Year: 1979
Runtime: 108 min
Language: English
Director: Paul Schrader
A desperate Midwestern man travels to California's adult film industry in a frantic search for his missing teenage daughter. Driven by love and concern, he confronts the dark and exploitative nature of the business as he navigates a dangerous world filled with temptation and hidden truths, determined to find her and bring her home.
Warning: spoilers below!
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Explore the full timeline and setting of Hardcore (1979). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.
Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:30
Meet the key characters of Hardcore (1979), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.
Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:30
Explore the central themes of Hardcore (1979), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.
Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:30
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Ordinary protagonists forced to navigate a dark and dangerous criminal world.If you liked the tense, undercover investigation in Hardcore, this collection features similar stories of ordinary people navigating dangerous criminal underworlds. These movies share a dark tone, high stakes, and a focus on the moral cost of the search for truth.
The narrative typically follows a linear investigation, where a protagonist's personal motive drives them deeper into a corrupt and exploitative environment. The plot structure is a steady progression through increasingly disturbing layers of the underworld, culminating in a confrontation that leaves the protagonist fundamentally changed.
These films are grouped by their shared atmosphere of gritty realism, high emotional stakes, and a central journey that explores the clash between innocence and corruption. The tone is consistently dark and tense, creating a cohesive viewing experience for those seeking morally complex thrillers.
Stories where a father's love leads him down a dark path of obsession.For viewers who appreciated the heavy emotional weight and desperate father-daughter dynamic in Hardcore, this section highlights movies with similar themes of paternal obsession, moral decay, and bittersweet resolutions. These are intense character studies about the cost of love.
The narrative arc follows a father who, driven by love or guilt, embarks on a single-minded quest that challenges his values and sanity. The conflict is both external (the dangerous world he enters) and internal (his crumbling faith and morality), often leading to a resolution that is physically successful but emotionally devastating.
These films are connected by their profound exploration of the father-child bond under extreme duress. They share a heavy emotional weight, a dark tone, and a focus on the protagonist's psychological and moral unraveling, creating a powerful and consistent thematic thread.
Don't stop at just watching — explore Hardcore in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Hardcore is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.
Read a complete plot summary of Hardcore, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.
Track the full timeline of Hardcore with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.
Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Hardcore that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.
Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Hardcore: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.
Discover movies like Hardcore that share similar genres, themes, and storytelling elements. Whether you’re drawn to the atmosphere, character arcs, or plot structure, these curated recommendations will help you explore more films you’ll love.
Hardcore (1979) Plot Summary & Movie Recap
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