plot, investigation ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, september 11 2001, 2000s, year 2011 ...
Place: middle east, pakistan, iraq, baghdad iraq, afghanistan ...
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 252K
Pitch Black (2000)
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: When their ship crash-lands on a remote planet, the marooned passengers soon learn that escaped convict Riddick isn't the only thing they have to fear. Deadly creatures lurk in the shadows, waiting to attack in the dark, and the planet is ...
Style: suspense, futuristic, suspenseful, harsh, tense ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: monster, creature, survival, alien, space travel, alien life-form, one man army, outer space, dark hero, tough guy, anti hero, deadly creature ...
Time: future, year 2000, y2k, 2000s
Place: oceania, space western
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 ?
 8.1
 49K
Tangerines (2013)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Estonia, Georgia
Duration: 87 min.
Story: War in Abkhazia 1990. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in.
Style: harsh, thought provoking, tense, heartbreaking, compassionate ...
Audience: adult
Plot: anti war, humanity, wartime life, civil war, tragedy, brutality, war, life & death, character study, survival, bullet wound, life is a bitch ...
Time: 90s, year 2014, year 2013, year 1992, 20th century
Place: georgia, iraq, middle east, soviet union, europe ...
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 583K
Blood Diamond (2006)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, UK
Duration: 143 min.
Story: An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son ...
Style: serious, captivating, thought provoking, harsh, emotional ...
Audience: adult
Plot: greed, treasure hunt, mercenary, gem, civil war, escapades, smuggling, journalism, mining, brutality, slavery, revolution ...
Time: 90s, year 2006, year 2003, 20th century, year 1999 ...
Place: africa, sierra leone, south africa, zimbabwe, angola ...
Is relevant ?
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