Films about child abduction in the United States

1988 animated film directed by George Scribner

1977 animated film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery and Art Stevens

1998 film directed by Brett Ratner

2008 film by Clint Eastwood

2022 American film directed by Colin Trevorrow

1985 film by Mark L. Lester

1994 film by James Cameron

2006 film directed by Christophe Gans

1989 film directed by Ivan Reitman

1999 film directed by Rob Minkoff

2013 film directed by Denis Villeneuve

1987 film by Wes Craven, Chuck Russell

1987 film by the Coen Brothers

Five Nights at Freddy's is a 2023 American supernatural horror film based on the video game series of the same name created by Scott Cawthon. It was directed by Emma Tammi and written by Cawthon, Tammi and Seth Cuddeback. The film stars Josh Hutcherson as a troubled security guard who starts a job at a condemned pizzeria where he discovers that its animatronic mascots are possessed by the spirits of murdered children who were abducted by a serial killer decades prior. It additionally features Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Mary Stuart Masterson and Matthew Lillard in supporting roles.

2007 film by Ben Affleck

The Black Phone is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on the 2004 short story by Joe Hill. It is the first installment in the Black Phone franchise. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child killer known colloquially as the Grabber. When Finney encounters a mystical black rotary phone in captivity, he uses it to plot his escape by communicating with the ghosts of the Grabber's slain victims. Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone also feature in the principal cast. Derrickson and Cargill produced The Black Phone in association with Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum. Universal Pictures oversaw the film's commercial distribution, and funding was sourced through a pact with Blumhouse and tax subsidies from the North Carolina state government.

1993 film by Clint Eastwood

1996 film directed by Ron Howard

Weapons is a 2025 American supernatural mystery horror film directed, written, co-produced, and co-scored by Zach Cregger. It stars an ensemble cast including Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan. Its plot follows the case of seventeen children from the same classroom who mysteriously run away on the same night at the same time.

1994 film by Patrick Read Johnson

2013 film directed by Brad Anderson

1994 film by Curtis Hanson

1994 slasher film

1972 film directed by Wes Craven

2018 film by Sylvain White

1989 film directed by Mark Goldblatt

2024 film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

2021 film directed by Rodo Sayagues

2000 film by Curt Geda

2003 film by Ron Howard

2001 film by Demian Lichtenstein

2009 film by Olatunde Osunsanmi

2012 film by Simon West

2009 film directed by Dennis Iliadis

2020 film directed by Aneesh Chaganty

2002 film by Luis Mandoki

2017 film by Baran bo Odar

2017 film directed by Luis Prieto

2016 film by Farren Blackburn

1997 film by Jeb Stuart

2013 film by Scott Stewart

2023 film directed by Robert Rodriguez

1999 film by Ulu Grosbard

Highest 2 Lowest is a 2025 American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee from a screenplay by Alan Fox. It is an English-language remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 Japanese film High and Low, itself based on Ed McBain's 1959 novel King's Ransom. The film stars Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice. It is the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington and the first since Inside Man (2006).

2016 film directed by Sian Heder

1989 film by J. Lee Thompson

1982 film by Tony Richardson

1993 film by Darrell Roodt

1995 film directed by Brett Leonard

2023 film directed by Tony Goldwyn

2014 film by Amy J. Berg

Ransom! is a 1956 American crime drama film about the kidnapping of the son of a wealthy couple. Written by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume, the film is based on a popular 1954 episode of The United States Steel Hour titled "Fearful Decision" starring Ralph Bellamy.

2019 film directed by Brett Pierce and Drew T. Pierce

2012 film by Pascal Laugier

2021 film directed by Michael Pearce

1995 film by Norman Apstein

2008 film directed by Erick Zonca

2008 film by Damian Harris

2020 film directed by Julius Berg

1986 film directed by Clive Donner