Narcotics Crime backdrop

Narcotics Crime movies

Drug-trade crime about networks, enforcement pressure, violence economics, and survival inside the pipeline.

Sicario

1. Sicario

Action Crime Thriller Narcotics Crime Political Thriller
7.7
20152h 2min

Overview

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Themes

Deception and betrayal, Covert operations and legality, Corruption and state complicity, Borders and cross-border violence, Moral ambiguity in violence, Power and restraint in enforcement

Available on

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

Don't Be Bad

2. Don't Be Bad

Crime Drama Narcotics Crime Tragic Drama
7.1
20151h 42min

Overview

A story set in the 90s and in the outskirts of Rome to Ostia. A world where money, luxury cars, night clubs, cocaine and synthetic drugs are easy to run. A world in which Vittorio and Cesare, in their early twenties, act in search of their success.

Themes

Economic precarity, Loyalty under strain, Desire for escape, Drug trade pressure, Death and consequences, Illusion of success

Available on

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

Overview

Two kids find themselves in the centre of a deadly game of cat and mouse after taking a sheriff's cruiser for a joy ride.

Themes

Abuse of authority, Body in a trunk motif, Youth vulnerability in crime, Deception under stress, Joy ride dynamics

Available on

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

Dope

4. Dope

Crime Drama Comedy Coming-of-Age Drama Narcotics Crime
7.2
20151h 43min

Overview

Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

Themes

Trust under pressure, Deception and exploitation, Urban survival under pressure, Academic ambition under duress, Wealth temptation, Peer influence and risk

Available on

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

The Connection

5. The Connection

Thriller Crime Action Narcotics Crime Investigation Suspense
7.1
20142h 15min

Overview

Newly transferred to the bustling port city of Marseille to assist with a crackdown on organized crime, energetic young magistrate Pierre Michel is given a rapid-fire tutorial on the ins and outs of an out-of-control drug trade. Pierre's wildly ambitious mission is to take on the French Connection, a highly organized operation that controls the city's underground heroin economy and is overseen by the notorious —and reputedly untouchable— Gaetan Zampa. Fearless, determined and willing to go the distance, Pierre plunges into an underworld world of insane danger and ruthless criminals.

Themes

Underground drug economy, Corruption within law enforcement, Loyalty and defection, Personal cost of duty, Illegal surveillance, Organized crime vs justice

Available on

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

Kill the Messenger

6. Kill the Messenger

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller History
6.9
20141h 52min

Overview

A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.

Themes

Investigative journalism, Government complicity, Exposure under threat, Media pushback, Asset forfeiture abuse, Informant networks

Available on

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

A Walk Among the Tombstones

7. A Walk Among the Tombstones

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller Narcotics Crime
6.5
20141h 54min

Overview

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

Themes

Kidnap for ransom, Mafia violence networks, Addiction and sobriety, Private investigation ethics, Dealer targeting schemes, Urban crime realism

Available on

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

Sabotage

8. Sabotage

Action Drama Thriller Crime One-Person Army
5.7
20141h 50min

Overview

John 'Breacher' Wharton leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world's deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Betrayal within ranks, Money as motive, Frame and deception, Police corruption and bribes, Trauma driving vengeance

Available on

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

In Order of Disappearance

9. In Order of Disappearance

Thriller Action Comedy Crime Investigation Suspense
7.1
20141h 55min

Overview

Upstanding community leader Nils has just won an award for "Citizen of the Year" when he learns the news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate, and soon finds himself at the center of an escalating underworld gang war between Serbian drug dealers and a sociopathic criminal mastermind known only as “The Count.”

Themes

Betrayal and shifting loyalties, Revenge and family loyalty, Underworld power struggle, Moral tension in crime

Available on

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

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

10. Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

Action Crime Thriller Martial Arts Action Narcotics Crime
6.1
20131h 35min

Overview

Fight everyone and trust no one: it's the code of survival practiced by martial-arts master Casey Bowman after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. Vowing revenge, the fearless American stealthily tracks the killer from Osaka to Bangkok to Rangoon with the help of a wise and crafty sensei. His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Fighting to avenge as well as to survive, Casey must sharpen his razor-like responses and take his battle skills to the next level, even using deep meditation to fake his own death. His target: the sinister drug lord Goro, who is flooding the streets with deadly meth cooked at his remote jungle factory. To prepare for his ultimate confrontation, Casey must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja. But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Deception and loyalty, Trauma and endurance, Revenge and violence, Code of survival, Mentor manipulation

Available on

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