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Movies that feel like R (2010)

If you loved R, the closest films we have are My Name Ain't Johnny (2008), Black Souls (2014) and Straight Time (1978). All three share R's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Criterion Channel and ARROW and others, checked against today's data.

Imprisoned for violent assault, Rune is placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations.

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Tobias Lindholmgrittycontemplative

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If R hit the spot, these will too

My Name Ain't Johnny poster
My Name Ain't Johnny
2008 Β· dir. Mauro Lima
β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

The true story of JoΓ£o Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

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Black Souls poster
Black Souls
2014 Β· dir. Francesco Munzi
πŸ… 89%β˜… 6.8crime Β· drama

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.

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Straight Time poster
Straight Time
1978 Β· dir. Ulu Grosbard
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama

One thread runs through both: prison

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.

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Frozen River poster
Frozen River
2008 Β· dir. Courtney Hunt
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.1drama Β· crime

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A financially strapped mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States.

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A Touch of Sin poster
A Touch of Sin
2013 Β· dir. Jia Zhangke
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama

Both lean on grit more than on crime

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

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A Prophet poster
A Prophet
2009 Β· dir. Jacques Audiard
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: prison

Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.

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7 Prisoners poster
7 Prisoners
2021 Β· dir. Alexandre Moratto
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.1drama Β· crime

Contemplative drama in both cases

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.

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Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile poster
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
2019 Β· dir. Joe Berlinger
πŸ… 54%β˜… 6.7drama Β· crime

Both play crime straight

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

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Undisputed III: Redemption poster
Undisputed III: Redemption
2010 Β· dir. Isaac Florentine
β˜… 7.4action Β· thriller Β· crime

Common ground: prison cell

The difference: Sits closer to action than R does

Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.

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Pickpocket poster
Pickpocket
1959 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama

The drama is handled with the same confidence

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

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Lilya 4-ever poster
Lilya 4-ever
2002 Β· dir. Lukas Moodysson
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.8drama Β· crime

Crime approached the same way

In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life β€” and a journey that will change everything.

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Leviathan poster
Leviathan
2014 Β· dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.6drama Β· crime

Drama in the same key

In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.

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In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

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