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The Killing poster

Movies that feel likeThe Killing (1956)

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

If you loved The Killing, the closest films we have are Rififi (1955), Le Cercle Rouge (1970) and Killer's Kiss (1955). All three share The Killing's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

πŸ… 96% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Stanley Kubrickgrittytensecontemplativeplayful
7 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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If The Killing hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Rififi poster
Rififi
1955 Β· dir. Jules Dassin
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: heist

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.

Le Cercle Rouge poster
Le Cercle Rouge
1970 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: corruption

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

Killer's Kiss poster
Killer's Kiss
1955 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.5thriller Β· crime Β· dramaPrime Video

Stanley Kubrick working the same nerve twice

The difference: Takes it somewhere less playful than The Killing does

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

Caliber 9 poster
Caliber 9
1972 Β· dir. Fernando Di Leo
β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: gangster

The difference: Trades the stillness of The Killing for an angle of its own

Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.

The Roaring Twenties poster
The Roaring Twenties
1939 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: gangster

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Common ground: robbery

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

A Streetcar Named Desire poster
A Streetcar Named Desire
1951 Β· dir. Elia Kazan
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama Β· thrillerMax

Both land grit and tension at once

A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace β€” but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle poster
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 Β· dir. Peter Yates
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative crime in both cases

An aging hood is about to go back to prison. Hoping to escape his fate, he supplies information on stolen guns to the feds, while simultaneously supplying arms to his bank robbing chums.

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

One thread runs through both: heist

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.

Sabotage poster
Sabotage
1936 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7drama Β· thriller Β· crimeMax

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1930s, in a different era of the craft

Karl Anton Verloc and his wife own a small cinema in a quiet London suburb where they live seemingly happily. But Mrs. Verloc does not know that her husband has a secret that will affect their relationship and threaten her teenage brother's life.

Rope poster
Rope
1948 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Drama built on tension, twice over

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

Across 110th Street poster
Across 110th Street
1972 Β· dir. Barry Shear
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7crime Β· drama Β· thrillerPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on crime

In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?

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