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, intense, serious, interesting, tense and realistic films and TV shows about / with storytelling, death, brutality, violence, mentor, vengeance, dialogue, violent, tragedy and visceral plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
4491
TOP 10 movies tagged as harsh: Whiteout (2009), Eden Lake (2008), The Pianist (2002), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The Road (2009), Winter's Bone (2010), The Revenant (2015), Apocalypto (2006), The Homesman (2014), Lilya 4-Ever (2002).
Best films
List of harsh movies
42K
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, France
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
The only U.S. Marshal assigned to Antarctica, Carrie Stetko will soon leave the harsh environment behind for good – in three days, the sun will set and the Amundsen-Scott Research Station will shut down for the long winter. When a body is ...
Style:
suspense, serious, scenic, tense, exciting ...
Plot:
investigation, isolation, twists and turns, snowstorm, corpse, uncover truth, murder, doctor, serial killer, plane crash, danger, disaster ...
Time:
year 2009, year 1957, 1950s, 50s, 21st century
Place:
antarctica, antarctic, south pole
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?
1.0M
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, sad, harsh, reflective, bleak ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, anti semitism, hunger, nazi occupation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1939, 1930s, year 2002 ...
Place:
poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, central europe ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 88 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:
touching, depressing, anime, sad, heartbreaking ...
Audience:
kids, adult
Plot:
world war two, hunger, orphan, war, homelessness, survival, siblings relations, children, desperation, death of child, boy, anti war ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1988, year 1945, post world war two
Place:
japan, east asia, asia, tokyo
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
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?
157K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
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, dark, disturbing ...
Audience:
teens, adult, teen drama
Plot:
poverty, small town, missing person, female protagonist, family in crisis, bail, rural setting, life is a bitch, down on your luck, coming of age, family crisis, uncle niece relationship ...
Time:
year 2010, 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
missouri, usa, california
Is relevant?
940K
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Argentina
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:
realistic, atmospheric, harsh, scenic, suspenseful ...
Audience:
date night, manly, boys' night, adult
Plot:
survival, wilderness, revenge, vengeance, native american, snow, violent, bear attack, wilderness survival, winter, hunter, wild west ...
Time:
year 2015, 2010s, year 2016, distant future, 90s ...
Place:
los angeles, north america, usa
Is relevant?
355K
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:
suspenseful, bloody, exciting, historical drama, disturbing ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
survival, jungle, ancient history, tribe, manhunt, slavery, chase, native, ancient, death, warrior, forest ...
Time:
16th century, middle ages, year 2006, 2000s, medieval times
Place:
mexico, mexico city, persia, central america
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Western
Country: France, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy. Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just ...
Style:
harsh, sexy, depressing, emotional, suspense ...
Plot:
twists and turns, wild west, old west, suicide, human nature, depression, suicide by hanging, unlikely partners, obsessive quest, partner, modern west, danger ...
Time:
19th century, year 2014, 2010s
Place:
iowa, nebraska, usa
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?
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when ...
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, harsh, tense, suspense ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night
Plot:
vengeance, violence, revenge, gang, vigilante, justice, vigilantism, gangster, brutality, violent, character change, tragic event ...
Time:
year 2007, 21st century
Place:
bolivia
Is relevant?
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:
heartbreaking, harsh, atmospheric, inspirational, motivational ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
slavery, racism, survival, civil rights, african american, black history, torture, slave trade, american history, freedom, racial discrimination, rape ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 2013, victorian era, 2010s ...
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, america, africa, southern usa ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened.
Style:
harsh, tense, stylized, disturbing, futuristic ...
Plot:
survival, starvation, post apocalyptic, visceral, post apocalypse, wilderness, bow and arrow, depression, forest, woods, wound, bare breasts ...
Time:
near future, future
Is relevant?
53K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
The rough-hewn boss of a lumber crew courts trouble when he steps in to protect the youngest member of his team from an abusive father.
Style:
touching, dark, harsh, atmospheric, depressing ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
child abuse, father son relationship, woods, coming of age, teenager, hopes, friendship, boy, teenage boy, lost in the woods, small town, redemption ...
Time:
year 2013, 21st century
Place:
texas, southern usa, britain, midwest, usa ...
Is relevant?
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, suspenseful, gloomy, atmospheric ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
missing person, student, danger, rocky mountains, survival, death, hiking, natural disaster, uncover truth, investigation, escapades, found footage ...
Time:
year 1959, 20th century, 1950s, 50s
Place:
russia, soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
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, bleak, brutal, sad ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama, adult
Plot:
child abuse, true crime, torture, captivity, murder, threat, dysfunctional family, children, court, courtroom drama, domestic violence, trial ...
Time:
year 2007, 60s, 20th century
Place:
indiana, usa
Is relevant?
263K
Genre: 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:
futuristic, suspenseful, suspense, cult classic, harsh ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
monster, creature, survival, space travel, alien, alien life-form, one man army, dark hero, outer space, deadly creature, escape, space and aliens ...
Time:
future, year 2000, 2000s, y2k
Place:
oceania, space western
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Spain
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
Style:
disturbing, psychological, bleak, depressing, gloomy ...
Audience:
teens, toddlers, teen drama, adult
Plot:
psychopath, evil child, school shooting, high school, childhood, guilt, prison visit, depression, teenager, sociopath, antisocial behavior, teenage boy ...
Time:
year 2011, 90s, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
united kingdom, america, connecticut, usa, new york ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
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?
273K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
An oil drilling team struggles to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wilds of Alaska. Hunting them is a pack of wolves that sees them as intruders.
Style:
suspenseful, harsh, bad ending, tense, exciting ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
survival, wilderness, animal attack, snow, hunting, wolf, dangerous animal, wolf attack, forces of nature, struggle for survival, wilderness survival, stranded ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
alaska, usa
Is relevant?
112K
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, harsh, crime thriller, suspense, twist ending ...
Plot:
prison, prison gang, gang, prisoner, prison life, criminal, estranged father, organized crime, skinhead, abuse, tattoo, criminal heroes ...
Time:
year 2017, 21st century
Place:
california, los angeles, pasadena california, usa
Is relevant?
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, suspense, visually stunning, period piece ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
mafia, vengeance, hitman, revenge, criminal's revenge, gangster, violence, road trip, murder, coming of age, on the road, on the run ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, 2000s, year 1931, year 2002
Place:
illinois, chicago, persia, michigan, usa
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Poland, Germany, Canada
Duration: 145 min.
Story:
A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied Polish city of Lvov. In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Soha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his ...
Style:
harsh, sincere, uplifting, social, tense ...
Plot:
holocaust, nazi, world war two, atrocity, shoah, survival, genocide, outside help, hitler youth, judaism, world war, sewer ...
Time:
1940s, 2010s, 20th century, 2000s, year 1945 ...
Place:
poland, germany, eastern europe, europe, israel
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
10K
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, curse, juvenile delinquency, murder, homelessness, tragedy, lifestyle, danger, parents and children, single father, violence, boy ...
Time:
year 2004, 70s, 21st century
Place:
southern usa, savannah georgia, usa, iceland, nebraska ...
Is relevant?
67K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, France, USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
A young Spanish woman who has newly moved to Berlin finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals a dangerous secret.
Style:
tense, harsh, intense, breathtaking, disturbing ...
Plot:
gangster, running from police, heist gone wrong, bank robbery, heist, death of friend, group of friends, drunk, panic attack, language barrier, bullet wound, crime gone awry ...
Time:
year 2015, 2010s, y2k, 90s, 21st century
Place:
berlin germany, germany, peru, spain
Is relevant?
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, brutality, wartime life, civil war, tragedy, life & death, survival, character study, bullet wound, war, caucasian ...
Time:
90s, year 1992, year 2013, year 2014, 20th century
Place:
georgia, caucasus, middle east, iraq, soviet union ...
Is relevant?
161K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass. Her boyfriend and ex-lover take matters into their own hands by hiring ...
Style:
art house, sexy, bleak, disturbing, harsh ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
rape, sexual abuse, revenge, violence, violent, sadism, rape and revenge, sexualized violence, brutality, anal rape, sexual perversion, rape victim ...
Time:
year 2002, turn of the century, year 2003, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
paris france, france, europe
Is relevant?
107K
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:
tense, harsh, rough, breathtaking, atmospheric ...
Audience:
manly, boys' night
Plot:
prison, mafia, prison life, gangster, cruelty, male nudity, organized crime, male objectification, convict, prison gang, prison escape, coming of age ...
Time:
year 2009, 2000s, 90s, year 2010, 21st century
Place:
france, marseille, europe, paris france, california
Is relevant?
530K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico, Hong Kong
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
A young female FBI agent joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel boss, a job that ends up pushing her ethical and moral values to the limit.
Style:
realistic, brutal, harsh, suspense, neo noir ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
revenge, cia, drug cartel, drug smuggling, hitman, brutality, fbi, fbi agent, black ops, cia agent, vigilantism, murder ...
Time:
2010s, year 2016, year 2015, 21st century
Place:
mexico, usa, texas, tucson arizona, arizona ...
Is relevant?
18K
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:
harsh, atmospheric, realistic, bleak, serious ...
Plot:
fighting the system, apartment building, courage, injustice, society, tragedy, moral dilemma, dishonesty, violence, small town, lone hero, plumber ...
Time:
2010s, year 2014, 90s, 21st century
Place:
russia, soviet union
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
