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Movies that feel like The Killing (1956)

If you loved The Killing, the closest films we have are Le Cercle Rouge (1970), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Inside Man (2006). All three share The Killing's 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 Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max Amazon Channel and Cinemax Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 96% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Stanley Kubrickgrittytensecontemplativeplayful

When is The Killing streaming? β†’

If The Killing hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Act of Killing (2012) Β· The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

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

Both circle corruption and heist

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.

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The Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 Β· dir. Bryan Singer
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8.5drama Β· crime Β· thriller

Robbery is the engine of both

The difference: A 1990s film, from a different era of filmmaking

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

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Inside Man poster
Inside Man
2006 Β· dir. Spike Lee
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: heist

When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.

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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

Both built around robbery

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

Gritty where it counts, tense underneath

The difference: None of the play that defines The Killing

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.

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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

Both keep circling back to gangster

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.

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Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 Β· dir. Don Siegel
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.5crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both trade on stillness more than on being crime

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

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

Playful thriller in both cases

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

Gangster sits at the heart of each

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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Miller's Crossing poster
Miller's Crossing
1990 Β· dir. Joel Coen
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.7drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both built around corruption

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

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Touch of Evil poster
Touch of Evil
1958 Β· dir. Orson Welles
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of grit, in both cases

A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.

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Dial M for Murder poster
Dial M for Murder
1954 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 90%β˜… 8.1thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Both built around adultery

When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.

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In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

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