Grim movies and TV shows – page 3

List of grim movies

 7.8
 131K
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: A naive male prostitute and his sickly friend struggle to survive on the streets of New York City.
Style: controversial, realistic, cult classic, depressing, sexual ...
Audience: chick flick
Plot: friendship, fish out of water, dream, loneliness, friendship between men, marijuana, flashback, sex, sexuality, homosexuality, homelessness, prostitute ...
Time: 20th century, 1950s, 60s, year 1969, 50s ...
Place: texas, new york, usa, manhattan new york city, florida ...
Is relevant?
 7.1
 28K
Catch-22 (1970)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a "military mentality" and of a bureaucratic society ...
Style: dark comedy, black comedy, absurd, surreal, grim ...
Plot: world war two, anti war, satire, military, bomber, male nudity, soldier, aviation, social commentary, literary, wartime, world war ...
Time: 1940s, year 1970, year 1944, 20th century, 70s
Place: rome italy, alexandria egypt, sardinia, mediterranean sea, new york ...
Is relevant?
 7.7
 180K
Dirty Harry (1971)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath. Harry eventually collars Scorpio in ...
Style: serious, detective, bleak, controversial, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night, manly
Plot: serial killer, police, psychopath, gunfight, vigilante, police detective, violence, tough law enforcer, killer, urban, murder, zodiac killer ...
Time: 70s, year 1971, 20th century
Place: san francisco, california, bay area, usa, north america ...
Is relevant?
The French Connection (1971)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
Style: atmospheric, tense, neo noir, breathtaking, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: police, heroin, drug smuggling, chase, car chase, violence, gangster, drug dealer, smuggling, drug lord, organized crime, police detective ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1971
Place: new york, brooklyn new york city, washington d.c., manhattan new york city, new jersey ...
Is relevant?
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Across 110th Street (1972)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. ...
Style: neo noir, grindhouse, grim, cynical, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: blaxploitation, urban, mobster, gangster, exploitation, black, cop, car chase, big city, nypd, tough guy, police officer ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: new york, harlem, usa, north america, manhattan new york city ...
Is relevant?
 6.4
 9K
Super Fly (1972)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Music, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Super Fly is a cocaine dealer who begins to realize that his life will soon end with either prison or his death. He decides to build an escape from the life by making his biggest deal yet.
Style: grindhouse, hood, independent film, cult classic, grim ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: blaxploitation, urban, gangster, hip hop, black, fight, african american, exploitation, black history, ghetto, drug, corruption ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: new york, usa, new jersey
Is relevant?
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Style: suspenseful, neo noir, grim, tense, intense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: train, hostage, subway, heist, runaway train, murder, gangster, terrorism, railway, cop, hostage situation, mayor ...
Time: 70s, year 1974, 20th century
Place: new york, bronx new york city, usa
Is relevant?
 6.7
 3K
Joe the King (1999)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A destitute 14 year old struggles to keep his life together despite harsh abuse at his mother's hands, harsher abuse at his father's, and a growing separation from his slightly older brother. Petty thefts for food grow into more major ...
Style: emotional, harsh, tense, rough, grim ...
Audience: kids
Plot: redemption, child abuse, children, coming of age, boy, dysfunctional family, working class, juvenile detention, youth, corporal punishment, childhood, poverty ...
Time: year 1999, 70s, 90s
Place: usa, new york, california
Is relevant?
 7.2
 269K
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, 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?
 7.6
 7K
Karma (2025)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: A fateful accident intertwines six lives in a thrilling tale of karma and crime, where each must face their own dark truths and connections.
Style: suspense, grim, crime drama, psychological thriller, noir ...
Plot: karma, guilt, moral ambiguity, revenge, urban, investigation, organized crime, financial ruin, desperation, claustrophobia, slow burn, villain ...
Is relevant?
 7.8
 163K
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Genre: Action, 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: disturbing, bloody, dark, twist ending, psychological ...
Audience: date night, manly, adult
Plot: revenge, serial killer, vengeance, murder, violence, psychopath, violent, extreme violence, gory, mercilessness, murderer, brutality ...
Time: year 2010, year 2000, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: south korea, asia, korea, east asia
Is relevant?
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
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?
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 7.2
 70K
Shallow Grave (1994)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min.
Story: Three friends discover their new flatmate dead but loaded with cash.
Style: neo noir, black comedy, suspense, dark comedy, action thriller ...
Audience: date night
Plot: friendship, dark humor, manipulation, betrayal, greed, cop, paranoia, crime gone awry, deception, caper, robbery, death ...
Time: year 1994, 90s, 20th century
Place: scotland, britain, edinburgh scotland, rio de janeiro
Is relevant?
 7.7
 21K
The Devils (1971)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 111 min.
Story: A dramatised historical account of the rise and fall of Urbain Grandier, a 17th-century Roman Catholic priest accused of witchcraft following alleged demonic possessions of sexually repressed nuns.
Style: psychological, disturbing, controversial, cult classic, surreal ...
Audience: adult
Plot: inquisition, religion, priest, surrealism, politics, nun, nunsploitation, witch, torture, clergy, violent, folk horror ...
Time: 17th century, medieval times, year 2016, middle ages, year 1971 ...
Place: france, london, europe, england
Is relevant?
 8.0
 35K
Nobody Knows (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 141 min.
Story: In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Style: touching, depressing, atmospheric, gloomy, bleak ...
Audience: kids, teens
Plot: poverty, childhood, children, young kid, child abandonment, dysfunctional family, brother brother relationship, innocence lost, responsibility, neglect, jailbait, family relations ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: japan, tokyo, east asia, asia, california ...
Is relevant?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Genre: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), who was ...
Style: slasher, scary, bloody, classic horror, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, date night, adult
Plot: murder, supernatural, supernatural horror, nightmare, fear, dream, serial killer, gory, sleep deprivation, teenager, nightmare comes true, high school ...
Time: 80s, year 1984, 20th century, year 1981
Place: ohio, usa, canada
Is relevant?
 6.3
 19K
The Fury (1978)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Israel
Duration: 118 min.
Story: A government agent is determined to come to his son's rescue, when a sinister official kidnaps him to harness his extremely powerful psychic abilities.
Style: suspense, tense, suspenseful, disturbing, stylized ...
Audience: teens
Plot: kidnapping, conspiracy, government agency, vengeance, telekinesis, chase, secret government organization, family relations, rescue, visceral, government agent, danger ...
Time: 20th century, 70s, year 1978, year 1977
Place: chicago, middle east
Is relevant?
 7.8
 28K
Brother (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Russia
Duration: 99 min.
Story: Danila goes to his older brother to start a new life in Petersburg. His brother is a gangster and a killer, and he puts Danila into this criminal world asking him to kill someone.
Style: suspenseful, grim, harsh, realistic, rough ...
Plot: russian mafia, vigilante, organized crime, life philosophy, brutality, mafia, life is a bitch, gangster, friendship, dark hero, mob hit, youth ...
Time: 90s, year 1997
Place: russia, soviet union, ussr, st. petersburg russia
Is relevant?
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 7.5
 96K
Funny Games (1997)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Austria
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
Style: disturbing, suspense, psychological, psychological thriller, bleak ...
Audience: adult
Plot: psychopath, serial killer, bad guy wins, home invasion, torture, sadism, torment, family in danger, husband wife relationship, evil wins, violence, holiday horror ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, near future, year 1997
Place: austria, germany, europe
Is relevant?
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre ...
Style: apocalyptic, road movie, perverse, futuristic, action packed ...
Audience: boys' night, date night
Plot: dystopia, post apocalypse, apocalypse, truck, desert, loner, car chase, planet, chase, post apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic future, oil ...
Time: future, 20th century, distant future, year 1982, near future ...
Place: australia, oceania, middle east
Is relevant?
Hatfields & McCoys (2012)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
TV show
Story: Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy, close friends and comrades until near the end of the Civil War, return to their neighboring homes to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments.
Style: emotional, suspense, suspenseful, depressing, psychological ...
Plot: civil war, american civil war, old west, vengeance, revenge, gunfight, violence, feud, violence spree, murder, rivalry, death of son ...
Time: 19th century, 1870s, 1890s, 1910s, 1800s ...
Place: west virginia, kentucky, usa
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?
The Witch: Revenge (2024)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, War
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 100 min.
Story: The tale unfolds around an ancient witch from the Ukrainian town of Konotop, who long ago abandoned her extraordinary powers after falling in love with a mortal man. However, tragedy strikes when her beloved is brutally murdered by the russian ...
Style: grim, melancholic, bleak, tense, sinister ...
Plot: vengeance, witchcraft, revenge, witch, retribution, magic, supernatural, occupation, bloodbath, female protagonist, brutality, grief ...
Place: ukraine
Is relevant?
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 6.1
 464
The Shadow (2024)
Genre: Crime, History, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Estonia
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Juhan Liiv, a struggling poet and an unlikely detective, solves gruesome murder cases in Estonia, the Wild West of the crumbling Russian Empire in the 1890s. Investigations take him to miserable dwellings of the local Estonian peasants, luxurious ...
Style: historical drama, melancholic, grim, dark, tense ...
Plot: murder mystery, russian empire, class conflict, witchcraft, anti hero, schizophrenia, superstition, social decay, isolation, folk horror
Time: 1890s
Place: estonia
Is relevant?
Hammer and Bolter (2021)
Genre: Animation, Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: UK
Duration: 20 min.
TV show
Story: Hammer and Bolter is an anthology series that delves into the dark corners of Warhammer, presenting a multitude of different characters and factions.
Style: futuristic, anthology, grim, dark, captivating ...
Audience: adult
Plot: battles, war, universe, space battle, soldier, warrior, fight, adaptation, dystopia, space, violence, moral ambiguity ...
Is relevant?
Cries of Ecstasy, Blows of Death (1973)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story: In 2062, the last remaining humans battle each other in between hump sessions as their supply of clean, breathable air (supplied by a pipeline that's running dry) dwindles to nothing.
Style: bleak, grim, brutal, independent film, weird
Plot: dystopia, violence, survival, post apocalyptic, desperation, rape, mature, anarchy, wasteland, contamination, lawlessness, hopelessness ...
Is relevant?
 6.1
 110
Night-Flowers (1979)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story: Two Vietnam vets, Tom and Nordi, live sad lives in a crumbling New Jersey town. Sharing a one room apartment, they talk about their inability to hold down real work, struggle to get noticed at the VA and fail to connect with women. This changes for ...
Style: dark, grim, bleak, psychological, psychological thriller ...
Plot: murder, rape, vietnam veteran, trauma, ptsd, sexual abuse, mature, veteran, isolation, male friendship, urban decay, toxic relationship ...
Time: 70s
Place: new jersey
Is relevant?
 8.8
 1K
Grey Home (1984)
Genre: Drama
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story: A rather grim depiction of life in home for juvenile delinquents. Stories follow young offenders and attempts of the educators to show them the right path, often facing defeats in changing their behavior, which mostly turns out to be a result of ...
Style: grim, bleak, intense, existential, tragic
Plot: juvenile prison, reform school, social realism, alienation, neglect, moral dilemma, juvenile detention, hopelessness, coming of age, abuse, identity crisis, isolation ...
Time: 80s
Place: eastern europe, former yugoslavia, italy
Is relevant?
The Day the Clown Cried (1972)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: A circus clown is imprisoned by the Nazis and goes with Jewish children to their deaths.
Style: controversial, emotional, tragic ending, grim, disturbing ...
Plot: clown, holocaust, nazi, auschwitz, concentration camp, oppression, innocence lost, accomplice, haunting, tragedy, guilt, prison ...
Time: 1940s
Place: europe
Is relevant?
The Frozen Dead (2016)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 52 min.
TV show
Story: A horrific discovery in a small town nestled high in the French Pyrenees begins to unravel a dark mystery that has been hidden for years. On an unforgiving winter morning, a group of workers discover the headless body of a horse, hanging suspended ...
Style: tense, psychological thriller, suspense, detective, serious ...
Plot: serial killer, investigation, murder, mind game, danger, police detective, mountain, madness, police procedural, mysterious disappearance, revenge, obsession ...
Is relevant?
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