Bleak movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant bleak movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out bleak, thought provoking, serious, suspense, dark and gloomy films and TV shows about / with storytelling, violence, brutality, death, psychological drama, violent, visceral, psychology, macabre and murder plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, Sweden, Denmark and other countries.
11156
TOP 10 movies tagged as bleak: The Road (2009), Eden Lake (2008), Lilya 4-Ever (2002), Antichrist (2009), The Mist (2007), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), The Machinist (2004), Fractured (2019), No Country for Old Men (2007), Borgman (2013).
Best films
New films
269K
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, gloomy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
survival, apocalypse, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, father son relationship, distopia, end of the world, cannibalism, starvation, dystopia, on the road, journey ...
Time:
future, year 2009, near future, distant future, 2000s ...
Place:
pittsburgh, usa, north america, canada
Is relevant?
108K
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:
brutal, suspense, bad ending, scary, slasher ...
Audience:
teens, boys' night, kids
Plot:
survival, torture, camping, chase, forest, youth, fear, gory, revenge, teenager, maniac, danger ...
Time:
year 2008, year 2000, 21st century
Place:
united kingdom, england, britain
Is relevant?
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:
sad, bleak, depressing, harsh, brutal ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
poverty, human trafficking, prostitution, friendship, sexual abuse, prostitute, life is a bitch, suicide, teenage prostitution, teenage life, depression, rape ...
Time:
year 2002
Place:
denmark, estonia, europe, russia, eastern europe ...
Is relevant?
144K
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Denmark, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Poland
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
Style:
disturbing, sexy, dark, psychological, bleak ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
insanity, depression, cruelty, guilt, controversy, fear, violence, woods, female nudity, nudity, black magic, male nudity ...
Time:
21st century
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
371K
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
After a violent storm, a dense cloud of mist envelops a small Maine town, trapping artist David Drayton and his five-year-old son in a local grocery store with other people. They soon discover that the mist conceals deadly horrors that threaten ...
Style:
twist ending, psychological, bad ending, atmospheric, scary ...
Audience:
boys' night, adult
Plot:
survival, monster, apocalypse, stephen king, creature, fear, trapped, twists and turns, survival horror, cosmic horror, chaos and mayhem, death ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, distant future, year 2000, 21st century
Place:
usa, maine
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
An urban hotel in London is a gathering and flash point for legal and illegal immigrants attempting to cobble together their lives in a new country. The immigrants include Senay, a Turkish woman, and a Nigerian doctor named Okwe who is working as a ...
Style:
bleak, tense, suspenseful, harsh, grim ...
Plot:
immigrant, blackmail, maid, working class, friendship, illegal immigration, murder, black market, character study, prostitute, surgery, social decay ...
Time:
year 2002, 21st century
Place:
london, england, nigeria, britain, europe ...
Is relevant?
439K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, 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, depressing, surreal ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
insomnia, insanity, uncover truth, obsession, mysterious character, paranoia, losing-it hero, twists and turns, schizophrenia, life is a bitch, secrets, alienation ...
Time:
year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, america, persia, los angeles
Is relevant?
111K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Driving cross-country, Ray and his wife and daughter stop at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse, Ray is finally able to get her to a doctor. While ...
Style:
surprise ending, psychological thriller, bleak, suspenseful, captivating ...
Plot:
hospital, paradox, riding accident, loss of control, organ trafficking, disappearance, desperation, rescue, insanity, missing child, loss of family, tragedy ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the ...
Style:
neo noir, suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, serious ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
hitman, psychopath, shooting, serial killer, peril, desert, human nature, brutality, death, sheriff, cruelty, bounty hunter ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, 20th century, year 1980, 80s
Place:
texas, el paso texas, mexico, america, austin texas ...
Is relevant?
20K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Borgman is the central character of this dark, malevolent fable. Is he a dream or a demon, a twisted allegory or an all-too-real embodiment of our fears? Borgman is a sinister arrival in the sealed-off streets of modern suburbia. His presence ...
Style:
surreal, psychological, disturbing, bleak, psychological thriller ...
Plot:
nightmare, dog, family crisis, male nudity, american horror, surrealism, husband wife relationship, garden, dark humor, good versus evil, manipulation, hidden identity ...
Time:
2010s, year 2013, 21st century
Place:
europe, holland
Is relevant?
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, atmospheric ...
Audience:
kids, adult
Plot:
addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, drug, junkie, loneliness, mental illness, depression, dream, subculture ...
Time:
year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place:
britain, america, new york, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
920K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 153 min.
Story:
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
Style:
twist ending, psychological, suspenseful, atmospheric, neo noir ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, adult
Plot:
kidnapping, investigation, revenge, serial killer, torture, twists and turns, vigilantism, police investigation, plot twist, brutality, vigilante, cop ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place:
pennsylvania, bolivia, georgia, usa, boston
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
709K
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:
twist ending, psychological, bleak, neo noir, intense ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
revenge, vengeance, incest, violence, psychopath, captivity, older man younger woman relationship, hypnosis, mind game, plot twist, psychological torture, torture ...
Time:
year 2003, 80s, distant future, near future, y2k ...
Place:
south korea, korea, stockholm sweden, oceania, east asia ...
Is relevant?
60K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 140 min.
Story:
In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
Style:
depressing, bleak, atmospheric, thought provoking, emotional ...
Plot:
lawyer, adultery, corruption, politics, courtroom, poverty, small town, corrupt mayor, alcohol abuse, drunk, alcoholism, small town life ...
Time:
2010s, year 2014, 21st century
Place:
russia, soviet union
Is relevant?
207K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Style:
atmospheric, bleak, psychological, surreal, philosophical ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
depression, wedding, end of the world, apocalypse, sister sister relationship, nihilism, collision, mental health, disaster, female nudity, mental disorder, human nature ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, future, 21st century
Is relevant?
213K
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
In the year 2047 a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the long lost starship "Event Horizon". The ship disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage and with its return comes even more mystery as the ...
Style:
suspenseful, futuristic, scary, lovecraft, spooky ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
space travel, outer space, spaceship, cosmic horror, space station, trapped in space, insanity, space and aliens, violence, supernatural, hallucination, nightmare ...
Time:
future, 2040s, 90s, year 1997, 21st century
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him...
Style:
twist ending, disturbing, surreal, scary, surprise ending ...
Plot:
nightmare, paranoia, delusion, memory, hallucination, twists and turns, haunted by the past, conspiracy, plot twist, dealing with death, soldier, macabre ...
Time:
year 1990, 90s, 20th century, year 1971, 70s
Place:
new york, vietnam, usa, asia, brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
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, harsh, brutal, controversial, depressing ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
nun, convent, catholic church, life is a bitch, corporal punishment, evil nun, human spirit, punishment, religion, catholic orphanage, sexual harassment, violence against women ...
Time:
60s, 20th century, year 1964, year 2002
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland, europe, latin america
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
405K
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Style:
bleak, thought provoking, emotional, depressing, controversial ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
injustice, child abuse, pedophile, false accusation, life turned upside down, social injustice, divorce, social relations, parents and children, friendship between men, church, punched in the face ...
Time:
2010s, year 2013, year 2012, 21st century
Place:
denmark
Is relevant?
2.0M
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. ...
Style:
suspenseful, surprise ending, neo noir, detective, bad ending ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult
Plot:
serial killer, investigation, twists and turns, psychopath, psychology, mind game, police investigation, police, police detective, sin, maniac, murder ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1995
Place:
los angeles, usa, persia, iran, america ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Norway, France, Sweden, Poland
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Based on a true story: Norwegian winter, 1915. On the island Bastøy, outside Oslo, a group of young boys aged 11 to 18, are held in an institution for delinquent youth, notorious for its sadistic regime. One day a new boy, Erling, arrives, ...
Style:
bleak, tense, visually appealing, serious, thought provoking ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
prison life, punishment, sexual abuse, juvenile detention, island, prison, rebellion, child abuse, boarding school life, protest, isolation, survival ...
Time:
1910s, 1920s, 20th century, year 1915
Place:
scandinavia, eastern europe, japan, poland
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Tunisia
Duration: 152 min.
Story:
A depiction of a serial killer's 12 years' worth of murders and how it shaped his prime intelligence.
Style:
scary, psychological, suspenseful, suspense, bleak ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
serial killer, psychopath, sadism, cruelty, psychopath as protagonist, sadistic psychopath, maniac, disturbed individual, murder, extreme violence, photograph, hunting ...
Time:
2010s, 70s, 80s
Place:
berlin germany, washington d.c.
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, controversial, bleak, sexual ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
sexual abuse, murder, home invasion, revenge, rape, violent, rape and revenge, sex, sexual assault, vigilante, rape turns to consensual sex, protective male ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, year 1971
Place:
england, cornwall, britain, europe, united kingdom
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Musical
Country: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, USA, UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma ...
Style:
disturbing, bleak, depressing, touching, emotional ...
Plot:
death sentence, factory worker, destiny, blindness, life is a bitch, tragedy, dancing, immigrant, secret, murder, hanging, tragic hero ...
Time:
90s, year 2000, 20th century, year 1964, 2000s
Place:
nebraska, usa, washington d.c., washington state
Is relevant?
818K
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark… Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home — Crooked cops, sexy dames, desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge, others lust ...
Style:
neo noir, atmospheric, surreal, dark, anthology ...
Audience:
boys' night, kids, adult
Plot:
corruption, justice, revenge, comic book, vengeance, gory, vigilante, redemption, dark hero, hitman, dystopia, distopia ...
Time:
year 2005, y2k, 80s, 90s, 2000s ...
Place:
texas, iran
Is relevant?
1.0M
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.
Style:
psychological, neo noir, bleak, atmospheric, cult classic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
loner, vigilante, character study, alienation, vigilantism, violence, obsession, loneliness, psychology, lone wolves, taxi, social decay ...
Time:
70s, year 1976, 20th century, year 1975
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, usa, america, harlem ...
Is relevant?
155K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 162 min.
Story:
Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A Stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep seeded ...
Style:
philosophical, atmospheric, bleak, art house, psychological ...
Audience:
family friendly, adult
Plot:
stalker, post apocalypse, dystopian future, surrealism, psychokinesis, dog, wish come true, trippy, human nature, distopia, escapades, post apocalyptic ...
Time:
future, distant future, year 1979, near future
Place:
soviet union, ussr, russia
Is relevant?
121K
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On ...
Style:
bleak, harsh, thought provoking, rough, brutal ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
world war two, genocide, war crime, against humanity, brutality, holocaust, nazi, atrocity, occupation, children in wartime, massacre, teenage girl ...
Time:
1940s, year 1943, 20th century, year 1985, near future ...
Place:
germany, persia, europe, soviet union, russia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
Style:
neo noir, anthology, atmospheric, gloomy, serious ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
serial killer, police investigation, murder, murder mystery, investigation, police detective, murder investigation, murderer, drinking problem, partners against crime, female nudity, troubled ...
Time:
2010s, year 2014, 2000s, 20th century, 80s ...
Place:
louisiana, usa, california
Is relevant?
110K
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:
psychological, depressing, bleak, thought provoking, independent film ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
teacher, depression, suicide, teachers and students, dedicated educator, school, unhappy, social problems, high school life, teen angst, human relationship, social decay ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
usa
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
