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Movies that feel like Dial M for Murder (1954)

If you loved Dial M for Murder, the closest films we have are Rope (1948), Elevator to the Gallows (1958) and Blood Simple (1985). All three share Dial M for Murder's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on YouTube TV, HBO Max Amazon Channel and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Alfred Hitchcocktensegrittycontemplativeromantic

When is Dial M for Murder streaming? →

If Dial M for Murder hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Memories of Murder (2003)

Rope poster
Rope
1948 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 93%7.9thriller · crime · drama

Alfred Hitchcock working the same nerve twice

The difference: Missing the romance of Dial M for Murder

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

Feels alike?
Elevator to the Gallows poster
Elevator to the Gallows
1958 · dir. Louis Malle
🍅 93%7.9crime · drama · thriller

The same mix in both: tension, then grit

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

Feels alike?
Blood Simple poster
Blood Simple
1985 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 94%7.5crime · drama · thriller

Contemplative where it counts, romantic underneath

The difference: 31 years apart, and the 1980s show

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Feels alike?
Tuner poster
Tuner
2026 · dir. Daniel Roher
🍅 94%7.2crime · drama · thriller

Theft is the engine of both

A talented piano tuner's meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.

Feels alike?
Insomnia poster
Insomnia
2002 · dir. Christopher Nolan
🍅 92%7.2thriller · crime · drama

Both circle blackmail and detective

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.

Feels alike?
Thief poster
Thief
1981 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 80%7.4crime · thriller · drama

Thriller built on tension, twice over

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Feels alike?
Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 82%7.5crime · thriller · drama

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

Feels alike?
The Friends of Eddie Coyle poster
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 · dir. Peter Yates
🍅 98%7.4crime · drama · thriller

Both trade on stillness more than on being drama

An aging hood is about to go back to prison. Hoping to escape his fate, he supplies information on stolen guns to the feds, while simultaneously supplying arms to his bank robbing chums.

Feels alike?
The Talented Mr. Ripley poster
The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999 · dir. Anthony Minghella
🍅 85%7.4thriller · crime · drama

Both built around jealousy

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Feels alike?
The Killing poster
The Killing
1956 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 96%7.9crime · thriller · drama

The same preoccupation in both: adultery

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

Feels alike?
The Departed poster
The Departed
2006 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 91%8.5drama · thriller · crime

Tense thriller in both cases

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

Feels alike?
Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 77%7.6crime · drama · thriller

Detective sits at the heart of each

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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The best-reviewed films that share Dial M for Murder's defining feeling.