Best movies like Cruelty

The story begins in 1923 where after an accident, a newspaper reporter needs to raise $5,000 to pay for an operation, otherwise his young sister will be crippled for life. The desperate reporter is finally able to get the cash from a shady acquaintance, Riggs. Eight years later in New York, circumstances conspire to place the reporter as the number one suspect in the murder of a showgirl. With no witness or alibi, the reporter devises a plan to smoke out the real culprit. A meeting is arranged under the cover of night and to the surprise of both men, the murderer is Riggs. Out of gratitude for past generosity to his sister, the reporter agrees not to expose Riggs, however unwittingly leads the police to him! Riggs is found guilty, and a dramatic scene in the courthouse ensues.

A Liverpool juvenile liaison officer struggles with a young and dangerous pyromaniac.

Questioned as a murder suspect, solid (but drunk) citizen Al Willis attacks his police questioners, is beaten, and swears vengeance against them. Next night, Lieut. Parks is murdered; Willis is the only suspect in the eyes of tough Chief Conroy, who pursues him doggedly despite lack of evidence. The obsessed Conroy is dismissed from the force, but continues to harass Willis, who flees to a sleazy town on the Mexican border. Of course, Conroy follows. But which is crazy, Conroy or Willis?

Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.

A former boyracer, who married his first love and took a job in one of the fish factories, now has a 17 year-old-son of his own following in his footsteps and can no longer ignore the fact he’s going nowhere. Unable to be physically or emotionally present with his family, he takes his son’s car out for one final joy ride and risks losing the love that surrounds him

Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises, unlikely suspects and grave danger. Though it's widely believed the murder was committed by an incarcerated serial killer, Jesse suspects another killer is at large and is hell-bent on bringing him to justice.

When a hard-working single mother, Sara Diaz, has her children taken from her after she is suspected of injuring her son, Ally Fisher, a recent law school graduate, is assigned to represent her case before Judge Martha Schulman, a veteran of the Family Court System.

Following the death of CEO Robert Loring at precisely 10:44 pm, the FBI sends in Jordan Price, one of their best and brightest to solve the case. As other key executives are murdered at exactly the same time, Jordan finds herself investigating the past in order to solve the case. She quickly discovers the ultimate cover up and is under the gun to solve the mystery before the next victim is killed.

Mystery writer Marian Carstairs is hard at work trying to finish her latest novel. Her three children meanwhile are entertaining themselves by trying to solve a murder in their own neighborhood. In between gathering clues, the kids play matchmaker by trying to fix up their widowed mom with the handsome detective investigating the case.

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.

A priest sets out to catch the man who killed one of his colleagues.

Set in the early 1990s, "As You Are" is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, a disgraced detective encounters the ghost of a murdered woman who wants to help him identify her killer.

Patty McCormack's "Mommy" is psychotically obsessed with her 12-year-old daughter Jessica Ann -- so much so that when she finds out Jessica didn't get the "Student of the Year" award again, she solves the problem by murdering the teacher who didn't recommend her for it. She dismisses the killing as inconsequential ("a minor accident"), but the homicide detective assigned to the case suspects her immediately, and an insurance investigator who also suspects her tries to get close to Jessica Ann to find out what really happened.

Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.

An apathetic police unit brings in a mysterious young woman to help solve a grisly homicide.

Mary Giordano is a bright, intelligent student who goes to a catholic school. She also has an addiction to mystery novels and detective magazines, which inspire her to do her own detective work. When she starts snooping around on the case of a murderer of teenage girls, it gets her in hot water with her mentor Detective Jerry Gunn. But it also starts a team up with police cadet Tony Campbell. The two work together to find the murderer. But the closer Mary gets to solving the murder, the more danger she puts herself in of being the next victim.

A telephone operator plays homicide detective with her boyfriend, making it harder for the police.

Cop Andy Doyle investigates a car-bombing murder and the killing of a sleazy modeling agency owner. Are they connected?

A Montreal police inspector cracks a murder case with clues from the victim's diary.

A Boston police officer goes to Nantucket to investigate the murder of his partner, but he finds more than he bargained for.

When the daughter of a powerful senator is kidnapped by a psychopath, the senator requests a particular homicide detective, Caitlyn Conner, to head up the case. She knows the kidnapper better than anyone else - he just killed her husband. Against the advice of her closest friend, a police psychologist, Caitlyn enters the killer's web of sadistic games and discovers the crime is far more twisted than anyone imagined.

A detective discovers his son-in-law is cheating on his wife. He confronts the other woman and accidentally kills her, then tries to pin the crime on a local derelict.

A series of cop murders plagues the city. The remaining officers on the force are increasingly worried as the deaths increase with no leads. As the department's finest must solve the case before the killer strikes again.

An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.

A society woman gets involved with a gangster only to find he has hidden plans.

Eying a large inheritance, a reporter marries a rich woman with failing health. When she begins feeling healthy after the wedding, the reporter takes drastic measures to make sure his wife dies.

A man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.

Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the original 1950s "Dragnet" radio show and TV show (which also had it's own movie in 1954, from the same creative team). However, the pilot wasn't actually aired until 1969. In this feature-length entry, Sgt. Joe Friday is called back from vacation to work with his partner, Officer Bill Gannon, on a missing persons case. Two amateur female models and a young war widow have vanished, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In the course of tracking down Johnson and the young ladies, the detectives wind up with two different descriptions of the suspect, one of which closely resembles a dead body found in a vacant lot. But the dead man, later identified as Charles LeBorg of France, proves not to be J. Johnson, when a third young model disappears.

Detectives investigate the Central Park murder of a young woman with a Marine Corps tattoo.

After a wave of unsolved car thefts, an insurance company calls in a private investigator to solve the case. While the chief of police isn't thrilled about having an outsider come and show up his men, one of the officers is a former girlfriend who's more than willing to help him out in any way she can.

After serving three long years in prison, a registered sex offender returns to civilization, only to find an environment that's completely uncivilized. At the top of his list is finding a job — and getting his vindictive girlfriend to put out again.

Homophobic detective Mark Rima must "partner" up with the very gay and flamboyant Detective Chris Riant to stop a serial killing Nun from offing 5 band members otherwise known as "The Ex Choir Boys." But when it is determined that the detectives can't solve the case on their own, expert F.B.I. profiler Agent Peccant (comedian Ant) is assigned to the case. As the details of the case slowly emerge the police determine that that the "nun" may only be a silent witness to the grisly murders. The task force then turns its attention on the Catholic Church and a suspect group of Priests that have had a propensity for "cleansing the souls" of innocent young choir boys.

In 1989, a woman was brutally murdered in broad daylight on a beach in Brittany. The detective assigned to the case was a young homicide cop, Jean Francois Abgrall. He became convinced that the murderer was a weird drifter called Francis Heaulmes who, despite an alibi, kept dropping mysterious hints. Abgrall recounts how he trailed Heaulmes through France to bring him to justice.

A novelist wakes up with a gun in his hand and a corpse in the house he woke up in. He doesn't remember how he got there or even if he committed the killing.