Powerful movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant powerful movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out powerful, interesting, suspense, serious, thought provoking and psychological films and TV shows about / with death, storytelling, violence, blood, dialogue, mentor, life changing, redemption, moving and destiny plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Sci-Fi genres shot in USA, UK, Spain and other countries.
powerful movies
966
TOP 10 movies tagged as powerful: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Mystic River (2003), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Taxi Driver (1976), The Matrix (1999), Cast Away (2000), Watchmen (2009), World War Z (2013), The Mist (2007), Annihilation (2018).

List of powerful movies

Type:
Year:
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Style: inspirational, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, motivational ...
Audience: family outing, chick flick, teens, family friendly
Plot: homeless, life, human spirit, rags to riches, life philosophy, success, single father, poverty, rise to the top, family drama, life is a bitch, biopic ...
Time: 80s, year 2006, 2010s, 20th century
Place: usa, california, bay area, san francisco, america
Is relevant?
 7.9
 518K
Mystic River (2003)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 138 min.
Story: A story about friendship and loyalty, guilt and vengeance, and the fateful affect the past has on the present.
Style: psychological, suspense, depressing, twist ending, emotional ...
Audience: chick flick, adult
Plot: murder, murder mystery, vengeance, police, police investigation, investigation, death in the family, police detective, sexual abuse, loss of child, child abuse, loss of daughter ...
Time: year 2003, 2000s, 70s, 20th century, 60s ...
Place: boston, massachusetts, persia, usa
Is relevant?
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 130 min.
Story: A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.
Style: breathtaking, thought provoking, suspense, saga, powerful ...
Audience: teens, family friendly
Plot: post apocalypse, ape, dystopia, colony, planet of the apes, gorilla, monkey, animal attack, deadly virus, experiment gone awry, dystopian future, betrayal ...
Time: year 2014, future, 2020s, 2010s, near future ...
Place: san francisco, california, usa, north america
Is relevant?
 8.2
 1.0M
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, 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?
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 8.7
 2.2M
The Matrix (1999)
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 136 min.
Story: Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Style: philosophical, thought provoking, cerebral, mind bending, surreal ...
Audience: date night, manly, kids, chick flick, family friendly ...
Plot: artificial intelligence, philosophy, dystopia, virtual reality, existentialism, distopia, cyberpunk, alternate reality, martial arts, gunfight, hacker, simulated reality ...
Time: future, 20th century, year 1999, near future, 22nd century ...
Place: persia, los angeles
Is relevant?
 7.8
 684K
Cast Away (2000)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min.
Story: Chuck, a top international manager for FedEx, and Kelly, a Ph.D. student, are in love and heading towards marriage. Then Chuck's plane to Malaysia ditches at sea during a terrible storm. He's the only survivor, and he washes up on a tiny ...
Style: psychological, captivating, suspense, emotional, inspirational ...
Audience: date night, family outing, teens, kids
Plot: survival, loneliness, isolation, island, desert island, stranded on an island, courage, determination, solitude, lost at sea, air disaster, survivor ...
Time: year 2000, 20th century, y2k, year 1999, 2000s ...
Place: fictional island, moscow russia, persia, america, pacific ocean ...
Is relevant?
 7.6
 608K
Watchmen (2009)
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 162 min.
Story: In a gritty and alternate 1985 the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown, but after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited ...
Style: neo noir, visually appealing, sexy, philosophical, stylized ...
Audience: manly, chick flick, teens, boys' night, adult
Plot: superhero, alternate reality, moral dilemma, anti hero, superhuman powers, cold war, alternate history, conspiracy, human nature, parallel world, masked vigilante, one against many ...
Time: 20th century, year 2009, 2000s, 1940s, future ...
Place: new york, washington d.c., america, los angeles, vietnam ...
Is relevant?
 7.0
 776K
World War Z (2013)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 116 min.
Story: Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is ...
Style: apocalyptic, suspenseful, scary, tense, serious ...
Audience: teens, boys' night, girls' night, chick flick, adult
Plot: zombie, apocalypse, virus, epidemic, zombie apocalypse, end of the world, deadly virus, post apocalyptic, infected, post apocalypse, pandemic, dystopia ...
Time: future, year 2013, 2010s, year 2000, jurassic ...
Place: new jersey, new york, israel, philadelphia, seattle ...
Is relevant?
 7.1
 371K
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, 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?
 6.8
 390K
Annihilation (2018)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
Style: psychedelic, suspense, disturbing, mindfuck, medical horror ...
Audience: family friendly, adult
Plot: female protagonist, cosmic horror, dna, creature, mutation, scientist, scientific experiment, biologist, expedition, research, genetics, terror ...
Time: 2010s, future, 21st century
Place: west virginia, arkansas, maine, england, louisiana ...
Is relevant?
The Wasteland (2021)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Country: Spain
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Lucía and her son live isolated from society in a flat place where there’s practically no life. The small family unit formed by mother and son hardly ever receives visitors, and their goal is to lead a quiet existence. At first they succeed, but ...
Style: atmospheric, powerful, disturbing, suspenseful, captivating ...
Audience: kids
Plot: wasteland, mental disorder, families, society, family relations, violence, violent, evil, creature, terror, beast, threat ...
Time: 19th century
Is relevant?
American History X (1998)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story: Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader ...
Style: cerebral, rough, serious, clever, disturbing ...
Audience: boys' night, date night, teens, teen drama
Plot: gang, skinhead, racism, prison, neo nazism, neo nazi, character change, nazism, juvenile delinquency, murder, politics, african american ...
Time: 20th century, year 1998, 90s
Place: los angeles, usa, california, america, north america ...
Is relevant?
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story: Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style: clever, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience: date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot: prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time: 1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place: usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Is relevant?
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story: Will Hunting has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau, who decides to help the misguided youth reach his potential. ...
Style: psychological, philosophical, emotional, sentimental, intellectual ...
Audience: girls' night, teens, chick flick, family friendly, date night ...
Plot: mathematics, genius, professor, prodigy, life, life philosophy, psychology, philosophy, mentor, psychotherapy, university, life lesson ...
Time: year 1997, 20th century, 90s, 2010s
Place: boston, harvard university, america, persia, massachusetts ...
Is relevant?
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story: Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
Style: emotional, depressing, touching, sad, bad ending ...
Audience: girls' night, kids, family friendly, adult
Plot: boxing, underdog, female boxer, female protagonist, determination, mentor protege relationship, athlete's life, female athlete, boxing trainer, strong female character, euthanasia, athlete and trainer ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, europe, london, las vegas ...
Is relevant?
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.
Style: road movie, feel good, melancholic, funny, sweet ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, kids, girls' night, family friendly ...
Plot: road trip, dysfunctional family, on the road, nothing goes right, loser, gay, honest, obsessive quest, escapades, coming of age, suicide attempt, journey ...
Time: 2000s, year 2006, 21st century
Place: california, arizona, los angeles, nebraska, north america ...
Is relevant?
 8.8
 2.8M
Inception (2010)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min.
Story: Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another ...
Style: psychological, mind bending, cerebral, clever, twist ending ...
Audience: date night, teens, adult
Plot: dream, virtual reality, memory, alternate reality, teamwork, imagination, subconscious, philosophy, twists and turns, fictional reality, existentialism, lucid dream ...
Time: year 2010, future, 2000s, 2010s, near future
Place: japan, paris france, los angeles, iran, tokyo ...
Is relevant?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story: While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser, Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse, Mildred Ratched.
Style: psychological, serious, thought provoking, dramatic, emotional ...
Audience: family friendly, date night, teen drama, adult
Plot: mental institution, mental illness, fighting the system, freedom, human spirit, insanity, society, mental patient, mental disorder, nurse, psychiatrist, schizophrenia ...
Time: 60s, 20th century, year 1975, year 1963
Place: oregon, eastern europe, america, persia
Is relevant?
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 8.4
 1.4M
Memento (2000)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby ...
Style: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, neo noir, confusing ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: memory, vengeance, memory loss, plot twist, revenge, murder, amnesia, whodunit, twists and turns, paranoia, murder mystery, manipulation ...
Time: year 2000, year 2001, future, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: los angeles, california, iran, america, usa ...
Is relevant?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his ...
Style: surreal, psychological, melancholic, romantic, philosophical ...
Audience: date night, chick flick, teens, girls' night, adult
Plot: memory, amnesia, relationships, surrealism, loneliness, existentialism, melancholy, love, love story, dream, memory loss, couples ...
Time: 2000s, year 2004, future, year 2003, 21st century
Place: persia, america, usa, north america, new york
Is relevant?
 7.7
 461K
Crash (2004)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Style: touching, inspirational, sincere, sexy, gloomy ...
Audience: adult
Plot: racism, police, redemption, prejudice, plot twist, racial tension, racist, multiple storylines, sexual harassment, social injustice, class differences, interracial relations ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california, persia, puerto rico ...
Is relevant?
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story: Two modern-day cowboys meet on a shepherding job in the summer of '63, the two share a raw and powerful summer together that turns into a lifelong relationship conflicting with the lives they are supposed to live.
Style: emotional, touching, sexy, sad, melancholic ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, date night
Plot: gay, homosexuality, gay romance, gay relationship, homosexual, forbidden love, love story, gays and lesbians, lgbt, first gay sexual experience, gay slur, gay love ...
Time: 80s, year 1963, 60s, year 2005, 20th century ...
Place: wyoming, usa, texas, idaho, america ...
Is relevant?
 8.5
 1.6M
The Prestige (2006)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story: A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
Style: surprise ending, twist ending, clever, atmospheric, psychological ...
Audience: family friendly, teens, chick flick
Plot: twists and turns, obsession, plot twist, secret, magic, magician, rivalry, illusionist, stage magic, uninhibited rivalry, deception, secrets ...
Time: victorian era, 19th century, future, edwardian era, turn of the century ...
Place: london, peru, colorado, los angeles, britain ...
Is relevant?
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 7.7
 274K
Changeling (2008)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story: Christine Collins is overjoyed when her kidnapped son is brought back home. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, the police captain has her committed to an asylum.
Style: psychological, heartbreaking, sentimental, tense, touching ...
Audience: chick flick, adult
Plot: kidnapping, investigation, fighting the system, serial killer, trial, missing child, disorder, missing person, police corruption, uncover truth, society, corruption ...
Time: 1920s, 2000s, 20th century, year 2008, year 1935 ...
Place: los angeles, california, usa, canada, seattle
Is relevant?
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a ...
Style: emotional, touching, heartbreaking, sad, sentimental ...
Audience: teens, family friendly, family outing, kids, teen drama ...
Plot: holocaust, world war two, concentration camp, war, children, friendship, childhood, nazi, nazism, gas chamber, boy, morality ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, ancient times, year 2008, year 1941 ...
Place: germany, poland, europe, berlin germany, switzerland
Is relevant?
 7.4
 98K
Biutiful (2010)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Mexico, Spain
Duration: 148 min.
Story: This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate ...
Style: depressing, bleak, sad, sincere, emotional ...
Plot: single father, redemption, death, cancer, terminal illness, parenthood, immigrant, birthday, family relations, suffering, life is a bitch, reconciliation ...
Time: year 2010, 2010s, y2k, 2000s, 21st century
Place: barcelona, spain, south america, iran, senegal ...
Is relevant?
 7.5
 422K
127 Hours (2010)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA, France
Duration: 94 min.
Story: The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.
Style: suspense, unusual plot structure, inspirational, intense, breathtaking ...
Audience: adult
Plot: survival, isolation, trapped, mountain, wilderness, canyon, courage, alone, desert, trap, loneliness, life & death ...
Time: year 2010, 2010s, 20th century, 2000s, year 2003 ...
Place: utah, usa
Is relevant?
12 Years a Slave (2013)
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?
 7.5
 205K
The Covenant (2023)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Spain, USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: During the war in Afghanistan, a local interpreter risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of grueling terrain.
Style: serious, captivating, tense, suspenseful, powerful ...
Plot: war in afghanistan, ambush, american soldier, shooter, military, soldier, translator, sniper, brotherhood, friendship, chase, taliban ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s
Place: afghanistan, los angeles
Is relevant?
 8.1
 671K
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story: WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Style: inspirational, touching, sentimental, christian film, harsh ...
Audience: manly, girls' night
Plot: world war two, war, soldier, conscientious objector, survival, us military, combat, american soldier, religion, bible, military, pacifist ...
Time: 1940s, year 2016, 20th century, middle ages, year 1945 ...
Place: okinawa japan, japan, tennessee, usa
Is relevant?
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