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Movies that feel like Thief (1981)

If you loved Thief, the closest films we have are Blood Simple (1985), Collateral (2004) and Frailty (2002). All three share Thief's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel and Cinemax Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

πŸ… 80% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Michael Manngrittytensecontemplativemelancholyromantic

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If Thief hit the spot, these will too

Blood Simple poster
Blood Simple
1985 Β· dir. Joel Coen
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both land grit and tension at once

The difference: Not nearly as melancholy as Thief

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Feels alike?
Collateral poster
Collateral
2004 Β· dir. Michael Mann
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.5drama Β· crime Β· thriller

Both are Michael Mann films, and they rhyme

The difference: 23 years apart, and the 2000s show

Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours when Max realizes his fare is an assassin.

Feels alike?
Frailty poster
Frailty
2002 Β· dir. Bill Paxton
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.2drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Both keep circling back to grief

The difference: A 2000s film, from a different era of filmmaking

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."

Feels alike?
Elevator to the Gallows poster
Elevator to the Gallows
1958 Β· dir. Louis Malle
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.

Feels alike?
Mystic River poster
Mystic River
2003 Β· dir. Clint Eastwood
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.9thriller Β· drama Β· mystery

Grief sits at the heart of each

The difference: Leans mystery where Thief does not

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

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

Both trade on grit more than on being crime

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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Tell No One poster
Tell No One
2006 Β· dir. Guillaume Canet
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Melancholy thriller in both cases

A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her 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

The same preoccupation in both: 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.

Feels alike?
The Talented Mr. Ripley poster
The Talented Mr. Ripley
1999 Β· dir. Anthony Minghella
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· crime Β· drama

Drama built on tension, twice over

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

Feels alike?
Tuner poster
Tuner
2026 Β· dir. Daniel Roher
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

A talented piano tuner's meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.

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

Thriller with a pulse of grit, in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Sleepers poster
Sleepers
1996 Β· dir. Barry Levinson
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Gangster is the engine of both

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.

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In the mood for more gritty?

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