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The Usual Suspects poster

Movies that feel likeThe Usual Suspects (1995)

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.

If you loved The Usual Suspects, the closest films we have are Inside Man (2006), Le Cercle Rouge (1970) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). All three share The Usual Suspects' gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Dhoom 2 (2006).

🍅 87% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Bryan Singercontemplativegrittytenseplayful
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Usual Suspects hit the spot, these will too

Inside Man poster
Inside Man
2006 · dir. Spike Lee
🍅 86%★ 7.6crime · drama · thriller

A crime told sideways, with everyone in the room working an angle

The difference: Cool procedural puzzle solved in real time, not spun from a story

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.

Le Cercle Rouge poster
Le Cercle Rouge
1970 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 96%★ 7.9crime · drama · thriller

Professional criminals, a meticulous job and fate closing the circle

The difference: Melville's icy patience — long silences instead of narration tricks

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.

Ocean's Eleven poster
Ocean's Eleven
2001 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 83%★ 7.7thriller · crimeMaxStarz

A hand-picked crew, an audacious score and reveals held to the last

The difference: Breezy and consequence-free — charm where Suspects has dread

Less than 24 hours into his parole, charismatic thief Danny Ocean is already rolling out his next plan: In one night, Danny's hand-picked crew of specialists will attempt to steal more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos. But to score the cash, Danny risks his chances of reconciling with ex-wife, Tess.

The Killing poster
The Killing
1956 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 96%★ 7.9crime · thriller · dramaPrime Video

A crack crew's perfect plan, told out of order as it comes apart

The difference: Blunt 1950s clarity — you see exactly who's to blame and why

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.

Dhoom 2 poster
Dhoom 2
2006 · dir. Sanjay Gadhvi
🍅 93%★ 6.6drama · action · thrillerNetflix

A master thief in disguises keeping the cops and audience guessing

The difference: A Bollywood spectacle with songs — flash, not noir menace

Jai and Ali return, this time on the trail of an international thief who steals priceless artifacts and has chosen Mumbai as his next target.

Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 77%★ 7.6crime · drama · thriller

An LA day pieced together by a cop chasing a man he cannot read

The difference: Blunt character study of a meltdown, with no puzzle to assemble

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Rififi poster
Rififi
1955 · dir. Jules Dassin
🍅 92%★ 8.1crime · thriller · drama

One thread runs through both: heist

The difference: Made in the 1950s, in a different era of the craft

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.

Primal Fear poster
Primal Fear
1996 · dir. Gregory Hoblit
🍅 77%★ 7.7crime · drama · thrillerParamount+

A slippery client and a case that keeps changing shape underneath you

The difference: Courtroom drama in a moral register rather than underworld myth-making

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

Sleepers poster
Sleepers
1996 · dir. Barry Levinson
🍅 76%★ 7.5crime · drama · thriller

Old crimes retold in narration, with a plan buried inside the telling

The difference: Wounded and earnest; the hurt is the point, not the sleight of hand

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

A Time to Kill poster
A Time to Kill
1996 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 66%★ 7.5crime · drama · thriller

Contemplative and gritty in the same breath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less playful than The Usual Suspects does

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

A History of Violence poster
A History of Violence
2005 · dir. David Cronenberg
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · thriller · crimeMax

How much of a man's identity might turn out to be invention

The difference: Quiet small-town dread, no crew of crooks and no interrogation games

An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.

Law Abiding Citizen poster
Law Abiding Citizen
2009 · dir. F. Gary Gray
🍅 26%★ 7.4drama · crime · thrillerNetflix

Someone staying three steps ahead of the men questioning him

The difference: Escalating revenge machinery that shows its hand rather than teasing

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Usual Suspects’ defining feeling.