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Movies that feel like The Grifters (1990)

If you loved The Grifters, the closest films we have are The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Jackie Brown (1997). All three share The Grifters's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on TCM, Paramount Plus Premium and Paramount Plus Essential and others, checked against today's data.

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Stephen Frearsgrittycontemplativeplayfulatmospheric

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If The Grifters hit the spot, these will too

The Asphalt Jungle poster
The Asphalt Jungle
1950 Β· dir. John Huston
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

The difference: 40 years apart, and the 1950s show

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

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Catch Me If You Can poster
Catch Me If You Can
2002 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1drama Β· crime

Con man and con artist, at the center of both

The difference: Not nearly as atmospheric as The Grifters

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.

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

Both rooted in Los Angeles

The difference: Plays it as thriller more than The Grifters does

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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American Hustle poster
American Hustle
2013 Β· dir. David O. Russell
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.2drama Β· crime

The same preoccupation in both: con artist

A conman and his seductive partner are forced to work for a wild FBI agent, who pushes them into a world of Jersey power-brokers and the Mafia.

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Animal Kingdom poster
Animal Kingdom
2010 Β· dir. David MichΓ΄d
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama

Neo-noir is the engine of both

Joshua β€œJ” is taken in by his extended family after his mother dies of an overdose. The clan, ruled by J’s scheming grandmother, is heavily involved in criminal activities, and J is soon indoctrinated into their way of life. But J is given a chance to take another path when a cop seeks to help him.

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Sexy Beast poster
Sexy Beast
2001 Β· dir. Jonathan Glazer
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.3crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both built around neo-noir

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.

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The Big Combo poster
The Big Combo
1955 Β· dir. Joseph H. Lewis
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3drama Β· crime

Both trade on atmosphere more than on being crime

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.

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Force of Evil poster
Force of Evil
1950 Β· dir. Abraham Polonsky
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

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The Outfit poster
The Outfit
1973 Β· dir. John Flynn
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7crime Β· drama

Crime with a pulse of play, in both cases

A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.

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The Set-Up poster
The Set-Up
1949 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.8drama Β· crime

Contemplative drama in both cases

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

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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

Crime built on play, twice over

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

Atmospheric drama, and it commits to that

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