feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

If you loved Le Cercle Rouge, the closest films we have are The Killing (1956), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Le Samouraï (1967). All three share Le Cercle Rouge's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV and MUBI and others, checked against today's data.

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Jean-Pierre Melvillegrittycontemplativetenseplayful

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

When is Le Cercle Rouge streaming? →

If Le Cercle Rouge hit the spot, these will too

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

Both circle corruption and heist

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 Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 · dir. Bryan Singer
🍅 87%8.5drama · crime · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: criminal

The difference: 25 years apart, and the 1990s show

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

Feels alike?
Le Samouraï poster
Le Samouraï
1967 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 92%8crime · thriller · drama

Jean-Pierre Melville directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: None of the play that defines Le Cercle Rouge

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

Feels alike?
Inside Man poster
Inside Man
2006 · dir. Spike Lee
🍅 86%7.6crime · drama · thriller

Heist sits at the heart of each

When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.

Feels alike?
Le Doulos poster
Le Doulos
1962 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 96%7.7drama · thriller · crime

Both are Jean-Pierre Melville films, and they rhyme

The difference: Missing the play of Le Cercle Rouge

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Feels alike?
Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 · dir. Robert Wise
🍅 88%7.4crime · drama · thriller

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

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

Both trade on tension more than on being crime

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?
Jackie Brown poster
Jackie Brown
1997 · dir. Quentin Tarantino
🍅 88%7.5crime · drama · thriller

Both keep circling back to police

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.

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

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

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?
Sexy Beast poster
Sexy Beast
2001 · dir. Jonathan Glazer
🍅 87%7.3crime · thriller · drama

Criminal is the engine of both

Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.

Feels alike?
Miller's Crossing poster
Miller's Crossing
1990 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 93%7.7drama · thriller · crime

Both built around corruption

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

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

Gang 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.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Le Cercle Rouge's defining feeling.