Can I be sued for breach of contract if I became morally conflicted and couldn't finish the project?

Yes you can be sued for breach of contract. Unless you are being asked to do something illegal, you are morally and legally obligated to complete a contract once you start it and accept the money.

That's an interesting situation, but the answer is relatively straightforward. Yes, it sounds like they can sue you for breach of contract precisely because you did not finish the project. But it sounds like you may have grounds to argue some defenses depending on the details of the contract and the work itself. If there was a mutual mistake as to an essential fact in the contract, the contract could be voided. Same result if you can prove that you were fraudulently induced into entering the contract by some lie or purposeful omission of a material fact. Another important consideration would be the extent of your potential liability under this breach of contract case if they were to bring one. Typically the plaintiff in this type of case can only recover what they would have received had the contract been performed. Since you gave the money back and they have the footage, the damages in this case would probably be pretty nominal.

You agreed to do the work and began the job. You are obligated to finish the project and if you don't, the client has the right to sue for breach of contract. However, there may be some lawful ways to get out of the contract. If the client agrees, you can bow out, turn over all of the raw footage and finished editing to them, and they would only owe you for the work you actually did - but apparently they've refused to cooperate. If the work requires you to do something illegal, you can refuse to finish the work and then contact the authorities. If the agreement was only for someone to edit the footage, you could probably hire someone else to finish the project for you.

If you did not reserve the right to quit due to moral and ethical values in your contract, you can be sued for damages.

I used to produce videos and have been in the exact same position that you describe. First, you must ask yourself very carefully if the differences are moral and ethical, or if you are in fact being made part of something illegal. If you are being made part of something illegal, the contract is not binding because contracts cannot be made for illegal actions. If this is the case, you can hand them back their stuff and tell them why. However, if the illegal act is one involving anything with child pornography or possible child pornography, you must speak with a lawyer immediately and figure out a way to go to the police. If you do not, you can find yourself in gigantic legal trouble. But you cannot go to the police yourself without a lawyer, because you can still find yourself in gigantic legal trouble. If you have run across anyone making child pornography or what might possibly be child pornography, you must absolutely take steps to protect yourself and report them to the police. And you must do this immediately. The same holds true if the video involves obscenity. Obscenity includes anything that shows real, rather than simulated, acts of sexual penetration. A sex video will also usually be deemed obscenity if it involves animals, urine, feces, or endangering anyone's safety or life. If you have become involved in any such thing, you are going to have to go to the police. You are safest if you get a lawyer to do this with you. Producing obscenity can land you in prison for a long time. If you cannot afford a lawyer and need one immediately, in many states, lawyers are required to give some pro bono help, and in any case, many lawyers will give limited pro bono help to assist someone in such a situation. You will be looking for a lawyer who knows criminal law and can help you avoid being sucked in to any criminal charges that may arise from the video you have been working on. You disagree with the video; don't take the fall for it. If the illegal activity is one involving any form of crime or advocating violence in any way, you will also need to speak with a lawyer and get yourself to the police. And you need to carefully consider that you may be being set up by undercover agents who are looking to see if you will conspire with them in their crime, whatever it is. For example, if the video advocates overthrow of government by force or violence, you must not be involved. If the video shows bomb-making or other activities, you must not be involved. And you must speak with a lawyer and figure out what your legal responsibility is. This can be very tricky. You must keep yourself safe from being dragged into conspiracy charges. If the video involves eavesdropping or spying on people, you also need to speak with a lawyer and go to the police. This is a time you must think very clearly and act very decisively. Do not get swept up in criminal activity. Do not get involved with the threats from the video clients. Talk with a lawyer and make a clear, clean, decisive exit from the activity. However, if the content of the video is not criminal activity, but is truly only content with which you have moral and ethical objections and if the clients' actions are not illegal or questionably illegal in any way, then you must deal with this as a contract issue. You can have a lawyer help you. If you cannot afford a lawyer, you can write the video clients a letter saying you have moral and ethical inability to continue working on their project and that you are returning it to them. Then do so. And then give them back their money minus the cost of the videographer. Do not discuss it with them further, because they will try to get you involved in a round robin of accusations. They might file a lawsuit, but this is unlikely. If they file a lawsuit, it will go into public record exactly what they are doing. If you find what they are doing to be morally objectionable, probably others will, also. One