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Movies that feel like The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

If you loved The Girl Who Played with Fire, the closest films we have are Pusher 3 (2005), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Infernal Affairs (2002). All three share The Girl Who Played with Fire's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Peacock Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation.

πŸ… 69% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Daniel Alfredsoncontemplativekinetictensegrittytwistywarm
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If The Girl Who Played with Fire hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) Β· The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)

Pusher 3 poster
Pusher 3
2005 Β· dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3action Β· thriller Β· crime

Both keep coming back to the same thing: friendship

The difference: Without the same stillness

Milo is aging, he is planning his daughter's 25th birthday, and his shipment of heroin turns out to be 10,000 pills of ecstasy. When Milo tries to sell the pills anyway, all Hell breaks loose and his only chance is to ask for help from his ex-henchman and old friend Radovan.

Feels alike?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo poster
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2011 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8thriller Β· crime Β· mystery

Two things both keep coming back to: journalist and hacker

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.

Feels alike?
Infernal Affairs poster
Infernal Affairs
2002 Β· dir. Alan Mak Siu-Fai
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8drama Β· action Β· thriller

Contemplative and kinetic in the same breath

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.

Feels alike?
A Hard Day poster
A Hard Day
2014 Β· dir. Kim Seong-hun
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.2crime Β· thriller Β· mystery

Both land tension and grit at once

After trying to cover up a car accident that left a man dead, a crooked homicide detective is stalked by a mysterious man claiming to have witnessed the event.

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

One thread runs through both: the investigation

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

Feels alike?
Holy Spider poster
Holy Spider
2022 Β· dir. Ali Abbasi
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.3thriller Β· drama Β· crime

Common ground: journalist

A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

Feels alike?
Drishyam poster
Drishyam
2015 Β· dir. Nishikant Kamat
πŸ… 75%β˜… 8.2mystery Β· thriller Β· drama

Twisty drama in both cases

When his family stares down the barrel of criminal charges, a commoner channels his street smarts and knowledge of action films to tie the long arm of the law into an investigative Gordian knot.

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

Thriller built on tension, twice over

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.

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

Action with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Mesrine: Killer Instinct poster
Mesrine: Killer Instinct
2008 Β· dir. Jean-FranΓ§ois Richet
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.5drama Β· action Β· thriller

Kinetic crime, and it commits to that

Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.

Feels alike?
End of Watch poster
End of Watch
2012 Β· dir. David Ayer
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: friendship

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

Feels alike?
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.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Girl Who Played with Fire’s defining feeling.