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Movies that feel like Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

If you loved Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the closest films we have are Run All Night (2015), New Police Story (2004) and Below Zero (2021). All three share Once Upon a Time in Mexico's kinetic and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

A corrupt CIA agent Sands hires hitman El Mariachi to assassinate a Mexican general hired by a drug kingpin attempting a coup d'état of the President of Mexico.

🍅 66% Rotten Tomatoes6.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Robert Rodriguezkineticgrittytenserelentless

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If Once Upon a Time in Mexico hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: El Mariachi (1993) · Desperado (1995)

Run All Night poster
Run All Night
2015 · dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
🍅 59%6.6action · crime · thriller

Common ground: revenge

Brooklyn mobster and prolific hit man Jimmy Conlon has seen better days. Longtime best friend of a mob boss, Jimmy is haunted by the sins of his past—as well as a dogged police detective who’s been one step behind Jimmy for 30 years. But when Jimmy’s estranged son becomes a target, Jimmy must make a choice between the crime family he chose and the real family he abandoned long ago. Now, with nowhere safe to turn, Jimmy has just one night to figure out exactly where his loyalties lie and to see if he can finally make things right.

New Police Story poster
New Police Story
2004 · dir. Benny Chan
🍅 63%6.9action · thriller · crime

One thread runs through both: revenge

The difference: Played as drama first

Sent into a drunken tailspin when his entire unit is killed by a gang of thrill-seeking punks, disgraced Hong Kong police inspector Wing needs help from his new rookie partner, with a troubled past of his own, to climb out of the bottle and track down the gang and its ruthless leader.

Below Zero poster
Below Zero
2021 · dir. Lluís Quílez
🍅 86%6.2action · crime · thriller

The same mix in both: momentum, then grit

When a prisoner transfer van is attacked, the cop in charge must fight those inside and outside while dealing with a silent foe: the icy temperatures.

Crank poster
Crank
2006 · dir. Brian Taylor
🍅 62%6.9action · thriller · crime

Tense and relentless in the same breath

Chev Chelios, a hit man wanting to go straight, lets his latest target slip away. Then he awakes the next morning to a phone call that informs him he has been poisoned and has only an hour to live unless he keeps adrenaline coursing through his body while he searches for an antidote.

The Equalizer 2 poster
The Equalizer 2
2018 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 52%6.7action · thriller · crime

The same preoccupation in both: central intelligence agency (cia)

Robert McCall, who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when his former partner is murdered.

Four Brothers poster
Four Brothers
2005 · dir. John Singleton
6.8action · crime

Action built on momentum, twice over

The difference: Not nearly as tense

Four adopted brothers return to their Detroit hometown when their mother is murdered and vow to exact revenge on the killers.

Naked Weapon poster
Naked Weapon
2002 · dir. Tony Ching Siu-Tung
5.5action · drama · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: central intelligence agency (cia)

The difference: Leans further into drama

A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.

Man on Fire poster
Man on Fire
2004 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 39%7.7action · drama · thriller

Common ground in both: mexico and gun battle

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.

Extraction 2 poster
Extraction 2
2023 · dir. Sam Hargrave
🍅 79%7action · thriller · crime

Both lean on grit more than on crime

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

Back from the brink of death, highly skilled commando Tyler Rake takes on another dangerous mission: saving the imprisoned family of a ruthless gangster.

The Equalizer poster
The Equalizer
2014 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 61%7.3thriller · action · crime

Both are built on the same subject: corruption

McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

Killer Elite poster
Killer Elite
2011 · dir. Gary McKendry
🍅 26%6.4action · adventure · thriller

One thread runs through both: mexico

Based on a shocking true story, Killer Elite pits two of the world’s most elite operatives—Danny, an ex-special ops agent and Hunter, his longtime mentor—against the cunning leader of a secret military society. Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny and Hunter are plunged into a highly dangerous game of cat and mouse—where the predators become the prey.

The Man from Nowhere poster
The Man from Nowhere
2010 · dir. Lee Jeong-beom
🍅 100%7.7action · thriller · crime

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

A reclusive pawnshop owner goes on a brutal rampage to rescue a young girl kidnapped by a criminal organization.

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The best-reviewed films that share Once Upon a Time in Mexico’s defining feeling.