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Movies that feel like The Crimson Rivers (2000)

If you loved The Crimson Rivers, the closest films we have are The Girl in the Fog (2017), L.A. Confidential (1997) and Marshland (2014). All three share The Crimson Rivers' gritty and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Two French policemen, one investigating a grisly murder at a remote mountain college, the other working on the desecration of a young girl's grave by skinheads, are brought together by the clues from their respective cases. Soon after they start working together, more murders are committed, and the pair begin to discover just what dark secrets are behind the killings.

πŸ… 68% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Mathieu Kassovitzgrittytwistytensedread
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If The Crimson Rivers hit the spot, these will too

The Girl in the Fog poster
The Girl in the Fog
2017 Β· dir. Donato Carrisi
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.8mystery Β· thriller Β· crime

Gritty and twisty in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as dread-soaked as The Crimson Rivers

A gripping and chilling thriller that brings us to a hazy mountain village where an enigmatic detective is investigating the sudden disappearance of fifteen-year-old girl.

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L.A. Confidential poster
L.A. Confidential
1997 Β· dir. Curtis Hanson
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.2crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

The same two preoccupations: detective, and corpse

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

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Marshland poster
Marshland
2014 Β· dir. Alberto RodrΓ­guez
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.2crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: serial killer

The Spanish Deep South, 1980. A series of brutal murders of adolescent girls in a remote and forgotten town bring together two disparate characters – both detectives in the homicide division – to investigate the cases.

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The Bone Collector poster
The Bone Collector
1999 Β· dir. Phillip Noyce
πŸ… 30%β˜… 6.7crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: serial killer

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Crimson Rivers does

Lincoln Rhyme was the department's top homicide detective and leading expert in criminal forensics until an injury left him paralyzed, depressed, and incapable of working. But when a gruesome murder in Manhattan leaves detectives baffled, they call on Rhyme to help solve the mystery. Amelia Donaghy, a rookie cop whose quick thinking preserved a gruesome murder scene, is enlisted by Rhyme to be his on-the-scene forensics expert. With Amelia reluctantly acting as Rhyme's able-bodied go-between, the pair piece together cryptic clues the killer leaves behind at the scene of the crime, hoping to catch the grisly serial killer.

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Zodiac poster
Zodiac
2007 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.7crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

Common ground: the investigation

Over the course of a decade, editors of the San Francisco Chronicle entice themselves in the murders of the Zodiac Killer. However, as time runs its course, interest in the case dwindles in the eyes of the professionals. The Killer stops interacting with the public. However, believing he has the answers, an amateur cartoonist from the initial sightings races against time to prevent what he believes is another murder.

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Se7en poster
Se7en
1995 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 84%β˜… 8.6crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: murder

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

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Identity poster
Identity
2003 Β· dir. James Mangold
πŸ… 63%β˜… 7.3mystery Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: detective

Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.

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Noroi: The Curse poster
Noroi: The Curse
2005 Β· dir. Koji Shiraishi
β˜… 6.8horror Β· mystery Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: the investigation

The difference: Leans harder into horror than The Crimson Rivers does

A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon.

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Brick poster
Brick
2006 Β· dir. Rian Johnson
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.1drama Β· mystery Β· crime

Common ground: murder

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

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Colors of Evil: Red poster
Colors of Evil: Red
2024 Β· dir. Adrian Panek
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.4crime Β· thriller Β· mystery

Crime with a pulse of tension, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

When a girl's body is found on a beach in Poland's Tricity, a prosecutor teams up with the victim's mother on an impassioned quest for the truth.

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A Walk Among the Tombstones poster
A Walk Among the Tombstones
2014 Β· dir. Scott Frank
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.5crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Both lean on grit more than on mystery

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

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The Nameless poster
The Nameless
1999 Β· dir. Jaume BalaguerΓ³
πŸ… 20%β˜… 5.8thriller Β· mystery Β· horror

Dread-soaked thriller in both cases

The mutilated body of a six year old girl is found in a water hole. The girl is identified as the missing daughter of Claudia. However, only two peices of evidence could be used to identify her; a bracelet with her name on it near the crime scene, and the fact that her right leg was three inches longer than her left. All other methods of identification were removed from her body. Five years later Claudia, now addicted to tranquilizers, receives a phone call from someone claiming to be her daughter, asking for her mother to come find her before 'they' kill her. Other mysterious clues show up, further indicating that Claudia's daughter is indeed still alive, and very much in danger. Claudia, a run-down ex-cop, and a parapsychology reporter put together the clues to discover Angela's whereabouts

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The best-reviewed films that share The Crimson Rivers’ defining feeling.