Forced labor movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant forced labor movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out bleak, period piece, emotional, tense, intense and historical drama films and TV shows about / with forced labor, survival, escape, violence, world war two, brutality, oppression, resistance, life is a bitch and redemption plots mostly in Drama, History and Thriller genres shot in USA, France, UK and other countries.
127
TOP 10 movies tagged as forced labor: Bent (1997), Trafficked (2017), First They Killed My Father (2017), The Magdalene Sisters (2002), Papillon (1973), Savoy (1990), Eternal Winter (2018), Ashes in the Sky (2023), The Punishment (2008), Badava (2025).
Best films
List of forced labor movies
9K
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: UK, Japan
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Max is a handsome young man who, after a fateful tryst with a German soldier, is forced to run for his life. Eventually Max is placed in a concentration camp where he pretends to be Jewish because in the eyes of the Nazis, gays are the lowest form ...
Style:
sexy, homoerotic, disturbing, brutal, serious ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night
Plot:
gay, holocaust, lgbtq, gay interest, sex scene, gay love, nazi, making love, glbt, homosexuality, lgbt, gay slur ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, year 1944, year 1997, 20th century ...
Place:
europe, berlin germany, poland, germany, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
In this story inspired by real characters, three girls from America, Nigeria and India are trafficked through an elaborate global network and enslaved in a Texas brothel, and must together attempt a daring escape to reclaim their freedom.
Style:
disturbing, realistic, serious, rough, sexual ...
Audience:
chick flick
Plot:
human trafficking, slavery, sex slavery, forced labor, captivity, abduction, woman in danger, forced prostitution, life is a bitch, female friendship, sex trafficking, rape ...
Place:
northern california, new delhi, nigeria, houston texas
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Cambodia, USA
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
A 5-year-old girl embarks on a harrowing quest for survival amid the sudden rise and terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Style:
thought provoking, factual, captivating, psychological, suspenseful ...
Plot:
genocide, forced labor, khmer rouge, communism, mass murder, little girl, wartime, cambodian civil war, imperialism, murder, anti war, revolution ...
Time:
70s, 2010s, year 2017, 90s, year 1970
Place:
cambodia, east asia
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
145K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 151 min.
Story:
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Style:
inspirational, psychological, visually stunning, grim, mind twisting ...
Plot:
prison escape, prison, life philosophy, escape, prison break, runaway, prison life, jail, protector, human spirit, escape attempt, escape plan ...
Time:
year 1973, 1940s, 20th century, 1930s, 70s
Place:
south america, persia, guyana, latin america, atlantic ocean
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK, France, USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton forms a life-changing bond with the delightful and eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, when she decides to write about the book club they formed during the occupation of Guernsey in WWII.
Style:
touching, romantic, sincere, uplifting, period piece ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens
Plot:
world war two, german occupation, writers, marriage proposal, letter, friendship, fiance fiancee relationship, nazi occupation, german soldier, strong female character, female writer, unwed mother ...
Time:
1940s, post world war two, year 1941, year 1946
Place:
england, london
Is relevant?
56
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 78 min.
Story:
Sergey Gusev, a thirty years old engineer from Moscow is kidnapped and forced to work in a mine.
Style:
tense, dark, realistic, grim, intense ...
Plot:
kidnapping, human trafficking, forced labor, corruption, survival, mafia, escape, violent, male protagonist, vigilante, mine, social commentary ...
Time:
90s
Place:
moscow russia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Hungary
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
The true story of an unlikely romance in a Soviet labor camp.
Style:
bleak, historical drama, grim, period piece, beautiful
Plot:
world war two, gulag, coal mine, survival, brutality, deportation, forced labor, oppression, wartime, captivity, female protagonist, desperation ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
hungary, central europe, soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Spain
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Neus Català returns to France, where she recalls her life under the Nazi yoke.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, captivating, harsh, serious ...
Plot:
world war two, survival, female protagonist, concentration camp, concentration camp survivor, forced labor, war trauma, life is a bitch, survival horror, struggle for survival, life, woman ...
Time:
1940s
Is relevant?
Genre: Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 180 min.
TV show
Style:
thought provoking, suspenseful, psychological, suspense, disturbing
Plot:
troubled teen, child abuse, life is a bitch, child labor, re-education, juvenile delinquency, children, exploitation, parenting, teenage life, teenager, traumatic childhood ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action
Country: India
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
A jobless troublemaker is forced to move to Malaysia for work, only to lose his job and return home. Meanwhile, a powerful brick kiln owner enslaves the local population. The story follows how the hero rises to the challenge, using his courage to ...
Style:
inspirational, action drama, emotional, realistic, political ...
Plot:
social justice, justice, class struggle, courage, underdog, working class, forced labor, empowerment, resistance, hopes, small town, unemployment ...
Place:
india, malaysia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Two dissidents, fall in love in a Marxist USSR Gulag death camp. As their friends die, they commit to the seeming impossible, escape, but both must first answer their deepest moral questions about the meaning of life, sacrifice and freedom.
Style:
bleak, dark, historical drama, period piece, political drama
Plot:
gulag, prisoner of war camp, oppression, totalitarianism, sacrifice, survival, brutality, escape, communism, marxism, prison break, desperation ...
Time:
1950s, 1940s
Place:
soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 169 min.
Story:
Kazakhstan. 1954. Copper mines. Concentration camp. In the center of the plot - a revolt which prisoners raised in protest against the inhuman treatment.
Style:
historical drama, serious, period piece, bleak, intense ...
Plot:
prison, revolt, concentration camp, oppression, escape, brutality, resistance, gulag, dehumanization, injustice, forced labor, political repression ...
Time:
year 1954, 1950s
Place:
kazakhstan, soviet union, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Action
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
This film is set during the Japanese occupation of China circa WWII. In it, the Japanese occupiers (and the Chinese Quislings who work for them) are portrayed as total monsters who kill children and rape all women. The heroes are resistance fighters ...
Style:
patriotic, action drama, period piece
Plot:
martial arts, world war two, conflict, bloodbath, oppression, resistance, violence, brutality, forced labor, militarism, heroism, victimization ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
east asia, china, hong kong
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Action
Country: South Korea
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A mixed group of prisoners in a concentration camp in North Korea struggle for survival and dignity as best the can, enduring the cruelty of the guards and of their fellow inmates.
Style:
bleak, tense, intense, emotional, period piece
Plot:
humiliation, dehumanization, oppression, suffering, concentration camp, survival, totalitarianism, desperation, abuse of power, forced labor, brutality, trauma ...
Place:
north korea
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil, West Germany, France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A girl from the countryside goes to the city of Belém to take part in the Círio de Nazaré celebrations. Led to prostitution, she wishes to move to the wealthiest Southeast region of Brazil. In a dance club, she meets a truck driver that ...
Style:
road movie, realistic, bleak, melancholic, experimental ...
Plot:
poverty, prostitution, truck driver, deforestation, amazon, survival, slavery, journey, sexploitation, exploitation, social realism, child prostitution ...
Time:
70s
Place:
brazil
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
The true story of Robert Elliot Burns, the prisoner who, after being sentenced to a Georgia chain gang, attempted two daring escapes.
Style:
serious, period piece, bleak, historical drama, harsh ...
Plot:
crime and punishment, imprisonment, injustice, escape, escape attempt, biopic, wrongful conviction, forced labor, oppression, realism, survival, brutality ...
Time:
1930s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: Czechoslovakia
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Concentration camp commander Kraft finds out that prisoner Kominek is a former professional boxer. Overnight, the prisoner is made Kraft's exercise partner and unwillingly rises to a privileged position at the camp. His anger over the death of ...
Style:
bleak, grim, tense, historical drama, period piece ...
Plot:
boxing, concentration camp, world war two, boxer, survival, oppression, holocaust, tragedy, dehumanization, violence, forced labor, morality ...
Place:
eastern europe
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany, France, Italy, Yugoslavia
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
In the pre-Civil War South, a sadistic plantation-owner brutalizes his slaves to the point of them heaving no other choice but to rebel. Always obedient, peaceful and honest old slave Tom plays a central role in this tragedy.
Style:
historical drama, period piece, serious, bleak, emotional ...
Plot:
slavery, racism, slave, black slave, civil war, oppression, social injustice, interracial relations, plantation, sadism, brutality, violence ...
Time:
19th century
Place:
kentucky
Is relevant?
Genre: Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Jessup, forced to hide his true identity, is imprisoned on a deadly and desolate planet, the Star Prison. banished to mine rabid rivers for the elusive Fire Gems, Jessup and his men must battle bands of derelict prisoners and fight the fatal fangs ...
Style:
psychedelic, offbeat, parody, spoof
Audience:
adult
Plot:
space opera, prison break, forced labor, survival, dark humor, hedonism, violent, corruption, exploitation, escape, criminal underworld, anti hero ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
An aging convict serving out a life sentence alone on a distant planet is forced to confront his past when a new prisoner shows up and pushes him to remember his life on earth.
Style:
existential, psychological thriller, bleak, philosophical, tense ...
Plot:
identity crisis, isolation, penal colony, loneliness, mental breakdown, paranoid, guilt, dystopia, memory loss, character study, alien planet, forced labor ...
Time:
near future
Is relevant?
Genre: Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A young family, living in isolation and forced into hard labor out of fear of dishonoring their Father and Mother, fight to free themselves from their religious cult.
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, captivating, thrilling, bleak ...
Plot:
isolation, family drama, religious cult, oppression, religious fanaticism, abuse of power, rebellion, obedience, punishment, coming of age, religions or cults, problem ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
Residents in a town have a hard time due to the land tax and forced labor. 9 people, including Juzaburo Kokutaya (Sadao Abe), worry about the future of their town. They then set up a plan to save the town. The plan is to lend large amounts of money ...
Style:
tense, humorous, captivating, disturbing, tension ...
Plot:
businessman, edo period, working class, social problems, society, class conflict, social relations, worker, fighting the system, commercialism, money problems, feudal japan ...
Place:
japan
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 72 min.
Story:
As an older man, the Apostle John was sentenced to forced labor on the Island of Patmos. God honored John with His visions, faithfully transcribed to become the Book of Revelation.
Style:
biblical, spiritual, meditative, mystical, contemplative ...
Plot:
faith, exile, religious, revelation, apocalypse, island, visionary, symbolism, prophecy, devotional, solitude, forced labor ...
Time:
1st century
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, West Germany, Yugoslavia
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
In WWII, Lieut. Martino and his men are assigned to lead a group of prostitutes through the mountainous ways to serve in brothels for Italian soldiers in Albania.
Style:
controversial, bleak, period piece, art house, melancholic ...
Plot:
world war two, prostitution, brothel, journey, moral ambiguity, abuse of power, violence, military, trauma, mountain, realism, desperation ...
Place:
albania, greece, athens greece
Is relevant?
Genre: Documentary, Short, History
Country: USA
Duration: 38 min.
Story:
From PBS - The secret Nazi death camp at Sobibor was created solely for the mass extermination of Jews. But on the 14th of October 1943, the inmates fought back, in the biggest and most successful prison outbreak of the Second World War. Told ...
Style:
grim, educational, bleak
Plot:
genocide, world war two, holocaust, nazi germany, war crime, prison break, shoah, memories, jewish history, death, survival, escape ...
Place:
poland
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
The incredible, untold true story of how a group of prisoners attempt a seemingly impossible escape from the first Nazi death camp in order to provide the first eyewitness account of the Holocaust.
Style:
historical drama, bleak, tense, intense, emotional ...
Plot:
holocaust, concentration camp, world war two, nazi germany, memories, prison escape, war crime, survival, resistance, biopic, sacrifice, forced labor ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
eastern europe
Is relevant?
243
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
A gangster and a corrupt police officer travel to the tiny remote island of Mapado to hunt down a young woman who has run off with a winning lottery ticket. Upon arriving, they discover that no one lives there except for five old women who have not ...
Style:
satirical, entertaining, semi serious, funny, captivating ...
Plot:
island, gangster, satire, remote island, lottery ticket, isolated community, society, male female relationship, humour, criminal, sexploitation, slave labor ...
Place:
south korea
Is relevant?
1K
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A widower and his deaf daughter are held hostage and forced to dig under their house, revealing dark secrets from the past.
Style:
suspenseful, tense, psychological thriller, tension, disturbing ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
father daughter relationship, hostage, threat, widower, father, home invasion, problem, hidden money, father and daughter, single father, single parent, hostage situation ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Mozambique, France, Portugal
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
1975, Mozambique’s rebirth as an independent nation. The young revolution sweeps the streets of Maputo clean of prostitutes and bad habits. The prostitutes are sent to re-education camps deep in the countryside, where they will become “new ...
Style:
serious, uplifting, realistic, disturbing, touching ...
Plot:
revolution, state affairs, life is a bitch, power relations, prostitute, youth, camp, society, strong female presence, patriarchy, oppression, gender roles ...
Time:
20th century, 70s
Place:
africa, portugal
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
