Movies and TV shows like A Season in Purgatory
If you like "A Season in Purgatory" you are looking for tense, serious and dark movies or TV shows about / with cover up, investigation, lie, family secret, guilt, betrayal and corruption themes of Crime and Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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A Season in Purgatory (1996)
341
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min.
TV show
Story:
True story about a kid from rich family with political ties who covers up a suspicious death of a young woman. This comes back to haunt him later.
Style:
tense, serious, dark, suspenseful, intense, psychological, atmospheric, period piece
Plot:
cover up, investigation, lie, family secret, guilt, betrayal, corruption, high society, political scandal, moral ambiguity, privilege, trial, revenge, class conflict, cold case, slow burn, investigative journalism, small town, adaptation, writers, murder, large family, catholic, boarding school, father son relationship ...
Time:
90s, 1990s
Place:
new england
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to A Season in Purgatory
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out tense, dark, suspenseful and psychological films and TV series with plots about moral ambiguity, investigation, revenge, murder, cold case, police procedural and slow burn mostly in Drama, Crime and Mystery genres. Some movies like A Season in Purgatory: The Game (2025), Fallen (2023), interrogation (2024), Maxine (2022), Lovers & Liars (2025). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
TV show
Story:
While haunted by memories of a failed arrest that allowed the Ripton Stalker to remain free, retired detective Inspector Huw Miller becomes suspicious of his enigmatic new neighbour Patrick Harbottle.
Style:
psychological thriller, suspenseful, crime drama, tense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
cold case, investigation, obsession, guilt, stalker, cat and mouse, small town, paranoia, serial killer, isolation, slow burn, moral ambiguity ...
Similarity:
95%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden, Germany
TV show
Story:
A cold case turns topical again and turns everything upside down, intertwining the lives of several people.
Style:
suspense, detective, tense, dark, emotional ...
Plot:
cold case, investigation, truth, secrets, justice, lie, revelation, cover up, flashback, missing person, police procedural, moral ambiguity ...
Place:
eastern europe
Similarity:
78%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Cihan discovers her father's body; the case, assigned to her colleague Metin, tests their love as suspects emerge in this unconventional murder mystery.
Style:
crime drama, suspenseful, twisted, tense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
investigation, suspicion, murder mystery, family drama, intrigue, family secret, police procedural, urban, workplace romance, grief, interrogation, betrayal ...
Time:
2020s
Similarity:
69%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min.
TV show
Story:
True crime docu-series about Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley.
Style:
suspenseful, crime drama, captivating, exciting, serious ...
Plot:
true crime, small town, investigation, crime investigation, murder case, murder investigation, murderer, framed for murder, school, murder, homicide detective, schoolgirl ...
Time:
2000s
Similarity:
64%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Turkey
TV show
Story:
A lawyer, a liar, a family consumed by the thirst for power... In this story where everyone hides their own truth, there is only one question: Who is the biggest fraud?
Style:
twisted, dramatic, tense, suspense, psychological thriller ...
Plot:
secrets, power struggle, family secret, family drama, deception, lie, betrayal, manipulation, moral ambiguity, corruption, ethical dilemma, double life ...
Similarity:
63%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 150 min.
TV show
Story:
A lawyer and a prosecutor, whose paths cross with a murder case, will have to work together to find the murderer, and this will create an irreversible breaking point in their lives.
Style:
crime drama, tension, suspense, tense, intense ...
Plot:
investigation, prosecutor, justice, secrets, family secret, murder mystery, family drama, courtroom drama, defense attorney, courtroom, moral ambiguity, legal system ...
Place:
istanbul turkey
Similarity:
62%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 52 min.
TV show
Story:
Kat Crichton is a young Family Liaison Officer assigned to investigate the brutal murder of the wife of a local tycoon at a remote island mansion. The murder investigation unravels on the island of Lewis and Harris, from where Kat mysteriously fled ...
Style:
crime drama, tense, suspenseful, dark, psychological ...
Plot:
island, murder mystery, investigation, isolation, police procedural, secrets, small community, suspicion, justice, moral ambiguity, getting home, retribution ...
Place:
scotland
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
Suskunlar, is a Turkish television drama series based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 novel of Sleepers.
Style:
suspenseful, serious, realistic, crime drama, emotional ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
friendship, haunted by the past, vengeance, lawyer, buddies, rivalry, secret, childhood trauma, danger, murder, death, revenge ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
turkey, istanbul turkey
Similarity:
55%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Germany
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
When a grisly murder brings Detective Maik Briegand back to his small hometown, he finds himself dredging up bodies, clues and his own past traumas.
Style:
suspenseful, crime drama, detective, captivating, thrilling ...
Plot:
murder investigation, murder, small town, secrets, crime investigation, murder mystery, homecoming, police investigation, investigation, uncover truth, crime solving, secret ...
Place:
east germany, switzerland
Similarity:
55%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Sweden, Denmark, Finland
Duration: 176 min.
TV show
Story:
After a mild stroke leaving his right side paralyzed, the doctor telling him a total change of lifestyle is required to escape a massive heart attack. Being Sweden's most successful detective, the doctor tells him her father, a priest, now ...
Style:
detective, tense, psychological, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
cold case, crime investigation, investigation, pedophile, child murder investigation, child murder, rape, rapist, unsolved crime, rape and revenge, retired cop, murder ...
Place:
scandinavia, eastern europe
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
Set in the heart of the Spanish Romani community, the fiction follows police inspector Elena Blanco and her team, as they try to crack the crime case pertaining to the murders of sisters Lara and Susana Macaya, separated by a 7-year gap.
Style:
tense, suspenseful, detective, crime drama, captivating ...
Plot:
police procedural, investigation, murder, crime investigation, murder investigation, forensics, puzzle, crime solving, murder mystery, sleuth, police investigation, serial murder ...
Time:
2020s
Place:
spain
Similarity:
54%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 250 min.
TV show
Story:
Based on the true life story that took place in the 1970s, this movie follows the murder of Susan Reinert and her two children in Upper Merion Township in Pennsylvania, a case that lasted seven years
Style:
dark, tense, emotional, suspenseful, period piece ...
Plot:
true crime, murder investigation, conspiracy, family tragedy, cover up, courtroom, cold case, whodunit, police procedural, court case, trial, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
80s
Place:
pennsylvania
Similarity:
53%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
When a group of 30-year-old college friends and their children go on vacation to a summer resort, two girls disappear and a large-scale search ends in nothing. A year later, one man returns to the place of the tragedy to resume the search.
Style:
tense, captivating, crime drama, suspenseful, psychological ...
Plot:
disappearance, investigation, friendship, party, family holiday, kids in trouble, mysterious disappearance, tragic event, friends, camping, criminal, private investigation ...
Time:
2010s
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
Detective Cooper investigates the bizarre circumstances surrounding the murder of Matilda who was found dead in her bath wearing the Scold's Bridle.
Style:
detective, psychological thriller, crime drama, suspenseful, tense ...
Plot:
female victim, murder investigation, obsession, misogyny, macabre, suspicion, small town, jealousy, abuse of power, claustrophobia, moral ambiguity, revenge ...
Similarity:
49%
165
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
TV show
Story:
After learning that her real father is in prison for killing the mother she never knew and furious at having been lied to all her life, 16-year-old Isla Wallis runs away to the remote mining town where she was born. There, she learns of a series of ...
Style:
suspenseful, bleak, crime drama, tense, captivating ...
Plot:
family secret, dark secret, murder investigation, indigenous people, female protagonist, killing, undercover, serial killer, murder, murder mystery, murderer, young woman ...
Similarity:
48%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 184 min.
TV show
Story:
A lawyer who's still recuperating after the untimely death of his wife, must defend his probably dirty brother-in-law, a stockbroker under investigation. He discovers that everyone has dark secrets, including himself.
Style:
tense, dark, suspense, crime thriller
Plot:
courtroom drama, defense attorney, deception, corruption, moral ambiguity, ethical dilemma, complex characters, family conflict, investigation, secrets, lawyer, betrayal ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
A particularly vicious serial killer is stalking the Norfolk coast in the vicinity of the Larksoken nuclear power station. The press have branded him 'The Whistler' because witnesses have heard a hymn being whistled in the vicinity of the ...
Style:
detective, suspense, dark, tense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
serial killer, investigation, murder, police procedural, small town, female victim, intrigue, seaside, cat and mouse, adaptation, english countryside, forensics ...
Time:
90s
Place:
england
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: China
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
20 years of perseverance, hot-blooded teenagers finally become the people's hero.
Style:
suspenseful, tense, crime drama, intense, captivating ...
Plot:
corruption, organized crime, gang, government corruption, investigation, justice, police procedural, law enforcement, criminal gang, police, mafia, chinese mafia ...
Similarity:
42%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: Japan
TV show
Story:
A detective must investigate his first love, who is the suspect in a murder committed with a gun that they and their friends secretly buried 23 years ago.
Style:
suspense, tense, detective, psychological, dark ...
Plot:
investigation, murder investigation, cold case, police procedural, whodunit, regret, cover up, first love, small town, guilt, moral ambiguity, redemption ...
Place:
japan
Similarity:
42%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.
Style:
detective, tense, suspenseful, dark, period piece ...
Plot:
murder, investigation, family secret, police procedural, racism, moral ambiguity, alienation, identity, revenge, mature, designer, hit and run ...
Time:
70s
Place:
japan, tokyo, new york
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
TV movie based on the novel "Blood Brothers," about the murder of Jose Menéndez and his wife Kitty by their sons, Erik and Lyle.
Style:
tense, disturbing, serious, psychological thriller, dark ...
Plot:
serial killer, true crime, murder, patricide, matricide, childhood trauma, family secret, psychological abuse, mature, brothers, family drama, sibling relationship ...
Time:
90s, year 1989
Place:
beverly hills, los angeles
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
"She Made Them Do It" follows the twisted life of Sarah Pender (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) a charismatic, intelligent young woman who would become one of the country’s most sought after fugitives.
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, crime drama, captivating, realistic ...
Audience:
adult, teen drama
Plot:
manipulation, investigation, murder, fugitive, mind game, true crime, femme fatale, double murder, convict, uncover truth, dangerous attraction, murder mystery ...
Place:
midwest
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 42 min.
TV show
Story:
When a student at the famous boarding school Tuna Kvarn is found dead, investigators are met with a wall of silence. Suspicions soon turn to pupils from a disadvantaged neighbouring state school – until a mobile film that reveals Tuna Kvarn’s ...
Style:
thrilling, captivating, suspenseful, psychological
Plot:
boarding school, investigation, nordic, bullying, social media, college student, crime investigation, uncover truth, murderer, murder, crime solving, murder mystery ...
Place:
eastern europe, scandinavia
Similarity:
37%
Movie in collections
730
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min.
TV show
Story:
The Vice is an ITV police drama about the Metropolitan Police Vice Unit. It ran for five short series between 1999 and 2003. It tells the story of the London Metropolitan police force's vice squad, where prostitution, underage sex, and other ...
Style:
detective, crime drama, dark, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
vice squad, sex trafficking, prostitution, sexploitation, investigation, mature, moral ambiguity, corruption, organized crime, underage sex, police corruption, slow burn ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
london
Similarity:
37%
564
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
After his sister’s sudden death, a doctor finds himself entangled with a local crime syndicate and forging a tentative alliance with its new leader.
Style:
crime drama, suspense, dark, tense, intense ...
Plot:
organized crime, crime boss, family tragedy, ethical dilemma, criminal syndicate, moral ambiguity, corruption, power struggle, urban, union, urban decay, mistrust ...
Similarity:
36%
23K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Detective Renée Ballard plunges into a web of murder and corruption as she hunts a ruthless serial killer and uncovers a sinister police conspiracy that threatens everything she stands for. With her own demons nipping at her heels, Ballard must ...
Style:
detective, dark, noir, suspense, tense ...
Plot:
male nudity, cold case, lapd, serial killer, police corruption, investigation, moral ambiguity, female detective, urban, revenge, justice, female protagonist ...
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
TV show
Story:
In 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, Leroy Jethro Gibbs starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.
Style:
psychological, captivating, detective, crime drama, tense ...
Plot:
police procedural, u.s. navy, crime investigation, special agent, navy, investigation, crime solving, workplace, secret, who done it, uncover truth, workplace situations ...
Time:
90s
Place:
california
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min.
TV show
Story:
This psychological mystery/thriller, adapted from Barbara Vine aka Ruth Rendell's novel of the same name, depicts a family on the edge. Two sisters, the elder, obsessive Vera, and the younger, manipulative Eden, cut a path of secrecy and ...
Style:
psychological thriller, tense, suspenseful, dark, twisted ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
murder, sibling rivalry, family drama, jealousy, obsession, revenge, secrets, psychological manipulation, manipulation, betrayal, adaptation, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 50s
Similarity:
35%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Norway
Duration: 172 min.
TV show
Story:
A quiet spring morning a man leaves prison after spending most of his adult life there. The man is convicted of murder, not once but twice.
Style:
psychological, detective, realistic, serious, suspenseful ...
Plot:
murder, police procedural, police investigation, law enforcement, partner, released from prison, false accusation, investigation, ex convict, justice, moral ambiguity, guilt ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe
Similarity:
35%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Mexico
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Follows the life of Carlos, a member of one of the most powerful families in Mexico and whose life takes an "U" turn when his father is found dead.
Style:
tense, crime thriller, family saga, captivating, suspense ...
Plot:
political intrigue, murder mystery, power struggle, corruption, investigation, intrigue, political corruption, secrets, family secret, politics, murder investigation, political unrest ...
Place:
mexico, mexico city, south america
Similarity:
35%
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