Challenging films
Movies that are hard to watch. Disturbing and/or emotionally taxing themes.
List activity
948 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
55 titles
- DirectorMarkus SchleinzerStarsMichael FuithDavid RauchenbergerChristine KainFive months in the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- DirectorKim NguyenStarsRachel MwanzaAlain Lino Mic Eli BastienSerge KanyindaSomewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a 14-year-old girl, tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsRachel WeiszMark WahlbergSaoirse RonanCenters on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
- DirectorHwang Dong-hyukStarsGong YooJung Yu-miKim Hyeon-sooBased on real events, this film depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time.
- DirectorCate ShortlandStarsSaskia RosendahlKai-Peter MalinaNele TrebsAs the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents' beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
- DirectorMax FärberböckStarsNina HossEvgeniy SidikhinIrm HermannA woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
- DirectorMicah SmithStarsRaheel RazaRaquel Evita SaraswatiJuliana TaimoorazySeveral Muslim women activists discuss their stories and the state of women's rights in Muslim-majority nations.
- DirectorDavid SchisgallNina AlvarezStarsLaura GuzmanRachel LloydA former sexually exploited woman started the GEMS organization to help young victims escape their pimps and find another way of life.
- DirectorBenjamin NolotMatt DickeyStarsChristian SimpsonJon Morgan WoodwardChad T. WoodA documentary exploring the sex-trade.
- DirectorDee McLachlanStarsEmma LungVeronica SywakSaskia BurmeisterA thriller about trafficking, governmental deportation and the sex slave trade in Melbourne.
- DirectorAndrew LevineStarsAnuradha KoiralaTim RobbinsWinona RyderFilmed in Nepal and India this documentary presents the stories of young girls whose lives have been shattered by the child sex slave trade. The film provides actual footage from inside the brothels of Bombay, known even to the tourists as "The Cages," captured with "spy camera" technology. The documentary also introduces the heroes of the movement who are working to abolish child sex slavery and who remind us that, "these are our daughters."
- DirectorZana BriskiRoss KauffmanStarsKochiAvijit HalderShanti DasTwo documentary filmmakers chronicle their time in Sonagchi, Calcutta and the relationships they developed with children of prostitutes who work the city's notorious red light district.
- DirectorEdet BelzbergStarsCristina IonescuMihai Alexandre TudoseVioleta 'Macarena' RosuA profile of homeless Romanian children who were born victims of the nation's reckless population growth policy during its communist era.
- DirectorRebecca Cammisa"Which Way Home" is a feature documentary film that follows unaccompanied child migrants, on their journey through Mexico, as they try to reach the United States. We follow children like Olga and Freddy, nine-year old Hondurans, who are desperately trying to reach their parents in the US.; children like Jose, a ten-year old El Salvadoran, who has been abandoned by smugglers and ends up alone in a Mexican detention center; and Kevin, a canny, streetwise fourteen-year old Honduran, whose mother hopes that he will reach the U.S. and send money back to her. These are stories of hope and courage, disappointment and sorrow. They are the children you never hear about; the invisible ones.
- DirectorTed BraunStarsDon CheadleAhmed Mahammed AbakaSheikh Ahmed Mohamad AbakarAn examination of the genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur.
- DirectorRob LemkinThet SambathStarsThet SambathNuon CheaPol PotOne of the most harrowing and compelling personal documentaries of our time, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE exposes for the first time the truth about the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge who were behind Cambodia's genocide.
- DirectorCarlos AzpúruaStarsAmalia Pérez DíazJean Carlo SimancasDaniel AlvaradoDuring a police round-up, Mercedes witnesses the unjust murder of her son, a working-class man, by a police captain. Refusing to accept the official version of the story - that her son was a criminal - she launches a campaign for justice. Santiago, a young journalist moved by Mercedes's passion and determination, begins to investigate the story of the police cover-up at the risk of his own life. As the investigation develops, the film exposes the depth of Venezuela's corruption.
- DirectorAmir Bar-LevStarsArnost LustigJan WienerFilmmaker Amir Bar-Lev follows two Czech Holocaust survivors, Jan Weiner and Arnost Lustig, as they revisit Terezin, a labor camp where Arnost was interned for five years and Jan's mother was murdered.
- DirectorRicki SternAnne SundbergStarsNicholas KristofBrian SteidleA documentary that exposes the genocide raging in Darfur, Sudan as seen through the eyes of a former U.S. marine who returns home to make the story public.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsAlex GibneyBrian Keith AllenMoazzam BeggAlex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
- DirectorGini RetickerStarsJanet Johnson BryantEtweda CooperVaiba FlomoA group of women rise up to peace to Liberia and help bring to power the country's first female head of state.
- DirectorMichael CollinsWhen a teenager from a political family in the Philippines is accused of a double murder, the country's entire judicial system is put to the test after years of alleged corruption.