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Snowden poster

Movies that feel likeSnowden (2016)

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

If you loved Snowden, the closest films we have are Public Enemies (2009), The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) and The Lincoln Lawyer (2011). All three share Snowden's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is All the Money in the World (2017).

🍅 61% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Oliver Stonecontemplativeepicgrittytenseparanoid
6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Sundance Now

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If Snowden hit the spot, these will too

Public Enemies poster
Public Enemies
2009 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 68%★ 6.9crime · history · drama

One thread runs through both: biography

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than Snowden does

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.

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then scale

The difference: Leans harder into action than Snowden 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.

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

Gritty where it counts, tense underneath

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.

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

Both lean on paranoia more than on drama

The difference: Reviewed even better

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

JFK poster
JFK
1991 · dir. Oliver Stone
🍅 85%★ 8drama · thriller · history

Oliver Stone directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

All the Money in the World poster
All the Money in the World
2017 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 79%★ 6.8crime · history · thrillerRent or buy

Contemplative history in both cases

The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.

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

Crime built on grit, twice over

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 Negotiator poster
The Negotiator
1998 · dir. F. Gary Gray
★ 7.3action · crime · drama

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.

Conclave poster
Conclave
2024 · dir. Edward Berger
🍅 93%★ 7.4drama · thrillerStarz

Drama with a pulse of paranoia, in both cases

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

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

Common ground: biography

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.

Patriots Day poster
Patriots Day
2016 · dir. Peter Berg
🍅 80%★ 7.3action · crime · dramaPrime Video

Epic history, and it commits to that

In the aftermath of an unspeakable act of terror, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the Boston Marathon bombers before they strike again.

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

Contemplative crime in both cases

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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