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Movies that feel like The Little Things (2021)

If you loved The Little Things, the closest films we have are The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Donnie Brasco (1997) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). All three share The Little Things' contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

πŸ… 44% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. John Lee Hancockcontemplativegrittytenseparanoid

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If The Little Things hit the spot, these will too

The Lincoln Lawyer poster
The Lincoln Lawyer
2011 Β· dir. Brad Furman
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.3crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: crime scene

The difference: Reviewed even better

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.

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Donnie Brasco poster
Donnie Brasco
1997 Β· dir. Mike Newell
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Common ground: surveillance

The difference: 24 years apart, and the 1990s show

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit poster
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
2014 Β· dir. Kenneth Branagh
πŸ… 55%β˜… 6.2action Β· drama Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: surveillance

The difference: None of the grit The Little Things is built on

Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.

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Conclave poster
Conclave
2024 Β· dir. Edward Berger
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller

Contemplative and tense in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as gritty as The Little Things

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

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Snowden poster
Snowden
2016 Β· dir. Oliver Stone
πŸ… 61%β˜… 7.3drama Β· history Β· crime

Both land grit and paranoia at once

The difference: Leans harder into history than The Little Things does

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

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

The same preoccupation in both: serial killer

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.

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Emily the Criminal poster
Emily the Criminal
2022 Β· dir. John Patton Ford
πŸ… 93%β˜… 6.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both rooted in Los Angeles

Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.

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Public Enemies poster
Public Enemies
2009 Β· dir. Michael Mann
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.9crime Β· history Β· drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

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The Devil All the Time poster
The Devil All the Time
2020 Β· dir. Antonio Campos
πŸ… 65%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: serial killer

In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.

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The Baader Meinhof Complex poster
The Baader Meinhof Complex
2008 Β· dir. Uli Edel
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3action Β· crime Β· drama

Crime built on grit, twice over

When German police viciously quell a protest against the shah of Iran, popular journalist Ulrike Meinhof rebels against her dishonest marriage, walks away from her children and joins radical anarchist Andreas Baader. Together with Baader's girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin, they form the violent Red Faction Army, and together perpetrate a slew of terrorist attacks as a way of disrupting the fabric of what they see as an increasingly fascist state.

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The Parallax View poster
The Parallax View
1974 Β· dir. Alan J. Pakula
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.

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The Wild Goose Lake poster
The Wild Goose Lake
2019 Β· dir. Diao Yinan
πŸ… 91%β˜… 6.7crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative drama in both cases

A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share The Little Things’ defining feeling.