Top Cautionary Movies & TV Shows

Cast

Simona Brown

Eve Hewson

Tom Bateman

Robert Aramayo

Behind Her Eyes (2021) TV Show

7.3 715 votes

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction

Country: United Kingdom, United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 6

Audience: TV-MA

Story: A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife.

Style: cynical

Plot: london, england, based on novel or book, husband wife relationship, friendship, supernatural, psychological thriller, love affair, ...

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

7.3 4.2K votes

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Country: United States of America

Duration: 113 min.

Audience: R

Story: When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

Plot: robbery, corruption, based on novel or book, police, kidnapping, boston, massachusetts, blackmail, ...

Cast

Tessa Thompson

Jon Bernthal

Pablo Schreiber

Marin Ireland

HIS & HERS (2026) TV Show

7.3 472 votes

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 6

Audience: TV-MA

Story: Two estranged spouses — one a detective, the other a news reporter — vie to solve a murder in which each believes the other is a prime suspect.

Plot: loss of loved one, detective, based on novel or book, dementia, bullying, revenge, miniseries, psychological thriller, ...

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Cast

John Krasinski

James Badge Dale

Dominic Fumusa

Max Martini

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)

7.3 4.0K votes

Genre: Drama, History, War

Country: United States of America

Duration: 144 min.

Audience: R

Story: An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

Style: provocative, tense

Plot: central intelligence agency (cia), based on novel or book, libya, assault rifle, grave, mercenary, heroism, biography, ...

Cast

James Woods

Debbie Harry

Sonja Smits

Peter Dvorsky

Videodrome (1983)

7.2 2.5K votes

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction

Country: Canada

Duration: 88 min.

Audience: R

Story: As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.

Style: surreal

Plot: suicide, virtual reality, radio presenter, black market, insanity, paranoia, dystopia, toronto, ...

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence

Josh Hutcherson

Liam Hemsworth

Woody Harrelson

The Hunger Games (2012)

7.2 23.4K votes

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Duration: 142 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage for a struggle of survival and defiance.

Style: cynical, provocative, tense

Plot: based on novel or book, revolution, dystopia, monarchy, female protagonist, fashion, bow and arrow, game, ...

Cast

Sean Penn

Emile Hirsch

Josh Brolin

Diego Luna

Milk (2008)

7.2 2.4K votes

Genre: Drama, History

Country: United States of America

Duration: 128 min.

Audience: R

Story: The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.

Style: intense

Plot: election campaign, politics, homophobia, san francisco, california, mayor, politician, biography, ...

Time: 1970s

Place: california

48 Hours (1988) TV Show

7.2 55 votes

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 39

Episodes: 1167

Audience: TV-14

Story: This newsmagazine series investigates intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all aspects of the human experience. Over its long run, the show has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, driven the reopening — and resolution — of cold cases, and changed numerous lives. CBS News correspondents offer an in-depth look into each story, with the emphasis on solving the mystery at its heart.

Style: suspenseful

Plot: biting, true crime, disturbed, angry, magazine show, complex, suspicious, anxious, ...

Cast

Michael Keaton

Jack Nicholson

Kim Basinger

Robert Wuhl

Batman (1989)

7.2 8.6K votes

Genre: Action, Crime, Fantasy

Country: United States of America

Duration: 126 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: Having witnessed his parents' brutal murder as a child, millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne fights crime in Gotham City disguised as Batman, a costumed hero who strikes fear into the hearts of villains. But when a deformed madman known as 'The Joker' seizes control of Gotham's criminal underworld, Batman must face his most ruthless nemesis ever while protecting both his identity and his love interest, reporter Vicki Vale.

Plot: dual identity, double life, chemical, crime fighter, superhero, villain, based on comic, vigilante, ...

Cast

Olivia Cooke

Kenneth Branagh

William Shatner

Laurie Holden

Fireheart (2022)

7.2 293 votes

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy

Country: Canada, France

Duration: 92 min.

Audience: PG

Story: The film explores the world of firefighters in 1920s New York City and tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who will have to become a hero in order to save her city.

Style: philosophical, provocative

Plot: new york city, fire brigade, affectation, speculative, candid, playful, fireman, cautionary, ...

Time: 1920s

Cast

Issa Rae

Yvonne Orji

Jay Ellis

Natasha Rothwell

Insecure (2016) TV Show

7.1 226 votes

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Country: United States of America

Seasons: 5

Episodes: 44

Audience: TV-MA

Story: Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.

Style: witty

Plot: angry, anxious, cautionary, dramatic, amused, awestruck, bold, complicated, ...

Cast

Sophie Wilde

Alexandra Jensen

Joe Bird

Otis Dhanji

Talk to Me (2023)

7.1 3.8K votes

Genre: Horror

Country: Australia, United Kingdom

Duration: 95 min.

Audience: R

Story: When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

Plot: suicide, trauma, possession, female friendship, addiction, grief, female protagonist, death of mother, ...

Cast

Kirsten Dunst

Josh Hartnett

James Woods

Kathleen Turner

The Virgin Suicides (2000)

7.1 3.6K votes

Genre: Drama, Romance

Country: United States of America

Duration: 97 min.

Audience: R

Story: A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

Plot: suicide, based on novel or book, michigan, suicide attempt, coming of age, suburb, lust, family, ...

Time: 1970s

The Bad Seed (1956)

7.1 266 votes

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Country: United States of America

Duration: 129 min.

Audience: NR

Story: Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite her secret tendency for selfishness. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels.

Plot: lightning, confession, child murder, murder, lightning bolt, psychotic, evil child, cautionary, ...

Cast

Cate Blanchett

Nina Hoss

Nou00e9mie Merlant

Sophie Kauer

TÁR (2022)

7.1 1.5K votes

Genre: Drama, Music

Country: United States of America

Duration: 158 min.

Audience: R

Story: As celebrated conductor Lydia Tár starts rehearsals for a career-defining symphony, the consequences of her past choices begin to echo in the present.

Style: intense

Plot: infidelity, new york city, berlin, germany, composer, musician, classical music, conductor, ...

Place: philippines

Cast

Sarah Polley

Ving Rhames

Jake Weber

Michael Kelly

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

7.1 4.6K votes

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America

Duration: 101 min.

Audience: R

Story: A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.

Style: witty

Plot: nurse, department store, shotgun, pregnancy, bite, habor, bus ride, dark comedy, ...

Cast

Sam Rockwell

Juno Temple

Haley Lu Richardson

Michael Peu00f1a

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

7.1 710 votes

Genre: Action, Comedy, Science Fiction

Country: United States of America, Germany

Duration: 134 min.

Audience: R

Story: A 'Man from the Future' arrives at an LA diner where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial intelligence.

Style: suspenseful, intense

Plot: artificial intelligence (a.i.), time travel, diner, transhumanism, blunt, dark future, reflective, mother son relationship, ...

Place: los angeles, california

Cast

Tom Hardy

Emily Browning

Christopher Eccleston

David Thewlis

Legend (2015)

7.1 4.3K votes

Genre: Crime, Thriller

Country: France, United Kingdom

Duration: 132 min.

Audience: R

Story: Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Plot: gangster, biography, based on true story, twins, aggressive, cautionary, dramatic, foreboding

Cast

Kazunari Ninomiya

Yamato Kochi

Naru Asanuma

Kotone Hanase

Exit 8 (2025)

7.0 591 votes

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Country: Japan

Duration: 95 min.

Audience: PG-13

Story: A man trapped in an endless sterile subway passageway sets out to find Exit 8. The rules of his quest are simple: do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don’t, carry on. Then leave from Exit 8. But even a single oversight will send him back to the beginning. Will he ever reach his goal and escape this infinite corridor?

Style: psychological

Plot: exit, based on video game, found footage, station, anomaly, cautionary, introspective, liminal, ...

Cast

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Shimon Yehuda Hayut

Cecilie Fjellhu00f8y

Pernilla Sju00f6holm

Ayleen Charlotte

The Tinder Swindler (2022)

7.0 1.1K votes

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Country: United Kingdom, United States of America

Duration: 114 min.

Audience: 15

Story: Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, an Israeli conman wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars. Now, some victims plan for payback.

Plot: con man, fraud, dating, con, meeting on the internet, social media, online dating, desperate, ...

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