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, disturbing, serious, weird, dark and suspense films and TV shows about / with death, murder, violence, moving, life is a bitch, insanity, mental disorder, suicide, life changing and psychology plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, UK, Denmark and other countries.
bleak
 7400
bleak movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as bleak: Eden Lake (2008), The Road (2009), The Hunt (2012), Detachment (2011), The Machinist (2004), The Magdalene Sisters (2002), I Saw the Devil (2010), Lilya 4-Ever (2002), Come and See (1985), Oldboy (2003).

List of bleak movies

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Year:
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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 ?
 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 ?
 8.3
 361K
The Hunt (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark, Sweden
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, psychological, depressing, sad ...
Audience: adult
Plot: injustice, life turned upside down, child abuse, false accusation, divorce, social injustice, social relations, pedophile, parents and children, teacher, church, punched in the face ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, year 2013, 21st century
Place: denmark
Is relevant ?
 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 ?
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 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 ?
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 ?
 7.8
 145K
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 144 min.
Story: Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, ...
Style: bleak, psychological, disturbing, dark, tense ...
Audience: date night, manly, adult
Plot: serial killer, revenge, vengeance, murder, psychopath, violence, macabre, extreme violence, gory, mercilessness, brutality, torture ...
Time: 2010s, year 2010, year 2000, 2000s, 21st century
Place: south korea, korea, asia, east asia
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 ?
 8.4
 95K
Come and See (1985)
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, disturbing, rough, thought provoking, political ...
Audience: adult
Plot: world war two, genocide, war crime, against humanity, brutality, holocaust, atrocity, occupation, anti war, nazi, war, military ...
Time: 1940s, year 1943, 20th century, year 1985, near future
Place: germany, ussr, persia, europe, russia ...
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 ?
 8.1
 144K
Stalker (1979)
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, cerebral ...
Audience: family friendly, adult
Plot: stalker, distopia, human nature, post apocalypse, trippy, dystopian future, surrealism, wish come true, dog, society, post apocalyptic, dystopia ...
Time: future, year 1979, distant future, near future
Place: soviet union, ussr, russia
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 117K
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
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: surreal, twist ending, disturbing, bleak, scary ...
Plot: nightmare, paranoia, hallucination, memory, delusion, mental illness, haunted by the past, conspiracy, plot twist, psychology, dealing with death, twists and turns ...
Time: 90s, year 1990, 20th century, year 1971, 70s
Place: new york, vietnam, usa, asia, brooklyn new york city
Is relevant ?
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 8.2
 1.4M
Shutter Island (2010)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story: World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.
Style: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, confusing ...
Audience: date night, chick flick, adult
Plot: twists and turns, plot twist, investigation, mental illness, insanity, psychology, memory, paranoia, mental disorder, psychiatrist, schizophrenia, mental institution ...
Time: 1950s, year 2010, year 1954, 2010s, 2000s ...
Place: boston, persia, iran, america
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 338K
The Mist (2007)
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, atmospheric, psychological, bad ending, scary ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: survival, monster, apocalypse, stephen king, creature, fear, trapped, survival horror, religious fanatic, giant monster, chaos and mayhem, small town ...
Time: year 2007, distant future, year 2000, 2000s, 21st century
Place: usa, maine
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 800K
Prisoners (2013)
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: psychological, twist ending, suspenseful, atmospheric, bleak ...
Audience: teens, family friendly, adult
Plot: kidnapping, investigation, serial killer, twists and turns, revenge, vigilantism, police investigation, brutality, torture, police, vigilante, cop ...
Time: year 2013, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place: pennsylvania, bolivia, georgia, usa, boston
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 315K
Contagion (2011)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: United Arab Emirates, USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.
Style: apocalyptic, suspense, bleak, realistic, disturbing ...
Plot: epidemic, virus, deadly virus, pandemic, infection, infected, quarantine, survival, plague, disaster, medical, natural disaster ...
Time: 2010s, future, distant future, year 2000, year 2011 ...
Place: minnesota, hong kong, san francisco, california, bay area ...
Is relevant ?
No Country for Old Men (2007)
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, serious, tense, atmospheric ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: hitman, psychopath, shooting, desert, serial killer, peril, greed, brutality, human nature, sheriff, death, murder ...
Time: year 2007, 2000s, 20th century, year 1980, 80s
Place: texas, el paso texas, mexico, austin texas, america ...
Is relevant ?
 8.4
 1.5M
Joker (2019)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Australia
Duration: 122 min.
Story: During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
Style: thought provoking, suspense, atmospheric, bleak, psychological thriller ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: mental illness, mental disorder, villain, psycho, psychopath, loneliness, psychological trauma, character change, insanity, social problems, comedian, social decay ...
Time: 2010s, 80s, year 2019, year 1981, 20th century
Place: new york, new jersey, los angeles, persia
Is relevant ?
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 7.5
 103K
Dead Man (1995)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Western
Country: USA, Germany, Japan
Duration: 121 min.
Story: On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
Style: bleak, atmospheric, black and white, gloomy, captivating ...
Plot: journey, native american, cowboy, gunfight, wilderness, murder, indians, on the road, accountant, existentialism, culture clash, modern western ...
Time: 19th century, year 1995, 90s, 1870s, victorian era
Place: usa, pacific ocean, cleveland ohio, england
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 792K
Sin City (2005)
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, vengeance, justice, gory, hitman, revenge, dark hero, comic book, redemption, vigilante, killings, distopia ...
Time: year 2005, y2k, 80s, 90s, 2000s ...
Place: texas, iran
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 ?
 7.1
 195K
Melancholia (2011)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany
Duration: 135 min.
Story: Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Style: bleak, atmospheric, psychological, surreal, art house ...
Audience: adult
Plot: depression, end of the world, wedding, human nature, sister sister relationship, apocalypse, nihilism, collision, disaster, dysfunctional family, suicide, trippy ...
Time: 2010s, year 2011, future, 21st century
Is relevant ?
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Musical
Country: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, USA, UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway
Duration: 140 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, surreal, depressing, heartbreaking ...
Plot: factory worker, life is a bitch, blindness, death sentence, immigrant, destiny, murder, tragedy, secret, hanging, tragic hero, dancing ...
Time: 90s, year 2000, 20th century, year 1964, 2000s
Place: nebraska, usa, washington d.c., washington state
Is relevant ?
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 7.8
 375K
Moon (2009)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: With only three weeks left in his three year contract, Sam Bell is getting anxious to finally return to Earth. He is the only occupant of a Moon-based manufacturing facility along with his computer and assistant, GERTY. When he has an accident ...
Style: psychological, philosophical, suspense, futuristic, cerebral ...
Audience: adult
Plot: isolation, moon, outer space, loneliness, space travel, astronaut, solitude, cloning, space and aliens, robot, dystopic future, space ...
Time: future, year 2009, 2010s, near future, y2k ...
Place: hawaii, mexico
Is relevant ?
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror
Country: Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany
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, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: serial killer, psychopath, murder, cruelty, sadistic psychopath, sadism, psychopath as protagonist, psycho killer, obsessive compulsive disorder, extreme violence, disturbed individual, serial killer as protagonist ...
Time: 2010s, 70s, 80s
Place: washington d.c.
Is relevant ?
 5.9
 41K
After.Life (2009)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Following a terrible car crash, a woman (Christina Ricci) awakes to find an enigmatic mortician (Liam Neeson) preparing her for burial.
Style: psychological, bleak, mind bending, atmospheric, suspense ...
Plot: afterlife, life & death, mysterious character, psychology, able to see the dead, supernatural, twists and turns, dealing with death, danger, nudity, mentor, betrayal ...
Time: future, year 2009, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
 8.2
 913K
Taxi Driver (1976)
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, disturbing, cult classic ...
Audience: adult
Plot: vigilante, character study, loner, alienation, obsession, vigilantism, violence, loneliness, psychology, lone wolves, taxi, depression ...
Time: 70s, year 1976, 20th century, year 1975
Place: new york, manhattan new york city, usa, america, harlem ...
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 43K
The Vanishing (1988)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Country: Netherlands, France, West Germany
Duration: 107 min.
Story: Rex and Saskia are enjoying a biking holiday in France when, stopping at a gas station, Saskia disappears. Confounded, Rex searches everywhere, but to no avail. Three years later, he's still obsessed with finding her, pleading his case on ...
Style: disturbing, psychological, bleak, psychological thriller, suspense ...
Plot: kidnapping, serial killer, twists and turns, missing person, obsession, road trip, macabre, murder, insanity, police investigation, mind game, secrets ...
Time: 20th century, year 1988, near future, 80s
Place: france, europe, holland, netherlands
Is relevant ?
 6.9
 54K
Hesher (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: A young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
Style: bleak, realistic, independent film, serious, touching ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: youth, grief, antisocial behavior, loner, depression, arson, life is a bitch, trauma, family problems, family drama, rebelliousness, coming of age ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 103K
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Female born, Teena Brandon adopts his male identity of Brandon Teena and attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska.
Style: bleak, disturbing, touching, independent film, sad ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: lesbian, gender, rape, transgender, transsexual, violence, prejudice, lgbt, tragic love, small town, gay slur, lgbtq ...
Time: 90s, year 1999, 20th century
Place: nebraska, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
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