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Movies that feel like Sexy Beast (2001)

If you loved Sexy Beast, the closest films we have are Jackie Brown (1997), Bound (1996) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). All three share Sexy Beast's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel, ScreenPix Apple TV channel and ScreenPix Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.

πŸ… 87% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Jonathan Glazergrittytensecontemplativeplayfulatmospheric

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If Sexy Beast hit the spot, these will too

Jackie Brown poster
Jackie Brown
1997 Β· dir. Quentin Tarantino
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Heist runs into money in each of them

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan β€” with help from a bail bondsman β€” to keep the money for herself.

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Bound poster
Bound
1996 Β· dir. Lana Wachowski
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.3drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Neo-noir sits at the heart of each

Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.

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Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: heist

The difference: A 1950s film, from a different era of filmmaking

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

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One False Move poster
One False Move
1992 Β· dir. Carl Franklin
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same two preoccupations: psychopath, and criminal

The difference: None of the play that defines Sexy Beast

Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.

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Inside Man poster
Inside Man
2006 Β· dir. Spike Lee
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both land grit and tension at once

When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.

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The Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 Β· dir. Bryan Singer
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8.5drama Β· crime Β· thriller

Criminal is the engine of both

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

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The Long Good Friday poster
The Long Good Friday
1980 Β· dir. John Mackenzie
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both built around gangster

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

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Night Moves poster
Night Moves
1975 Β· dir. Arthur Penn
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Both keep circling back to neo-noir

Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.

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Le Cercle Rouge poster
Le Cercle Rouge
1970 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative and playful in the same breath

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

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The Rivals of Amziah King poster
The Rivals of Amziah King
2026 Β· dir. Andrew Patterson
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both trade on atmosphere more than on being crime

Deep within the backwoods of rural Oklahoma, charismatic and musically gifted Amziah King herds a bluegrass-playing band of misfits while overseeing the premier honey-making operation in town. When Amziah’s estranged foster daughter unexpectedly returns, Amziah leaps at the possibility to renew connection and create a family business. But the honey game is ruthless, and Amziah’s rivals threaten to destroy everything he has built.

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A Simple Plan poster
A Simple Plan
1998 Β· dir. Sam Raimi
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.

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Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 Β· dir. Allen Baron
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: murder

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

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all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Sexy Beast's defining feeling.