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Movies that feel like A Time to Kill (1996)

If you loved A Time to Kill, the closest films we have are Falling Down (1993), Phone Booth (2003) and Primal Fear (1996). All three share A Time to Kill's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 5 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus Premium and Sundance Now and others, checked against today's data.

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

πŸ… 66% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Joel Schumachergrittycontemplativetense

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If A Time to Kill hit the spot, these will too

Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Joel Schumacher working the same nerve twice

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

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Phone Booth poster
Phone Booth
2003 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· crime

The same hand behind both of them: Joel Schumacher

The difference: Not nearly as contemplative as A Time to Kill

A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.

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Primal Fear poster
Primal Fear
1996 Β· dir. Gregory Hoblit
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same two preoccupations: court, and lawyer

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

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Sleepers poster
Sleepers
1996 Β· dir. Barry Levinson
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Common ground: court

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

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The Silence poster
The Silence
2010 Β· dir. Baran bo Odar
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7crime Β· thriller Β· drama

One thread runs through both: rape

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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Memories of Murder poster
Memories of Murder
2003 Β· dir. Bong Joon Ho
β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: murder

A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.

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Irreversible poster
Irreversible
2002 Β· dir. Gaspar NoΓ©
πŸ… 60%β˜… 7.3drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: rape

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.

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Red Rock West poster
Red Rock West
1993 Β· dir. John Dahl
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: murder

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

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Side Effects poster
Side Effects
2013 Β· dir. Steven Soderbergh
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· crime Β· drama

One thread runs through both: lawyer

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.

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Layer Cake poster
Layer Cake
2004 Β· dir. Matthew Vaughn
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.2drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Gritty where it counts, contemplative 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...

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We Own the Night poster
We Own the Night
2007 Β· dir. James Gray
πŸ… 57%β˜… 6.8drama Β· crime Β· thriller

Tense crime, and it commits to that

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

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The Yellow Sea poster
The Yellow Sea
2010 Β· dir. Na Hong-jin
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.3drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Drama with a pulse of grit, in both cases

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share A Time to Kill’s defining feeling.