feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Body Heat (1981)

If you loved Body Heat, the closest films we have are The Narrow Margin (1952), The Big Clock (1948) and Criss Cross (1949). All three share Body Heat's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 5 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on YouTube TV, TCM and HBO Max Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.

πŸ… 96% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Lawrence Kasdantensegrittyatmospheric
Stream it:TCM β†—

When is Body Heat streaming? β†’

If Body Heat hit the spot, these will too

The Narrow Margin poster
The Narrow Margin
1952 Β· dir. Richard Fleischer
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· crime

The same preoccupation in both: murder

The difference: 29 years apart, and the 1950s show

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Feels alike?
The Big Clock poster
The Big Clock
1948 Β· dir. John Farrow
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· thriller

Both keep circling back to murder

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

Feels alike?
Criss Cross poster
Criss Cross
1949 Β· dir. Robert Siodmak
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

Tense and gritty in the same breath

An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.

Feels alike?
Out of the Past poster
Out of the Past
1947 Β· dir. Jacques Tourneur
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller

Femme fatale sits at the heart of each

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

Feels alike?
Sin City poster
Sin City
2005 Β· dir. Robert Rodriguez
πŸ… 76%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller

Neo-noir is the engine of both

Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark… Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home β€” Crooked cops, sexy dames, desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge, others lust after redemption, and then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care.

Feels alike?
The Long Good Friday poster
The Long Good Friday
1980 Β· dir. John Mackenzie
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both built around neo-noir

The difference: Leans drama where Body Heat does not

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

Feels alike?
Night Moves poster
Night Moves
1975 Β· dir. Arthur Penn
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Atmospheric thriller, and it commits to that

Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.

Feels alike?
Get Carter poster
Get Carter
1971 Β· dir. Mike Hodges
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3crime Β· thriller

Crime built on tension, twice over

Jack Carter is a small-time hood working in London. When word reaches him of his brother's death, he travels to Newcastle to attend the funeral. Refusing to accept the police report of suicide, Carter seeks out his brother’s friends and acquaintances to learn who murdered his sibling and why.

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

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: None of the atmosphere that defines Body Heat

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.

Feels alike?
One False Move poster
One False Move
1992 Β· dir. Carl Franklin
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both trade on atmosphere more than on being crime

Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.

Feels alike?
Shallow Grave poster
Shallow Grave
1994 Β· dir. Danny Boyle
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.2crime Β· thriller

Tense thriller in both cases

When David, Juliet, and Alex find their new roommate dead with a large sum of money, they agree to hide the body and keep the cash. However, this newfound fortune gradually corrodes their friendship.

Feels alike?
Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 Β· dir. Allen Baron
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more tense?

all tense movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Body Heat's defining feeling.