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Movies that feel like The Killers (1946)

If you loved The Killers, the closest films we have are Criss Cross (1949), Out of the Past (1947) and The Naked City (1948). All three share The Killers' gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and Artiflix and others, checked against today's data.

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

πŸ… 97% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Robert Siodmakgrittytwistytenseplayfulatmospheric

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If The Killers hit the spot, these will too

Criss Cross poster
Criss Cross
1949 Β· dir. Robert Siodmak
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

Robert Siodmak directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Missing the twists of The Killers

An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.

Feels alike?
Out of the Past poster
Out of the Past
1947 Β· dir. Jacques Tourneur
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller

The same two preoccupations: small town life, and gas station

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

Feels alike?
The Naked City poster
The Naked City
1948 Β· dir. Jules Dassin
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.5crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

Two things both keep coming back to: film noir and murder

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

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Stray Dog poster
Stray Dog
1949 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Killers does

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

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

Common ground: heist

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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Shadow of a Doubt poster
Shadow of a Doubt
1943 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8thriller Β· mystery Β· crime

Both are built on the same subject: small town life

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secretβ€”and that danger has quietly entered her home.

Feels alike?
Double Indemnity poster
Double Indemnity
1944 Β· dir. Billy Wilder
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.3crime Β· thriller

Common ground in both: femme fatale and insurance investigator

An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.

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The Postman Always Rings Twice poster
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1946 Β· dir. Tay Garnett
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4drama Β· romance Β· crime

The same preoccupation in both: gas station

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

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The Big Sleep poster
The Big Sleep
1946 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9mystery Β· crime Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: film noir

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

Feels alike?
Odd Man Out poster
Odd Man Out
1947 Β· dir. Carol Reed
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Different title, same corner of the shelf

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

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White Heat poster
White Heat
1949 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

From the 1940s, and it lands the same way

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.

Feels alike?
The Lady from Shanghai poster
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 Β· dir. Orson Welles
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.5mystery Β· crime Β· thriller

Gritty and twisty in the same breath

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

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In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share The Killers’ defining feeling.