Films coming to mind that destroyed me, hurt me, scared me, moved me or changed me:
Lilya 4-Ever (child abandonment, poverty and white sexual slave trade in broken Eastern Europe)
Once Were Warriors (brutal domestic violence, family adrift and identity issues in Maori culture, New Zealand)
A Song for Martin (Danish Alzheimer's drama about a powerful late-life love story between two classical musicians, cruelly interrupted)
Day and Night (scorching 2004 Danish drama of seemingly successful man who chooses to end his life; spends last day driving around reconnecting with the haunted family and friends of his wasted life; yet unreleased on DVD in US)
Breaking the Waves (virgin to whore to martryr to saint -- Von Trier sacrifices Emily Watson in his most poetic, haunting movie)
Ladybird, Ladybird (British barmaid without opportunity loses child after child to welfare office; wrenching)
Antwone Fisher (child abused Navy recruit cries out for love, reconnects with family roots after finding inspiring mentor)
Bread and Roses (undocumented Mexican immigrants exploited in factory, Los Angeles, uprise with far-reaching results)
Intimacy (man and woman meet anonymously once a week for emotional and physical craving, end up over their heads; adulteress Kerry Fox's late scene to spurned hubby Timothy Spall, in a taxi, spellbinds)
Dirt (Nancy Savoca's Showtime-financed, unreleased indie masterpiece details the plight of a proud, undocumented Central American maid living in New York, supporting her family back home; tragedy strikes, lives change irrevocably, human strength ensues)
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (In Vienna, Art Garfunkel and Theresa Russell engage in Nicolas Roeg's twisted shrink-patient power play that leads to obsession and worse)
Les Diables http://www.ocean-films.com/lesdiables/ (one of the most powerful contemporary films I have seen, not available here, but if you have a region-free DVD player it is available on Region 2; the story of a brother and sister on the street, he's got severe emotional problems while she is severely autistic, in and out of youth homes and lost to the world)
Seek them out. NOW.