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Phone Booth poster

Movies that feel likePhone Booth (2003)

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.

If you loved Phone Booth, the closest films we have are A Time to Kill (1996), Falling Down (1993) and Red Rock West (1993). All three share Phone Booth's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is 36th Precinct (2004).

πŸ… 72% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Joel Schumachertensegritty
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· Paramount Plus Premium Β· Sundance Now

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If Phone Booth hit the spot, these will too

A Time to Kill poster
A Time to Kill
1996 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Joel Schumacher working the same nerve twice

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Phone Booth does

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are Joel Schumacher's work, and they rhyme

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Red Rock West poster
Red Rock West
1993 Β· dir. John Dahl
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7crime Β· thriller

Tense where it counts, gritty underneath

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

Legend poster
Legend
2015 Β· dir. Brian Helgeland
πŸ… 60%β˜… 6.9crime Β· thriller

Both lean on tension more than on thriller

Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.

Killing Them Softly poster
Killing Them Softly
2012 Β· dir. Andrew Dominik
πŸ… 74%β˜… 6.2crime Β· thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.

We Own the Night poster
We Own the Night
2007 Β· dir. James Gray
πŸ… 57%β˜… 6.8drama Β· crime Β· thriller

The same city underneath both: New York City

A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.

The Unjust poster
The Unjust
2010 Β· dir. Ryoo Seung-wan
β˜… 6.5crime Β· thrillerNetflix

Thriller built on tension, twice over

An honest cop has to compromise with his principles when he is told to find a scapegoat for a high-profile serial killer case in exchange for a big promotion.

John Q poster
John Q
2002 Β· dir. Nick Cassavetes
πŸ… 26%β˜… 7.1drama Β· thriller Β· crimeStarz

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son's name on the donor's list.

36th Precinct poster
36th Precinct
2004 Β· dir. Olivier Marchal
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Thriller approached the same way

In Paris, two cops are competing for the vacant job of chief of police, in the middle of the search for a gang of violent thieves. The movie is directed by Olivier Marchal, a former police officer who spent 12 years with the French police before creating this story, taken in part from real events of the 1980s.

Layer Cake poster
Layer Cake
2004 Β· dir. Matthew Vaughn
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.2drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both play crime straight

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

Primal Fear poster
Primal Fear
1996 Β· dir. Gregory Hoblit
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· thrillerParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: psychopath

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

Irreversible poster
Irreversible
2002 Β· dir. Gaspar NoΓ©
πŸ… 60%β˜… 7.3drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Cut from the same thriller cloth

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

In the mood for more tense?

all tense movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Phone Booth’s defining feeling.