Dark drama movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant dark drama movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out dark drama, tense, captivating, suspense, psychological and noir films and TV shows about / with moral ambiguity, isolation, revenge, betrayal, character study, loneliness, obsession, corruption, claustrophobia and urban plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, Japan, South Korea and other countries.
372
TOP 10 movies tagged as dark drama: Choir Girl (2019), In My Pocket (2011), Unknown Number (2019), Presences (2022), Low Life (2025), Vicdansiz (2025), Tango Bar (2024), The Silence of the Church (2013), After You're Gone (2016), Sweetie Pie (2002).
Best films
New films
| As You Stood By (2025) | 7.5 | |
| Tango Bar (2024) | 7.0 | |
| Zanox (2022) | 7.2 | |
| Local Sarakku (2024) | 4.1 | |
| Presences (2022) | 4.6 |
List of dark drama movies
Genre: Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
CHOIR GIRL is a gritty drama about a lonely photographer, Eugene, who becomes obsessed with an underage prostitute, Josephine, in his rundown neighbourhood. She has escaped a worn-torn country only to be trapped in the illegal sex trade by ...
Style:
bleak, dark drama, serious, suspenseful, exciting ...
Plot:
sex scene, photograph, prostitute, sexploitation, obsession, moral ambiguity, innocence lost, street prostitution, human trafficking, photographer, bandit, gang ...
Time:
90s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A harrowing journey down the dark spiral of drug addiction. As Stephen Jameson's carefully constructed life slowly falls apart, his belief system is shattered when he discovers that he's no longer the functioning addict that he once was.
Style:
independent film, serious, realistic, dark drama, psychological ...
Plot:
drug addiction, addiction, drug addict, drug abuse, life is a bitch, pills, couples, loss of control, self destructing, substance abuse, character study, introspection ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
A classmate from Ushijima's middle school days, Takemoto, shows up. He was a kind man, but now is jobless and without a home. Adrift and unable to borrow money from Ushijima, Takemoto heads for Seiai Home where he can stay while doing work.
Style:
tense, dark drama, satirical, captivating, crime thriller ...
Plot:
criminal underworld, debt, loan shark, poverty, desperation, stolen money, satire, bandit, urban setting, money problems, criminal, gang ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
japan, tokyo
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: China
TV show
Story:
Through a mysterious Motorola phone, two detectives - one from the present, and the other from 15 years in the past - begin communicating and working together to solve cold cases. This is the Chinese adaptation of 2016 tvN drama Signal.
Style:
detective, tense, dark drama, dramatic, disturbing ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
serial killer, police department, murder, police procedural, investigation, cold case, communication, murder mystery, murder investigation, murderer, police investigation, serial murder ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
358
Genre: Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A man who loses his wife and goes to seclude himself in a cabin in the woods, where strange things happen.
Style:
serious, bleak, dark drama, captivating, suspenseful ...
Plot:
investigation, terror, isolation, grief, family tragedy, uncover truth, pregnant wife, searching for the truth, murder investigation, truth, learning the truth, police investigation ...
Is relevant?
360
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: South Korea
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
A dangerous story of rough people obsessed with shameless greed who gather together with their own greed and logic to find underwater artifacts off the coast of Shinan.
Style:
tense, dark drama, crime drama, suspense, period piece ...
Plot:
greed, moral ambiguity, obsession, treasure hunt, underwater exploration, corruption, moral dilemma, betrayal, desperation, smuggling, black market, violence ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Is relevant?
138
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Deniz, an ambitious and level-headed investment advisor rising in the finance sector, finds himself torn between a dazzling career and love. His planned future is shattered by a car accident, and the woman he loves, Vicdan, disappears. Trapped in a ...
Style:
suspense, psychological thriller, dark drama, intense, noir ...
Plot:
obsession, guilt, tragedy, grief, investigation, memory loss, moral ambiguity, revenge, claustrophobia, mistrust, isolation, flashback ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada, Colombia, Venezuela
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A young woman travels abroad trying to realize her dream of being a model, but there she is deceived and subjected to prostitution at the Cabaret Tango Bar, where she experiences the horrors as a victim of a sex trafficking network.
Style:
dark drama, tense, crime thriller, noir
Plot:
forced prostitution, sex trafficking, mature, exploitation, sexual abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, deception, trapped, psychological trauma, survival, oppression ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
At the age of 12, Gabriel was sexually abused by Father Vincey, his headmaster. Fifteen years later, he is still traumatized. Constantly racked by this wrong that he has kept secret, Gabriel buys a gun and moves in near the boarding school where the ...
Style:
tense, suspenseful, psychological, suspense, disturbing ...
Plot:
revenge, sexual abuse, pedophile priest, rape victim, church, trauma, rape and revenge, problem, sexualized violence, violence, pedophile, rape ...
Time:
2010s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Aleksey Temnikov is a renowned ballet dancer and an acknowledged genius whose career was abruptly cut short after sustaining an injury in the 1990s. Twenty years later, Aleksey discovers that his condition is degenerative and that he will soon lose ...
Style:
emotional, melancholic, tragic ending, rough, captivating ...
Plot:
ballet, ambition, complex characters, father daughter relationship, loner, dancer, career, dance, choreography, legacy, risk, blind ambition ...
Time:
90s, 21st century
Place:
soviet union
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A harrowing, modern day morality tale about kids who have had too much, too soon.
Style:
dark drama, realistic, tense, intense, psychological ...
Plot:
loss of innocence, cautionary tale, coming of age, social commentary, mature, teen angst, moral ambiguity, realism, peer pressure, character study, youth culture, drug use ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
On the night of their high school graduation, three delinquents decide to exchange their darkest, most unspeakable secret.
Style:
suspenseful, dark, disturbing, captivating, bleak ...
Plot:
high school, criminal, graduation, school, secrets, guy, schoolboy, undercover, teenage boy, dark secret, prom, graduate ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
An affectless writer is lured to a couples weekend getaway by his wife and friends, only to uncover a tumultuous secret and a perilous obsession that threaten to change the course of his life in intense and surprising ways.
Style:
suspense, psychological thriller, captivating, disturbing, suspenseful ...
Plot:
obsession, writers, secret, secrets, love triangle, romantic obsession, love interest, seduction, love affair, changing lives, fall in love, male female relationship ...
Is relevant?
339
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story:
Fragile tells the story of two diametrically opposite families: the wealthy, influential Bachands, and the salt-of-the-earth Coutures. It’s also the story of an unlikely friendship, that of Dominic Couture (Pier-Luc Funk) and Félix Bachand ...
Style:
suspense, psychological, disturbing, tense, captivating ...
Plot:
tragedy, friendship, small town, death, secrets, family conflict, life is a bitch, friends, small town life, secret, family secret, scandal ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
quebec
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 178 min.
TV show
Story:
Helpless, the young convent student Richard has to watch as his mother Sarazenin Zobeida is condemned by the inquisitor Heinrich Institoris as a witch and burned at the stake. From then on, Richard swears revenge on Institoris for what he did to his ...
Style:
period piece, historical drama, captivating, disturbing, dark drama
Plot:
inquisition, revenge, renaissance, burned at the stake, catholic church, manipulation, religious hypocrisy, power struggle, corruption, religious fanaticism, life is a bitch, social problems ...
Time:
16th century, 15th century
Place:
rome italy, florence
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
When two women plot to end an abusive marriage through murder, an unexpected visitor arrives — threatening to shatter everything they've carefully planned.
Style:
suspense, psychological thriller, tension, dark drama, intense ...
Plot:
murder, domestic abuse, female friendship, guilt, moral ambiguity, suspicion, betrayal, mature, ethical dilemma, paranoia, vengeance, survival ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Colombia, Argentina
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
A father is imprisoned after committing a brutal revenge crime. During his confinement he must adapt to a new life of abuse, including injury and humiliation by guards and other prisoners.
Style:
captivating, suspense, psychological, tense, suspenseful ...
Plot:
revenge, violence, male protagonist, prison, imprisonment, prisoner, violent, jail, bandit, confined, murderer, abuse ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min.
TV show
Story:
Twisted Tales is a dark and stylish comedy drama series. With intense scripts written by a mix of established writers and upcoming talent, each story is a self-contained episode with a mysterious twist.
The tales set out to spook the brain and ...
Style:
anthology, suspenseful, mysterious, dark comedy, twist ending ...
Plot:
satire, mysticism, supernatural horror, multiple storylines, macabre, moral ambiguity, mature, deadpan, urban, claustrophobia, dark humor
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
A father faces a personal crisis when he discovers his estranged son fleeing a botched drug deal. The two men embark on a violent odyssey that grapples with themes of fatherhood, family and fate.
Style:
tense, intense, dark drama, crime thriller, grim ...
Plot:
father son relationship, drug deal, violence, fatherhood, violent, family drama, estrangement, guilt, regret, escape, moral ambiguity, confrontation ...
Is relevant?
130
Genre: Mystery, Romance
Country: South Korea
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
A story that follows the lives of four female friends in their 30's as they become involved in a series of murders.
Style:
suspense, captivating, disturbing, dark drama, twisted ...
Plot:
girlfriend girlfriend relationship, self discovery, life is a bitch, girlfriend, family problems, female protagonist, women, problem, group of friends, introspection, friends, murder ...
Place:
seoul
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min.
Story:
Ushijima runs Kaukau Fiance, a black market lending agency which scourges its clients with interest rates as high as 50% for 10 days. Ushijima chases down his debtors, who normally come from the bottom of society, with ruthless efficacy.
Style:
humorous, entertaining, funny, captivating, crime thriller ...
Plot:
debt, black market, superhero, criminal underworld, loan shark, business and finance, needing money, financial problem, money problems, money, finance, social realism ...
Time:
2010s
Place:
tokyo, japan
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
The seemingly separate lives of an anxious, disillusioned teen girl and a troubled, alienated man converge fatefully.
Style:
independent film, dark drama, period piece, atmospheric, tense ...
Plot:
coming of age, teenage girl, female protagonist, isolation, adolescence, toxic masculinity, character study, small town, identity, loneliness, haunting, violence ...
Time:
80s, year 1987
Place:
newfoundland, canada
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Do-yeon, a 6th grade elementary school student, meets her cousin Sang-jun at her grandmother's funeral. On the last day of the funeral Do-yeon and Sang-jun go into an empty classroom near the funeral. There they have their first sexual ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, bleak, grim, intense ...
Plot:
sexual awakening, rape, rape victim, coming of age, abuse, dysfunctional family, trauma, unsettling, incest, violence, violent, child abuse ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Ah Fat, a lonely man arrives in a strange country, escaping from his past and seeking salvation. Living in a constant state of psychological turmoil, redemption was never quite in reach. Making friends with Miumiu, a coworker who is a gogo girl and ...
Style:
suspense, disturbing, tense, captivating, dark drama ...
Plot:
moral dilemma, shemale, murder, killing, friends, couple relations, changing lives, lifestyle change, life is a bitch, male female relationship, problem, troubled past ...
Place:
southeast asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Two lovers travel from town to town playing a dark game of deceit that soon spirals out of control, threatening their very relationship.
Style:
tense, psychological, realistic, psychological thriller, captivating ...
Plot:
couple relations, hidden identity, manipulation, couples, dishonesty, juggling, con artists, deception, society, love and romance, crumbling relationship, identity ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Morocco, USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
After the murder of her two Scandinavian friends in Morocco, a Russian blogger decides to do her own justice.
Style:
tense, crime thriller, captivating, disturbing, intense ...
Plot:
murder, justice, revenge, blogger, female protagonist, vigilante, female assassin, criminal, criminal's revenge, criminal syndicate, murderer, syndicate ...
Place:
morocco, russia, scandinavia
Is relevant?
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Drama - A lonely young man enters college and quickly finds comfort in two mysterious filmmakers that have manipulative plans of their own. - Casey James Knight, Dana Blackstone, Dominic Ryan Gabriel
Style:
suspense, light, contemplative, unusual plot structure, dark drama ...
Plot:
drug dealing, college, campus, student, drug, teenager, medicine, party, friend, smuggling, manipulation, criminal ...
Place:
michigan
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Kaoru Fukazawa is a manga artist. His manga series was published for eight years, but has now finished. He doesn't have any ideas for his next work. His situation seems bleak, with his editor seeming to not care about him anymore and his ...
Style:
entertaining, captivating, dramatic, melancholic, bleak ...
Plot:
infidelity, desperation, relationships, prostitute, secret, job, life, business, melancholy, writer's block, loneliness, downfall ...
Place:
japan
Is relevant?
160
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 63 min.
Story:
Ambiguous is a 2003 Japanese Pink film directed by Toshiya Ueno. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the Pink Grand Prix ceremony. Five suicidal people meet on the Internet and form a 'suicide group'. They all have reasons for which ...
Style:
bleak, dark drama, reflective, tense, controversial ...
Plot:
suicide, loneliness, desperation, isolation, mental illness, character study, self harm, confession, regret, ethical dilemma, existentialism, intimate ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
A man, Joseph, loses his wife at sea, then spirals deep into a world of confusion. The wife's brothers' need revenge! Joseph tries to tell anyone who will listen that a whale killed his beautiful Annabel Lee, but even he doesn't quite ...
Style:
psychological, atmospheric, tense, serious, psychological thriller ...
Plot:
mental illness, uncover truth, false accusation, missing person, life is a bitch, vengeance, social relations, small town, grief, loss, revenge, family feud ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, california
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
