Best Abuse
The Liars' Club is Mary Karr's 1995 memoir about her childhood in an unstable family in an East Texas oil-refining town. It recounts family conflict, alcoholism, mental illness, sexual abuse, and the stories told by Karr's father and his friends at the local Liars' Club. Written with a child's persp...
Minding the Gap explores the lives of three young skateboarders growing up in Rockford, Illinois during the 2010s. The documentary examines how personal struggles with abuse, economic hardship, and societal pressures intersect within their pursuit of skateboarding success. It offers a poignant portr...
Nickel Boys depicts the experiences of two young Black boys, Elwood and Turner, at a reform school in 1960s Florida. The story is based on Colson Whitehead’s novel and inspired by the Dozier School for Boys, which operated as an institution with documented abuses. It explores themes related to insti...
Doubt: A Parable is a play by John Patrick Shanley, first produced in 2004 and set at a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964. Its central conflict begins when Sister Aloysius, the school’s principal, suspects Father Flynn of an improper relationship with a male student, although decisive proof is ne...
Silenced explores a devastating 2008 case involving systematic abuse at Gwangju Inhwa School in South Korea. The film depicts the lengthy and complex legal battle following allegations of sexual assault and neglect against school officials. It is notable for its role in raising public awareness abou...
Sugarcane documents the devastating history of abuse within Canada’s Indigenous communities through the lens of sugarcane production. The film explores the long-standing connection between sugar barons, Canadian government policies, and the systemic mistreatment experienced by children in residentia...
Precious is a 2009 drama film based on Sapphire’s novel Push. The story centers on Claireece “Precious” Jones, a severely abused and neglected teenager struggling with poverty and systemic oppression in Harlem. Gabourey Sidibe delivers a powerful performance portraying her resilience and the devasta...
This monologue is from Scottish playwright David Harrower's 2005 two-character play, Blackbird. In the script, a young woman named Una confronts Ray, a man who sexually abused her years earlier when she was a child. The intense, real-time confrontation takes place in a workplace breakroom, delving i...
At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal is a 2019 HBO documentary directed by Erin Lee Carr. The film details the sexual abuse committed by Larry Nassar, former team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, against hundreds of young female athletes over decades. Throu...
Athlete A is a 2020 Netflix documentary directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk examining the USA Gymnastics abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar. The film focuses on the Indianapolis Star investigative reporting team that broke the story and the gymnasts who came forward, including Maggie Nichols who...
The Invisible War is a 2012 documentary directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering about sexual assault within the United States military. Through interviews with survivors, advocates, and officials, it examines patterns of abuse, retaliation, inadequate investigations, and the military comm...
Procession is a 2021 American documentary film directed by Robert Greene. The film follows six men who survived childhood sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Kansas City area as they collaborate with the director to create fictionalized scenes dramatizing their experiences. This dramatic therapy...
What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) stars Angela Bassett as Tina Turner and Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner, depicting Tina's rise to fame and escape from an abusive marriage; Bassett received an Academy Award nomination.
"The Hunting Ground" is a 2015 documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering. The documentary investigates the high prevalence of sexual assault on United States college campuses and the systemic institutional failures by university administrations to address these crimes. It h...
Gabriel Tallent's 2017 debut psychological thriller follows a girl surviving severe abuse by her survivalist father in the wilderness, notable for its intense prose and massive sales.
Alice, Darling is Mary Nighy's 2022 feature debut, starring Anna Kendrick as a woman whose friends confront the coercive control in her relationship.
A Child Called It (1995) is Dave Pelzer's memoir about severe child abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother in California, later part of a bestselling trilogy.
