feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like The Set-Up (1949)

If you loved The Set-Up, the closest films we have are Force of Evil (1950), The Big Combo (1955) and Animal Kingdom (2010). All three share The Set-Up's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on YouTube TV, TCM and Philo and others, checked against today's data.

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

πŸ… 85% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Robert Wisecontemplativegrittyatmospheric

When is The Set-Up streaming? β†’

If The Set-Up hit the spot, these will too

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

Both keep circling back to film noir

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.

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

Film noir sits at the heart of each

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then grit

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

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

Atmospheric drama in both cases

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

The same hand behind both of them: Robert Wise

The difference: Plays it as thriller more than The Set-Up does

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

Crime built on stillness, twice over

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

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Pickpocket poster
Pickpocket
1959 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Missing the atmosphere of The Set-Up

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

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

Both trade on atmosphere more than on being crime

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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Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 Β· dir. Allen Baron
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

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Le Doulos poster
Le Doulos
1962 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.7drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Crime built on grit, twice over

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Feels alike?
The Godfather Part II poster
The Godfather Part II
1974 Β· dir. Francis Ford Coppola
πŸ… 96%β˜… 9drama Β· crime

Both are drama through and through

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

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Shoot the Piano Player poster
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 Β· dir. FranΓ§ois Truffaut
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both run atmospheric where it counts

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

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