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Spotlight poster

Movies that feel likeSpotlight (2015)

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

If you loved Spotlight, the closest films we have are Black Mass (2015), Just Mercy (2019) and Richard Jewell (2019). All three share Spotlight's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Andrei Rublev (1966).

🍅 97% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Tom McCarthycontemplativeepicgritty
6 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If Spotlight hit the spot, these will too

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

Common ground: a true story

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Spotlight does

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.

Just Mercy poster
Just Mercy
2019 · dir. Destin Daniel Cretton
🍅 85%★ 7.6drama · crime · history

Both are built on the same subject: judge

The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: a true story

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.

Killers of the Flower Moon poster
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 93%★ 7.5crime · history · dramaApple TV+

Both land stillness and scale at once

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

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

Both lean on grit more than on drama

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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.

Gangs of New York poster
Gangs of New York
2002 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 72%★ 7.5drama · history · crimeParamount+Starz

History with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father's killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting's inner circle. Vallon's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people.

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

Drama built on scale, twice over

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 Post poster
The Post
2017 · dir. Steven Spielberg
🍅 88%★ 7.2drama · historyMax

Reporters tracing a cover-up all the way to the top of government

The difference: A publisher's courage story, less about the grind of reporting

A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.

The Revenant poster
The Revenant
2015 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 78%★ 8western · drama · adventureMax

Gritty history in both cases

In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

Andrei Rublev poster
Andrei Rublev
1966 · dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
🍅 96%★ 8drama · history

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Serpico poster
Serpico
1973 · dir. Sidney Lumet
🍅 93%★ 7.7crime · drama · history

History with a pulse of scale, in both cases

New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

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

Both work the same grit

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.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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