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A History of Violence poster

Movies that feel likeA History of Violence (2005)

An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.

If you loved A History of Violence, the closest films we have are Layer Cake (2004), 36th Precinct (2004) and Law Abiding Citizen (2009). All three share A History of Violence's contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Silence (2010).

🍅 88% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. David Cronenbergcontemplativetensegritty
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If A History of Violence hit the spot, these will too

Layer Cake poster
Layer Cake
2004 · dir. Matthew Vaughn
🍅 81%★ 7.2drama · thriller · crime

Contemplative where it counts, tense underneath

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

36th Precinct poster
36th Precinct
2004 · dir. Olivier Marchal
🍅 100%★ 7.1crime · drama · thriller

Drama with a pulse of grit, in both cases

In Paris, two cops are competing for the vacant job of chief of police, in the middle of the search for a gang of violent thieves. The movie is directed by Olivier Marchal, a former police officer who spent 12 years with the French police before creating this story, taken in part from real events of the 1980s.

Law Abiding Citizen poster
Law Abiding Citizen
2009 · dir. F. Gary Gray
🍅 26%★ 7.4drama · crime · thrillerNetflix

Contemplative thriller, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

Irreversible poster
Irreversible
2002 · dir. Gaspar Noé
🍅 60%★ 7.3drama · thriller · crime

Both lean on tension more than on crime

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

The Bank Job poster
The Bank Job
2008 · dir. Roger Donaldson
🍅 79%★ 7.2thriller · crime · dramaPrime Video

Gritty drama in both cases

Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

John Q poster
John Q
2002 · dir. Nick Cassavetes
🍅 26%★ 7.1drama · thriller · crimeStarz

Thriller built on stillness, twice over

John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the donor's list.

Traffic poster
Traffic
2000 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 93%★ 7.5thriller · drama · crime

Tense crime, and it commits to that

An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.

The Yellow Sea poster
The Yellow Sea
2010 · dir. Na Hong-jin
🍅 88%★ 7.3drama · thriller · crime

Different title, same corner of the shelf

A Korean man in China takes an assassination job in South Korea to make money and find his missing wife. But when the job is botched, he is forced to go on the run from the police and the gangsters who paid him.

We Own the Night poster
We Own the Night
2007 · dir. James Gray
🍅 57%★ 6.8drama · crime · thriller

Both play thriller straight

A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.

Infernal Affairs poster
Infernal Affairs
2002 · dir. Alan Mak Siu-Fai
🍅 94%★ 8drama · thriller · crimeMax

Both working the same crime territory

Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.

Lord of War poster
Lord of War
2005 · dir. Andrew Niccol
🍅 62%★ 7.6crime · drama · thrillerPrime Video

The drama is handled with the same confidence

Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators. Finally, he must also face his own conscience.

The Silence poster
The Silence
2010 · dir. Baran bo Odar
🍅 87%★ 6.9crime · thriller · drama

Thriller of the same temperament

13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past.

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The best-reviewed films that share A History of Violence’s defining feeling.