Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "cautionary-tale"

1. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

R | 102 min | Drama

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..

Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

Votes: 899,081 | Gross: $3.64M

2. La Chimera (2023)

130 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

A group of archaeologists and the black market of historical artifacts.

Director: Alice Rohrwacher | Stars: Josh O'Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, Isabella Rossellini

Votes: 5,456

3. Megan Is Missing (2011)

Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller

Two teenage girls encounter an Internet child predator.

Director: Michael Goi | Stars: Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn, Dean Waite, Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer

Votes: 15,499

4. Threads (1984 TV Movie)

TV-MA | 112 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

The effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.

Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierly, Rita May

Votes: 20,123

5. Metropolis (1927)

Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Votes: 185,587 | Gross: $1.24M

6. The Witches (1990)

PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.

Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jasen Fisher, Rowan Atkinson

Votes: 54,675 | Gross: $10.36M

7. Years and Years (2019)

TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

As Britain slowly turns into a dictatorship throughout the years, the lives of a typical busy family from Manchester converge on one crucial night in 2019.

Stars: Anne Reid, Rory Kinnear, Jessica Hynes, T'Nia Miller

Votes: 33,160

8. The War of the Roses (1989)

R | 116 min | Comedy, Romance

A married couple tries everything to drive each other out of the house in a vicious divorce battle.

Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Marianne Sägebrecht

Votes: 57,392 | Gross: $86.89M

9. Frankenstein (1931)

Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.

Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles

Votes: 79,737

10. Open Your Eyes (1997)

R | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez

Votes: 73,273 | Gross: $0.37M

11. Three Girls (2017)

TV-14 | 59 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

Three young girls were groomed, sexually abused, and trafficked by a group of men in Rochdale, as well as the authorities failed to do anything about it.

Stars: Molly Windsor, Ria Zmitrowicz, Liv Hill, Paul Kaye

Votes: 5,210

12. Trust (I) (2010)

R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

A teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.

Director: David Schwimmer | Stars: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato, Jason Clarke

Votes: 44,030 | Gross: $0.12M

13. Reefer Madness (1936)

PG | 66 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

Cautionary tale that features a fictionalized take on marijuana use. A trio of drug dealers lead innocent teenagers to become addicted to "reefer" cigarettes by holding wild parties with jazz music.

Director: Louis J. Gasnier | Stars: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles, Dave O'Brien

Votes: 9,352

14. Addicted (I) (2014)

R | 106 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller

A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.

Director: Bille Woodruff | Stars: Sharon Leal, Boris Kodjoe, John Newberg, Tyson Beckford

Votes: 12,246 | Gross: $17.38M

15. Demon Seed (1977)

Approved | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

A scientist creates Proteus--an organic super computer with artificial intelligence which becomes obsessed with human beings, and in particular the creator's wife.

Director: Donald Cammell | Stars: Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerrit Graham, Berry Kroeger

Votes: 10,011

16. Blue Story (2019)

R | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Musical

A gang war dooms the lifelong bond of south London friends in this acclaimed crime drama that features its writer-director as a rapping Greek chorus.

Director: Rapman | Stars: Micheal Ward, Richie Campbell, Rohan Nedd, Sean Sagar

Votes: 8,212

17. Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Music, Musical

After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.

Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor

Votes: 9,834 | Gross: $4.00M

18. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013)

PG-13 | 111 min | Drama

An ambitious married woman's temptation by a handsome billionaire leads to betrayal, recklessness, and forever alters the course of her life.

Director: Tyler Perry | Stars: Jurnee Smollett, Vanessa Williams, Brandy Norwood, Kim Kardashian

Votes: 12,436 | Gross: $51.98M

19. Cyber Bully (2011 TV Movie)

TV-14 | 87 min | Drama

A teenager is subjected to a campaign of bullying by classmates through a social networking site.

Director: Charles Binamé | Stars: Emily Osment, Kay Panabaker, Meaghan Rath, Kelly Rowan

Votes: 13,246

20. Shrooms (2007)

Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

A group of friends are stalked and murdered whilst looking for psilocybin mushrooms in the Irish woods.

Director: Paddy Breathnach | Stars: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen

Votes: 17,678 | Gross: $0.00M

21. Taurus (2022)

98 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Follows the last days of a rising but problematic musician.

Director: Tim Sutton | Stars: Megan Fox, Colson Baker, Ruby Rose, Scoot McNairy

Votes: 1,256

22. Hidden Agenda (1990)

R | 108 min | Drama, Thriller

When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.

Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Frances McDormand, Maurice Roëves, Robert Patterson, Bernard Bloch

Votes: 4,606 | Gross: $1.03M

23. Night Visions (2001–2002)

TV-14 | 43 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

"Night Visions" was a hosted anthology series similar to "The Twilight Zone" - some tales are supernatural, others are just commentaries on twisted human nature. Each hour show is made up of two half-hour stories aired back-to-back.

Stars: Henry Rollins, Emily Holmes, Dion Luther, Ty Olsson

Votes: 1,050

24. Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

In need of quick money, a fallen former cop recruits a hard-bitten ex-con and a debt-ridden nightclub singer to pull off a bank job. But as the animosity between them boils over, the entire plan threatens to implode.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Shelley Winters

Votes: 5,565

25. The War Game (1966)

48 min | Drama, War

A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.

Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Michael Aspel, Peter Graham, Dave Baldwin, Kathy Staff

Votes: 7,313

26. The Housemaid (1960)

Not Rated | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A composer and his wife are thrown into turmoil when a housemaid becomes more than they bargained for.

Director: Kim Ki-young | Stars: Jin Kyu Kim, Jeung-nyeo Ju, Eun-shim Lee, Aeng-ran Eom

Votes: 5,699

27. No Blade of Grass (1970)

R | 96 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

An environmental catastrophe destroys civilization. Led by father John and mother Ann, the Custance clan sets out on a quest for safety in a savage world that may just end up turning them into the very thing they are fleeing.

Director: Cornel Wilde | Stars: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill, Lynne Frederick

Votes: 2,059 | Gross: $0.35M

28. Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960)

Approved | 81 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

In Canada, a British schoolmaster meets official resistance when he learns that his 9-year-old daughter has been the victim of the pedophile patriarch of the town's most powerful family.

Director: Cyril Frankel | Stars: Gwen Watford, Patrick Allen, Felix Aylmer, Niall MacGinnis

Votes: 1,984

29. Frankenstein (2004)

TV-14 | 177 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and swears revenge.

Stars: Luke Goss, Alec Newman, Nicole Lewis, Dan Stevens

Votes: 1,575

30. The Chocolate War (1988)

R | 104 min | Drama

The Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence.

Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: John Glover, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Wallace Langham, Doug Hutchison

Votes: 2,446 | Gross: $0.30M

31. Lessons of Darkness (1992 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 54 min | Documentary, War

This film surveys the disaster of the Kuwaiti oil fields in flames, with little narration and scarcely any interviews. Hell on Earth is presented in such transcendent visions and music that one can only be fascinated by it.

Director: Werner Herzog | Star: Werner Herzog

Votes: 6,751

32. Return to Babylon (2013)

Not Rated | 75 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama

The scandals and decadent lives of the 1920's greatest movie stars.

Director: Alex Monty Canawati | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Maria Conchita Alonso, Tippi Hedren, Debi Mazar

Votes: 222

33. Hisss (2010)

Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror

Based on the Far Eastern myth of the snake woman who is able to take on human form.

Director: Jennifer Lynch | Stars: Mallika Sherawat, Irrfan Khan, Jeff Doucette, Divya Dutta

Votes: 1,904

34. SideFX (2004)

R | 85 min | Horror

Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll will never be the same after a medieval sex drug makes a comeback on the college party scene. Everyone wants to try this "orgasm" drug but no one considers the... See full summary »

Director: Patrick Johnson | Stars: Amanda Phillips, Todd Swift, Amber Heard, Aaron Garrett

Votes: 806

35. Sex Madness (1934)

Not Rated | 57 min | Drama

This exploitation film belongs to the social guidance genre of quasi-documentary narratives, which exhort young adults to follow particular moral and social prescriptions related to sexuality and drug use.

Director: Dwain Esper | Stars: Vivian McGill, Rose Tapley, Al Rigali, Mark Daniels

Votes: 991

36. Gog (1954)

Approved | 83 min | Drama, Horror, Romance

A security agent investigates sabotage and murder at a secret underground laboratory, home of two experimental robots.

Director: Herbert L. Strock | Stars: Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall, John Wengraf

Votes: 1,622

37. The Strange World of Planet X (1958)

Approved | 75 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Horror

A friendly visitor from outer space warns against conducting experiments with the Earth's magnetic field, that could mutate insects into giant monsters.

Director: Gilbert Gunn | Stars: Forrest Tucker, Gaby André, Martin Benson, Alec Mango

Votes: 1,361

38. SEX! With Hot Robots (2010)

12 min | Short, Comedy

SEX! With Hot Robots is a 10 minute comedy that takes place 30 years in the future, a time when hot robot 'maids' have permeated suburban North American homes. The film documents the rise ... See full summary »

Director: Jay Dahl | Stars: Amy Kerr, Christian Murray, Mark A. Owen, Jacquie Thillaye

Votes: 48

39. Sally, Irene and Mary (1925)

75 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Three women performing in a Broadway show face temptation, love, money, betrayal and tragedy as the cost of fame.

Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, Sally O'Neil, William Haines

Votes: 291

40. Slade in Flame (1975)

91 min | Drama, Music, Musical

Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.

Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Don Powell, Jim Lea, Noddy Holder, Dave Hill

Votes: 663

41. The Misty Green Sky (2016)

81 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A young girl in another solar system asks an innocent question that sets off a chain reaction of adventure, destruction and tragedy.

Directors: Jack Foster, Jack Foster | Stars: Jeremy Harkless, Tiffany Lindstrom, Maggie H. Taylor

Votes: 233

42. Teenage Tramp (1973)

R | 80 min | Crime, Drama

Wayward, uninhibited young runaway Kim has fallen in with a bad crowd. She decides to flee them and head to the West Coast to reunite with her uptight, neurotic, estranged older sister ... See full summary »

Director: Anton Holden | Stars: Robin Lane, Alisha Fontaine, Anthony Massena, Don Jarrell

Votes: 188

43. The Orgy at Lil's Place (1963)

R | 77 min | Drama

Narrator, Ann, becomes a nude model for a NY artist to earn some money for her actual interests. Things start off great, but as she's slowly introduced to the sleazier side of the scene, she begins wondering whether she should quit.

Director: Jerald Intrator | Stars: June Ashley, John Lyon, Bob Curtis, Kari Knudsen

Votes: 83 | Gross: $0.33M

44. Party Girl (1930)

Passed | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

A cautionary tale. Ellen's past as a "party girl" is carefully hidden but may be exposed when another party girl tricks her fiance into marriage.

Director: Victor Halperin | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jeanette Loff, Judith Barrie, Marie Prevost

Votes: 322

45. Don't Talk to Strange Men (1962)

Not Rated | 65 min | Crime, Drama

An innocent girl is "groomed" over the telephone and nearly becomes the victim of the attacker, only to put her younger sister's life in grave danger.

Director: Pat Jackson | Stars: Christina Gregg, Janina Faye, Cyril Raymond, Gillian Lind

Votes: 471

46. Bleed Out (II) (2018)

TV-14 | 88 min | Documentary, Drama, Romance

After a routine partial hip replacement operation leaves his mother in a coma with permanent brain damage, what starts as a son's video diary becomes a citizen's investigation into the ... See full summary »

Director: Stephen Burrows | Stars: Judith Burrows, Stephen Burrows

Votes: 507

47. V.D. (1961)

91 min | Drama

A high-school track star's wedding plans are capsized by venereal disease and a bad, beautiful new girl in town. His coach and a physician steer him into the light again.

Director: H. Haile Chace | Stars: Dolores Faith, Mory Schoolhouse, Charlotte Stewart, Michael Bell

Votes: 202

48. The Hard Road (1973)

R | 85 min | Drama

The cautionary tale of 17-year-old Sherman Oaks high-schooler Pam Banner, who has a baby out of wedlock. The baby is adopted, but Pam's too embarrassed to return to school, so her dad gets ... See full summary »

Director: Gary Graver | Stars: Connie Nelson, John Alderman, Catherine Howard, Gary Kent

Votes: 157

49. To Build a Fire (1969)

52 min | Adventure, Drama

Based off of the version of this story Jack London wanted to write. A man goes traveling alone with his dog with the temperature -50 and it is getting colder and colder.

Director: David Cobham | Stars: Ian Hogg, Orson Welles

Votes: 159

50. Wilted Rose (2017)

29 min | Short, Drama

Cautionary tale of how a teenage girl mistakes immature physical passion for love. Caught in a trap of pain and confusion, how can she escape misery and pain and lose the love of her life? Based on a true story by Melody Angelique.

Director: Michael Lee Buie | Stars: Cynda Williams, Joseph Curtis Callender, Janetlys Rodriguez, Joshua T. Shipman