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Movies that feel like Marathon Man (1976)

If you loved Marathon Man, the closest films we have are The Parallax View (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Donnie Brasco (1997). All three share Marathon Man's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel and Philo and others, checked against today's data.

A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.

πŸ… 82% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. John Schlesingertensegrittycontemplativeparanoidunsettling

When is Marathon Man streaming? β†’

If Marathon Man hit the spot, these will too

The Parallax View poster
The Parallax View
1974 Β· dir. Alan J. Pakula
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Conspiracy runs into psychological thriller in each of them

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

Feels alike?
The Silence of the Lambs poster
The Silence of the Lambs
1991 Β· dir. Jonathan Demme
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.6crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both keep circling back to psychological thriller

The difference: Missing the paranoia of Marathon Man

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

Feels alike?
Donnie Brasco poster
Donnie Brasco
1997 Β· dir. Mike Newell
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

New York City shapes both of them

The difference: 21 years apart, and the 1990s show

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.

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Hannibal poster
Hannibal
2001 Β· dir. Ridley Scott
πŸ… 39%β˜… 6.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Tense and gritty in the same breath

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

Feels alike?
Panic Room poster
Panic Room
2002 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 76%β˜… 6.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative where it counts, unsettling underneath

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

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Nightcrawler poster
Nightcrawler
2014 Β· dir. Dan Gilroy
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

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Joker poster
Joker
2019 Β· dir. Todd Phillips
πŸ… 68%β˜… 8.3crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

Feels alike?
American Psycho poster
American Psycho
2000 Β· dir. Mary Harron
πŸ… 69%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· drama Β· crime

Both trade on stillness more than on being drama

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Feels alike?
Cape Fear poster
Cape Fear
1991 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.3drama Β· crime Β· thriller

Thriller built on unease, twice over

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Feels alike?
Cape Fear poster
Cape Fear
1962 Β· dir. J. Lee Thompson
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.7thriller Β· drama Β· crime

Tense crime in both cases

Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.

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The Friends of Eddie Coyle poster
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 Β· dir. Peter Yates
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Gritty drama in both cases

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?
Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 Β· dir. Don Siegel
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Thriller built on stillness, twice over

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share Marathon Man's defining feeling.