TV series

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

2025 · 1 season

A sombre, slow-dread true-crime drama that weighs you down with the inevitability of its ending and the quiet cruelty of the system around it.

Overview: A 1950s true crime drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged. This startling story reveals hidden truths about Ruth's murder of her lover, the legal case surrounding it and those who were also complicit.
How it feels: Bleak, melancholic, tense and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.
About: Justice, death, betrayal, trauma
Content: Mild violence, gore, sexual content and language.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: bleakstrength 3 of 3
melancholicstrength 3 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: justice
death
betrayal
trauma
class
Places: big city
home
Era: period
Audience: adult
Form: true story
serialised
Content intensity: Gore mild
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild