Child abuse in movies
Movies featuring mention or visual depictions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse of kids.
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- DirectorWayne KramerStarsPaul WalkerCameron BrightChazz PalminteriA low-ranking thug is entrusted by his crime boss to dispose of a gun that killed corrupt cops, but things get out of control when the gun ends up in wrong hands.
- DirectorJohn N. SmithStarsHenry CzernyJohnny MorinaBrian DooleyThe true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage ran by a religious community in Newfoundland.
- DirectorJohn N. SmithStarsHenry CzernySebastian SpenceLise RoyFifteen years after the events of The Boys of St. Vincent took place, the various boys involved are brought in to testify against the brothers, now finally standing trial, who assaulted them when they were children. The former head of the orphanage, Peter Lavin, has been married for several years at this point, has two children, and is living in Montreal when he is placed under arrest and brought to stand trial. While he maintains his innocence, the boy he favoured durring those years, Kevin Reevey, as well as many others, are faced with revisiting the abuse and trauma they sustained as children.
- DirectorAsia ArgentoStarsAsia ArgentoDylan SprouseCole SprouseSeven-year-old Jeremiah is pulled from his foster home and thrown into a troubled life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah.
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.
- DirectorDennis LeeStarsRyan ReynoldsWillem DafoeEmily WatsonThe Taylor family is devastated by an accident that takes place on the day their matriarch is due to graduate from college -- decades after leaving to raise her children.
- DirectorDamian HarrisStarsGillian JacobsJohn MalkovichRyan SimpkinsAfter being abducted as children, and suffering years of abuse, a teenage boy and girl find themselves living on the street.
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsJennifer LopezVince VaughnVincent D'OnofrioAn F.B.I. Agent persuades a social worker, who is adept with a new experimental technology, to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to learn where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.
- DirectorDouglas BarrStarsPeri GilpinTeri PoloMaria del MarIn the 1950s, two actresses set up a charity home for "orphans"--actually, children who were purposely abandoned and shunned because of their mixed ethnicity. The children find themselves being loved and looked after properly.
- DirectorAisling WalshStarsAidan QuinnIain GlenMarc WarrenThe true story of a single teacher's courage to stand up against an untouchable prefect's sadistic disciplinary regime and other abuse in a Catholic Reformatory and Industrial School in 1939 Ireland.
- DirectorStevan MenaStarsMichael BiehnAlexandra DaddarioBrett RickabyThe horrific account of 6 year old Martin Bristol, abducted from his backyard swing and forced to witness the brutal crimes of a deranged madman.
- StarsJoanne WoodwardSally FieldBrad DavisA young woman whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed sixteen different personalities is treated by a doctor.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsJessica LangeTammy BlanchardRon WhiteA true story of a young woman whose abusive childhood results in her developing a multiple personality disorder.
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsFaye DunawayDiana ScarwidSteve ForrestThe abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsRobert De NiroLeonardo DiCaprioEllen BarkinThe story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.
- DirectorDaniel GrouStarsClaude LegaultRobert NaylorEugénie BeaudryTommy, 10 years old, is well known by Social Services. He is considered a danger to society. Gilles, his guardian at this halfway house, sees potential for redemption in this kid driven by violence.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsMark RuffaloMichael KeatonRachel McAdamsThe true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsJean RenoGary OldmanNatalie Portman12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRobin WilliamsMatt DamonBen AffleckWill Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
- DirectorDestin Daniel CrettonStarsBrie LarsonFrantz TurnerJohn Gallagher Jr.A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobert De NiroKevin BaconBrad PittAfter a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.
- DirectorCatherine HardwickeStarsEvan Rachel WoodHolly HunterNikki ReedA thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend.
- DirectorBilly Bob ThorntonStarsBilly Bob ThorntonDwight YoakamJ.T. WalshKarl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsGabourey SidibeMo'NiquePaula PattonIn New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.
- DirectorGregory WilsonStarsWilliam AthertonBlythe AuffarthBlanche BakerFollows the unspeakable torture and abuses committed on a teenage girl in the care of her aunt and the boys who witness and fail to report the crime.
- DirectorTommy O'HaverStarsElliot PageHayley McFarlandNick SearcyThe true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
- DirectorJorge DoradoStarsMark StrongTaissa FarmigaBrian CoxA man with the ability to enter people's memories takes on the case of a brilliant, troubled sixteen-year-old girl to determine whether she is a sociopath or a victim of trauma.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsAlfredo CastroRoberto FaríasAntonia ZegersA crisis counselor is sent by the Catholic Church to a small Chilean beach town where disgraced priests and nuns, suspected of crimes ranging from child abuse to baby-snatching from unwed mothers, live secluded, after an incident occurs.
- DirectorPeter KosminskyStarsMichelle PfeifferRenée ZellwegerRobin WrightA teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.
- DirectorJeffrey BloomStarsLouise FletcherVictoria TennantKristy SwansonChildren are hidden away under an attic by their conspiring mother and grandmother.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
- DirectorMatthew BrightStarsReese WitherspoonKiefer SutherlandBokeem WoodbineA twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonDerek LukeJoy BryantAntwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.
- DirectorJohn CrowleyStarsAndrew GarfieldPeter MullanShaun EvansThe story of a young Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a violent crime he committed as a child.
- DirectorSherry HormannStarsAntonia Campbell-HughesThure LindhardtAmelia PidgeonA young Austrian girl is kidnapped and held in captivity for eight years. Based on the factual case of Natascha Kampusch.
- DirectorLukas MoodyssonStarsOksana AkinshinaArtyom BogucharskiyPavel PonomaryovSixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
- DirectorMarco KreuzpaintnerStarsKevin KlineKathleen GatiPaulina GaitanAdriana, 13, is kidnapped in Mexico City by Russian sex traffickers. Her criminal 17 y.o. brother starts looking for her. Across the border in Texas, he gets help from a cop.
- DirectorTina MabryStarsAdam ClarkMalcolm GoodwinMichael HyattThree poor Black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family's cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsEverlyn SampiTianna SansburyKenneth BranaghIn 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
- DirectorMikael HåfströmStarsAndreas WilsonHenrik LundströmGustaf SkarsgårdA teenage boy expelled from school for fighting arrives at a boarding school where the systematic bullying of younger students is encouraged as a means to maintain discipline, and decides to fight back.
- DirectorRichard DonnerDavid Mickey EvansStarsLorraine BraccoJohn HeardAdam BaldwinA father recounts a dark period of his childhood when he and his little brother lived in the suburbs.
- DirectorNicole KassellStarsKevin BaconKyra SedgwickYasiin BeyA child molester returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.
- DirectorAnjelica HustonStarsJennifer Jason LeighRon EldardGlenne HeadlyA mother and daughter find their lives adversely affected when a new man enters the picture. Will their family ever be what they expect?
- DirectorTim RothStarsRay WinstoneAnnabelle ApsionKate AshfieldAn alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsNick NolteSissy SpacekJames CoburnA deeply troubled small-town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while other events jeopardize his sanity.
- DirectorChris MengesStarsWilliam HurtNathan YappKeith AllenGraham, a lonely Welsh postal worker, adopts James, a troubled ten-year-old boy. Graham always wanted a son, but James loves his biological father too much to give Graham a chance. Will the two be able to accept each other as family?
- DirectorLaurie CollyerStarsMaggie GyllenhaalRyan SimpkinsSam BottomsSherry tries to integrate again into society and become a good mother.
- DirectorJordan MelamedStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittMichael BacallZooey DeschanelAfter attacking another player with a bat during baseball at school, Lyle's sent to the psych ward. He meets other teenagers with problems. Will group therapy help?
- DirectorJoseph EllisonStarsDan GrimaldiCharles BonetBill RicciA disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.
- DirectorMichael MorrisseyStarsCaleb SteinmeyerZulay HenaoBill SageA traumatized boy grows into a shy, determined teenager who patrols the mean streets of New York City, helping those in need and dishing out severe punishment to remorseless thugs.
- DirectorThomas MignoneStarsBrittany SnowJosh JanowiczClayne CrawfordA lurid, dark look into the lives of sex workers, where victims of child abuse deal with the consequences later in life.
- DirectorBill MaherStarsCharlize TheronNick StahlAnnaSophia RobbThe drama follows a twelve-year-old girl's struggle to come to terms with her mother's abandonment.
- DirectorMichael CuestaStarsBrian CoxPaul DanoBruce AltmanA 15-year-old Long Island boy loses everything and everyone he knows, soon becoming involved in a relationship with a much older man.
- DirectorHarry Bromley DavenportStarsMelissa ErricoMichael LernerJoe RegalbutoBased on the actual events of one of the most horrific cases of child abuse ever to be documented, this haunting drama tells the tale of a young girl that was locked in a room for over 12 years.
- DirectorFrank WhaleyStarsNoah FleissKaren YoungCamryn ManheimA disadvantaged, abused, neglected, exploited but basically decent kid slips into criminality while trying to cope with his harsh, inescapable reality.
- DirectorJános SzászStarsLászló GyémántAndrás GyémántPiroska MolnárTwin siblings enduring the harshness of WWII in a village on the Hungarian border hedge their survival on studying and learning from the evil surrounding them.
- DirectorAntonio TibaldiStarsRyan PhillippeNastassja KinskiJohn Savage19 y.o. Jimmy' s dad is a vicious, impotent Vietnam vet, who forces his wife and son to have incest. He has a secret he'll kill to keep. Jimmy won't abandon his two kid brothers by leaving.
- DirectorPhilip RidleyStarsViggo MortensenLindsay DuncanJeremy CooperIn the 1950s, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.
- DirectorAndrew Droz PalermoTracy Droz TragosStarsAlyssa JewellAndrew JewellElizabeth JewellRich Hill intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in an impoverished Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.
- DirectorPernilla AugustStarsNoomi RapaceOla RapaceOuti MäenpääA drama set in 1970s Sweden and centered on a young woman's experiences growing up in a home riddled with abuse and alcoholism.
- DirectorJacob RoebuckStarsMiles ElliotBetsy RothJosh BerryOn his 10th birthday, Eli, a neglected and abused kid, is taken to the hospital by police who respond to a domestic disturbance call. Eli is removed from his home and is placed in Locustwood, a facility little better than a youth prison.
- DirectorTom McLoughlinStarsAndy GarciaVincent KartheiserTrevor BlumasA seemingly-untroubled adolescent carries disturbing secrets that compel a psychiatrist to unearth the patient's gruesome past.
- DirectorKirsten SheridanStarsElaine CassidyCillian MurphySarah GallagherPig and Runt - born on the same day, in the same hospital, moments apart. Twins, all but by blood.
- DirectorJohn ErmanStarsBernadette PetersJohn GloverDan LauriaThe true story of David Rothenberg whose disturbed father set him on fire.
- DirectorJimmy ScreamerClauzStarsRuby LaroccaBrandon SlagleJoey SmackA troubled group of children living on the same block are haunted by a talking dog named Labby who brings them on surreal hell-rides between different dimensions and time periods.
- DirectorSondra LockeStarsSondra LockeRobert TownsendChristopher HewettSeveral shady and shallow people try to profit, one after the other, from a physically deformed teenager whose face looks like a snout of a rodent and who lives hidden in a city garbage dump, alone and miserable.
- DirectorJeremy ThomasStarsJohn HurtChristian BaleDaniel BenzaliBobby Platt is a mentally slow young man who escapes an abusive, hateful stepfather who has killed his pets one by one. To save himself, Bobby runs away and meets a strange old man who wanders the highways to bury roadkill animals. Bobby becomes the old man's apprentice and learns to see the world of nature in a strange idyllic way. But soon the shadow of his stepfather catches up to him and Bobby's world explodes into a grotesque nightmare.
- DirectorGlendyn IvinStarsHugo WeavingTom RussellAnita HeghA young boy travels across Australia with his father, who's wanted by the law for committing a violent crime.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsBill MumyBarry RobinsMiles ChapinA group of social misfits at a summer camp for boys run away to save penned-in buffaloes from a rifle club's slaughter.
- DirectorMarkus ImbodenStarsKatja RiemannStefan KurtMaximilian SimonischekA Swiss-German rural peasant family takes Max, a crude 15-year-old boy, into a foster situation of constant bullying. Soon, a foster girl is added to the mix.
- DirectorLuc DionneStarsMarianne FortierSerge PostigoHélène Bourgeois LeclercAfter her mother's sudden death, Aurore Gagnon is abused by her disturbed stepmother as her town remains in the silence followed by her death. Based on a true story.
- DirectorColin GreggStarsLiam NeesonHarry TowbHugh O'ConorAn Irish reform school priest questions his calling as a young, epileptic runaway arrives. Each recognizes the other as kindred spirits and escape together. As police close in and money dwindles, the desperate priest makes bad decisions.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsKerry FoxAlexia KeoghKaren FergussonJanet Frame was a brilliant child who, as a teen, was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. Explore Janet's discovery of the world and her life in Europe as her books are published to acclaim.
- DirectorAchero MañasStarsJuan José BallestaPablo GalánAlberto JiménezAlfredo is a kid who begins in a new new school where he makes a friend, Pablo. Alfredo realizes that Pablo is a victim of home abuse by his father, and decides to involve his own family in order to help his friend.
- DirectorBill GillaneJoshua SamsonStarsLisa SpurrierBill GillaneDusti Jones12-yr-old Jessica Jones world is torn apart when she is taken out of her abusive home & placed in to Foster care. Jessica will grapple with her past, present, & future. She will meet numerous struggles along the way.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsNadine NortierJean-Claude GuilbertMarie CardinalA young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.
- DirectorRon BrownStarsAdrian GrenierPolly DraperLeila ArcieriA psychological drama about an unstable man, tormented by nightmares, who seeks help from a shrink but is pushed over the edge into increasingly dangerous, psychotic territory by a relationship he is unable to control.
- DirectorScott ReynoldsStarsPaolo RotondoPaul GloverChris GrahamA female psychologist wants to understand the minds of a confessed serial killer who spent the last five years in a mental hospital because of his state.
- DirectorMatt CimberStarsMillie PerkinsLonny ChapmanVanessa BrownA disturbed woman is haunted by memories of childhood abuse, which culminates in a murder spree.
- DirectorMarkus SchleinzerStarsMichael FuithDavid RauchenbergerChristine KainFive months in the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
- DirectorGianni AmelioStarsEnrico Lo VersoValentina ScaliciGiuseppe IeracitanoAntonio, a policeman (carabiniere), has an order to take two children (Rosetta and her brother Luciano) from Milan to Sicily to an orphanage. Their mother has been arrested for forcing Rosetta (11 years old) to work as a prostitute. First the relation between Antonio and the children is tough, but it relaxes so they become temporary friends.
- DirectorMario AzzopardiStarsPolly WalkerLuc PicardIsabelle BlaisAs a small-town social worker investigates a commune headed by a spiritual leader calling himself Moses, she discovers a dead child, sadistic rituals, and ruthless mental and physical abuse.
- DirectorClaude MillerStarsClément van den BerghEmmanuelle BercotYves VerhoevenA schoolboy Nicholas always worries about something. When he goes on a school skiing trip, all his visions and nightmares take him over.
- DirectorSamira MakhmalbafStarsMassoumeh NaderiZahra NaderiGhorban Ali NaderiAfter twelve years of imprisonment by their own parents, two sisters are finally released by social workers to face the outside world for the first time.
- DirectorBruce PittmanStarsMichelle St. JohnKim Bruisedhead FoxMarianne JonesA young Native Canadian (First Nations person) fights to keep her culture and identity when she is abducted to a residential school.
- DirectorGunnar VikeneStarsJørgen Hausberg NilsenKaroline StemreSindre Kvalvåg JacobsenYou don't choose your family. You choose your friends. 'Vegas' is the story of Thomas, Marianne, and Terje--three teenagers with nowhere to go. After witnessing his mother being beaten up, Thomas is sent to a young people's refuge. No one will tell him where his brother is, and Thomas vows to find him. At the refuge, he meets Marianne, who is always screwing up, and Terje, who seems like he's from another planet altogether. The three of them find that they share a dream, and together they embark on a journey of love, hate, and trust. Nobody ends up where they planned to be, but everybody finds a home.
- DirectorBrent BambicStarsAustin O'BrienDemetrius NavarroArielle PaulA reality-based drama about a teen who runs away from an abusive home, ends up in a shelter in Hollywood and struggles to build a new life.
- DirectorIvan FílaStarsLenka VlasákováChristian RedlHanna Schygulla51-year-old Herbert Strehlow, a furniture restorer, falls in love with 21-year-old Lea, who has not spoken a word since childhood when her father killed her mother. She bears a striking resemblance to Herbert's dead wife. They get married, but their relationship seems doomed, until gradually each one manages to penetrate the mysterious world of the other, and they begin to realize that they are bound by a kind of spiritual relationship. For Lea it is the death of her mother, for Herbert it is the death of his first wife. His hard exterior slowly beings to thaw, and he starts to show feelings and responses that soften Lea's initial hatred and fear of him, and which put their relationship in a more positive light.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsOmero AntonuttiSaverio MarconiMarcella MichelangeliThe son of a shepherd embarks in the quest of emancipating himself from a tough lifestyle that his condition and his father force on him.
- DirectorLászló RanódyGyula MészárosStarsZsuzsa CzinkócziAnna NagySándor HorváthAn orphan girl suffers abuse from her adopting parents.
- DirectorAngela PopeStarsSam BouldMartin DonovanIan HartFollowing the break-up of his marriage after revealing his homosexuality, GP Martin Wyatt loses custody of his son Oliver to his now ex-wife Hannah and her new partner Frank. It is not long, however, until Oliver appears at the house of Martin and his new lover Tom claiming to have been beaten up by boys in the park. After another incident, Martin puts two and two together and comes to the conclusion that Frank has been beating Oliver without Hannah's knowledge. Martin then begins a long courtroom custody battle to win back his son.
- DirectorIdo MizrahyStarsCooper MusgrovePeter GeretyLaila RobinsConnie Mae is a single mother and lingerie model in a bible belt 1960's southern town, a one woman scandal. She struggles to keep her life afloat amongst judging small town eyes that both resent and love her beauty.
- DirectorYam LaranasStarsCarmina VillaroelRhian RamosTJ TrinidadA 12 year old cold case is reopened when three teens are missing in an old abandoned road where a gruesome murder is left undiscovered for three decades.
- DirectorStephen TolkinStarsChristine LahtiMary Kay PlaceAndrew DucoteFact-based story about a Bible-quoting woman who in 1990 murdered a camp counselor, whom she learned molested her 7 year old son. Seeking revenge, she turns to murder when she learns the man had previously been convicted of the same crime in 1983 and got off with probation.
- DirectorAgnès MerletStarsLudovic VandendaeleEric da SilvaSandrine BlanckeBrothers Martin and Simon, not yet teens, are incorrigible vandals; Martin runs away from reform school, Simon from foster homes, and they always find each other in a seacoast town of Lignan, where their destructive behavior is infamous. (It may date to their mother's leaving the family.) Martin is philosophical, romantic, and poetic: he dreams of being the son of a shark; he holds tight to a book about goldfish his mother gave him. In both halting and wild ways, he tries to court Marie, a neighbor girl. Simon, with a pocketknife and an intractable will, seems more dangerous to others. What, on earth, is there for these children-becoming-men?
- DirectorDante TomaselliStarsIrma St. PauleChristie SanfordDanny LopesSixteen year-old Bobby is emotionally damaged by his mother's early death. He accidentally causes a nun's death, unleashing a chain of supernatural events that lead him into the pits of Hell.
- DirectorRobert McGinleyStarsBrendan FletcherIke GingrichRosemary WeldenAn abused runaway with pyromaniac tendencies teams up with a metal sculptor. Together they blow away the art world and a local crime boss.
- DirectorNick GagliaStarsStephen Michael KaneGeorge GallagherKether DonohueA 16-year-old boy dies as a result of malpractice and abuse in a tough-love, wilderness, drug-treatment facility.