Crime backdrop

Crime movies

A deep dive into the underworld of gangsters, detectives, and heists where the line between right and wrong blurs.

Subgenres include: Organized Crime, Heist, Con Artist Crime.

The Factory

701. The Factory

Crime Thriller Mystery Serial Killer Crime Investigation Suspense
5.8

20121h 48min

United States

Director: Morgan O'Neill

An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.

Themes

Deception and manipulation, Power and control, Betrayal and complicity, Captivity and survival dynamics, Mothers and children, Investigator obsession and burnout

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Seven Psychopaths

702. Seven Psychopaths

Comedy Crime Dark Comedy Organized Crime
7.1

20121h 50min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Martin McDonagh

In a town where every psycho wants their story on the big screen, a blocked, alcoholic writer accidentally steals a crime boss’s beloved dog and turns his screenplay into a hit list. Now he dives into a desert of lunatics, killers, and con men, and his script starts writing itself in blood.

Themes

Deception and performance, Betrayal within alliances, Creative pressure under chaos, Violence as narrative device, Power and credit dynamics, Duty versus self-interest

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Paulette

703. Paulette

Crime Comedy Parody
6.6

20121h 27min

France

Director: Jérôme Enrico

Paulette lives alone in a housing project in the Paris suburbs. With her meager pension, she can no longer make ends meet.

Themes

Illicit entrepreneurship under pressure, Economic precarity in housing projects, Exploitation by criminal networks, Family risk and protective action, Migration and reinvention, Immigrant adaptation and departure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Taken 2

704. Taken 2

Action Crime Thriller One-Person Army Kidnapping & Captivity Thriller
6.2

20121h 31min

France, Türkiye

Director: Olivier Megaton

In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

Themes

Trust under pressure, Family under siege, Survival through improvisation, Revenge-driven pursuit, Loyalty vs expedience, Coercion and retaliation

Available on

Disney Plus
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

End of Watch

705. End of Watch

Crime Drama Thriller Police Procedural Investigation Suspense
7.6

20121h 49min

United States

Director: David Ayer

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

Themes

Loyalty under threat, Trauma and memory, Trust under surveillance, Duty vs family, Police power under threat, State power vs criminal networks

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Key of Life

706. Key of Life

Comedy Crime
7.3

20122h 8min

Director: Kenji Uchida

A failed actor switches identities with a stranger at a bath house thinking it is his way out of his life of misery but only to find himself filling the shoes of an elite assassin.


The Sweeney

707. The Sweeney

Action Crime Heist
6.1

20121h 52min

United Kingdom

Director: Nick Love

Jack Regan, a hardened cop who doesn’t play by the rules, is confronted with a criminal from his past. With sidekick George Carter they are put on the case of a jewellery store heist that ends in a killing. But is that killing really an execution in disguise? With pressure from his boss and the fact that Regan is having an affair with that boss’s wife, it’s not going to be easy for him to stay out of trouble.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Rules vs duty, Crime and accountability, Office politics under scrutiny, Trust and betrayal within teams, Deception and alibis

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

6 Bullets

708. 6 Bullets

Thriller Action Crime Kidnapping & Captivity Thriller Martial Arts Action
6.0

20121h 55min

United States

Director: Ernie Barbarash

An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.

Themes

Contested authority, Deception and impersonation, Factional violence, Ransom economy, Loyalty under pressure, Leadership and governance

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Beyond Outrage

709. Beyond Outrage

Action Crime
6.7

20121h 52min

Director: Takeshi Kitano

As the police launch a full-scale crackdown on organized crime, it ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West. What started as an internal strife in Outrage has now become a nationwide war in Outrage Beyond.


The Iceman

710. The Iceman

Thriller Crime Drama Serial Killer Crime Mind Game Thriller
6.8

20121h 45min

United States

Director: Ariel Vromen

The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man.

Themes

Double life tension, Loyalty under crime pressure, Family life vs crime life, Betrayals and consequences, Performative normalcy, Violence as livelihood

Available on

Netflix
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.