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Public Enemies poster

Movies that feel likePublic Enemies (2009)

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

If you loved Public Enemies, the closest films we have are Snowden (2016), The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) and Donnie Brasco (1997). All three share Public Enemies' gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Dogtooth (2009).

🍅 68% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Michael Manngrittyepiccontemplativeparanoid
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If Public Enemies hit the spot, these will too

Snowden poster
Snowden
2016 · dir. Oliver Stone
🍅 61%★ 7.3drama · history · crimeNetflixStarz

Common ground: biography

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than Public Enemies does

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

The Baader Meinhof Complex poster
The Baader Meinhof Complex
2008 · dir. Uli Edel
🍅 85%★ 7.3action · crime · dramaPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: prison escape

The difference: Sits closer to action than Public Enemies does

When German police viciously quell a protest against the shah of Iran, popular journalist Ulrike Meinhof rebels against her dishonest marriage, walks away from her children and joins radical anarchist Andreas Baader. Together with Baader's girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin, they form the violent Red Faction Army, and together perpetrate a slew of terrorist attacks as a way of disrupting the fabric of what they see as an increasingly fascist state.

Donnie Brasco poster
Donnie Brasco
1997 · dir. Mike Newell
🍅 88%★ 7.7crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: gangster and surveillance

The difference: Easier on the scale than Public Enemies

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

The Lincoln Lawyer poster
The Lincoln Lawyer
2011 · dir. Brad Furman
🍅 83%★ 7.3crime · drama · thriller

Both land grit and stillness at once

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.

Raging Bull poster
Raging Bull
1980 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 92%★ 8.1drama · historyPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: biography

The difference: 29 years apart, and the 1980s show

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

Black Mass poster
Black Mass
2015 · dir. Scott Cooper
🍅 74%★ 6.8drama · crime · history

The same preoccupation in both: gangster

The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.

J. Edgar poster
J. Edgar
2011 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 44%★ 6.5drama · crime · history

Epic crime, and it commits to that

As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.

The Little Things poster
The Little Things
2021 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 44%★ 6.3drama · crime · thrillerRent or buy

One thread runs through both: surveillance

Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

The Legend of Zorro poster
The Legend of Zorro
2005 · dir. Martin Campbell
🍅 27%★ 6action · adventure · western

History with a pulse of paranoia, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.

Richard Jewell poster
Richard Jewell
2019 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 77%★ 7.5drama · history · crime

Drama built on grit, twice over

Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.

Dogtooth poster
Dogtooth
2009 · dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
🍅 94%★ 7.1drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.

House of Gucci poster
House of Gucci
2021 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 62%★ 6.6drama · crime · historyPrime VideoHulu

Epic crime in both cases

When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately… murder.

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The best-reviewed films that share Public Enemies’ defining feeling.