MesmeroWatch list, 0 saved

Movie
Poster for The Executioner's Song

The Executioner's Song

1982 · 135 min

A grim, patient descent into a damaged man's last months, heavy with dread and quiet despair.

Genres
Crime, Drama, Tv movie
Tagline
The story of two people who fell in love.....and kept on falling.
Overview
In this fact-based made-for TV film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gary goes on a murderous rampage, leaving two dead. During his trial, he demands capital punishment; a media circus ensues and outsiders look to profit from his story.

Your rating is saved. See your suggestions, or find titles like this one below.

Rate it, and Mesmero finds titles that feel like it. You do not need an account.

Search YouTube for a trailer

Add to a list: The Executioner's Song

You have no lists yet. Name one, and this title goes into it.

All your lists

In the USNot loaded yet.
Genres
Crime, Drama, Tv movie
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • bleakstrength 3 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
slow-burn, 1 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • crime
  • death
  • isolation
  • media
  • fate
Places
  • small town
  • prison
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
  • serialised
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language strong
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror3
Humour1
Realism9
Romance3
Tension7
Darkness9
Complexity6
Emotional weight9

More like this

Titles like The Executioner's Song

TV series

The Executioner's Song

1982

A grim, quietly devastating true-crime drama that sits with a doomed man and the people circling him, heavy and slow.

Same writer: Norman Mailer · Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about crime and death · true story

Also
Same writer: Norman Mailer
Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • crime
  • death
  • true story
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Seasons
1
Details
The Executioner's SongHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Dead Man Walking

1995

A somber, morally serious drama that weighs heavily, with quiet tension and raw performances building to an emotionally devastating climax.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about death · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • death
  • true story
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
122 min
Details
Dead Man WalkingHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Goodfellas

1990

A seductive, fast-paced rise-and-fall crime saga that immerses you in glamour and paranoia, with sharp dialogue and sudden violence.

Tense, cynical · about crime · true story

Via
  • tense
  • cynical
  • crime
  • true story
Pacing
brisk
Attention
engaged
Runtime
145 min
Details
GoodfellasHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Straight Time

1978

A grim, slow-burning character study that immerses you in a criminal's futile struggle, leaving a lingering sense of despair.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about crime and isolation

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • crime
  • isolation
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
engaged
Runtime
114 min
Details
Straight TimeHidden from your suggestions.
TV series

Black Bird

2022

A tense, grim true-crime drama that burrows into you with its prison setting and unsettling psychological duel.

Bleak, tense, slow-burn · about crime and isolation · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • tense
  • crime
  • isolation
  • true story
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
engaged
Seasons
1
Details
Black BirdHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

No Country for Old Men

2007

A quietly terrifying, deliberate descent into violence and fate, with sparse dialogue and vast, indifferent landscapes that linger long after.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about death and fate

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • death
  • fate
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
122 min
Details
No Country for Old MenHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

In Cold Blood

1967

A cold, methodical descent into violence and consequence, shot with documentary-like detachment that makes the horror feel inescapable and deeply sad.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about crime and death · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • crime
  • death
  • true story
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
134 min
Details
In Cold BloodHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

I Want to Live!

1958

A grim, methodical descent into the machinery of capital punishment, anchored by a fierce performance that makes the waiting unbearable.

Bleak, melancholic · about death and isolation · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • death
  • isolation
  • true story
Pacing
measured
Attention
engaged
Runtime
120 min
Details
I Want to Live!Hidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

A patient, deeply moving story of endurance and friendship that slowly builds to a cathartic, hopeful release.

Melancholic, slow-burn · about isolation

Via
  • melancholic
  • isolation
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
engaged
Runtime
142 min
Details
The Shawshank RedemptionHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Monster

2003

A raw, intimate plunge into a damaged life, by turns tender and brutal, anchored by a performance that is hard to shake.

Bleak, melancholic · about crime and isolation · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • crime
  • isolation
  • true story
Pacing
measured
Attention
engaged
Runtime
109 min
Details
MonsterHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

Clemency

2019

A quiet, heavy immersion into moral weight and private grief, slow and unrelenting in its emotional pressure.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about death and isolation

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • death
  • isolation
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
112 min
Details
ClemencyHidden from your suggestions.
Movie

The Onion Field

1979

A slow, suffocating true-crime drama that lingers on guilt and legal frustration, leaving a heavy, somber aftertaste.

Bleak, melancholic, slow-burn · about crime · true story

Via
  • bleak
  • melancholic
  • crime
  • true story
Pacing
slow-burn
Attention
demanding
Runtime
122 min
Details
The Onion FieldHidden from your suggestions.

Cast

Where to watch in the US

Change country

We have not loaded where to watch in the US for this title yet. Check again in a day or two.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details