Movies like The Instigators (2024)
The best movies like The Instigators (2024) are Married to the Mob (1988), Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) and Pain & Gain (2013). If The Instigators hooked you with its crime and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedReservoir Dogs (1992)8.1/10 from 16,022 votes
- NewestIn the Grey (2026)Released 2026
Married to the Mob (1988)
Angela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the crime world. When her husband is killed for having an affair with the mistress of mob boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo, Angela and her son depart for New York City to make a fresh start. Unfortunately, Tony has set his sights upon Angela -- and so has an undercover FBI agent looking to use her to bust Tony.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
After their late former Captain is framed, Lowrey and Burnett try to clear his name, only to end up on the run themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPain & Gain (2013)
Daniel Lugo, manager of the Sun Gym in 1990s Miami, decides that there is only one way to achieve his version of the American dream: extortion. To achieve his goal, he recruits musclemen Paul and Adrian as accomplices. After several failed attempts, they abduct rich businessman Victor Kershaw and convince him to sign over all his assets to them. But when Kershaw makes it out alive, authorities are reluctant to believe his story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pickup (2025)
A routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when mismatched armored truck drivers Russell and Travis are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by savvy mastermind Zoe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2 Guns (2013)
A DEA agent and an undercover Naval Intelligence officer who have been tasked with investigating one another find they have been set up by the mob -- the very organization the two men believe they have been stealing money from.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFun with Dick and Jane (1977)
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this22 Jump Street (2014)
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don't have to just crack the case - they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorrible Bosses (2011)
For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con, the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers... permanently.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Heat (2013)
Uptight and straight-laced, FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn is a methodical investigator with a reputation for excellence--and hyper-arrogance. Shannon Mullins, one of Boston P.D.'s "finest," is foul-mouthed and has a very short fuse, and uses her gut instinct and street smarts to catch the most elusive criminals. Neither has ever had a partner, or a friend for that matter. When these two wildly incompatible law officers join forces to bring down a ruthless drug lord, they become the last thing anyone expected: buddies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolfs (2024)
Hired to cover up a high-profile crime, a fixer soon finds his night spiralling out of control when he's forced to work with an unexpected counterpart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKeanu (2016)
Friends hatch a plot to retrieve a stolen cat by posing as drug dealers for a street gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organise a daring new heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpenser Confidential (2020)
Spenser, a former Boston patrolman who just got out from prison, teams up with Hawk, an aspiring fighter, to unravel the truth behind the death of two police officers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReservoir Dogs (1992)
A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTrance (2013)
A violent gang enlists the help of a hypnotherapist in an attempt to locate a painting which somehow vanished in the middle of a heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boondock Saints (1999)
Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner and Murphy are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParker (2013)
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Fast (2024)
When The Thief’s partner is kidnapped after stealing millions in cash from a merciless drug lord named Nushi, he reluctantly teams up with an angst-ridden orphan to rescue him. Nushi enlists her most trusted hitman, The Cowboy, a lovable charmer who’s quick with his guns, to track down the Thief. Guns, cars, and explosions will give the newfound partners a head start, but how long will they be able to keep it up?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Grey (2026)
A covert team of elite operatives are living in the shadows. When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, they're sent to take it back—an impossible heist that erupts into a deadly game of strategy, deception and survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaby Driver (2017)
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Killer (1933)
An ex-gang member tries to resist his old cohorts' criminal influence after he suddenly becomes a Hollywood movie star.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Operation: Laugh Track (2025)
FBI agent Lucas Baker must go undercover as a bartender at a local comedy club. During his time behind the bar, he uncovers the secrets behind an underground criminal organization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
The Brain (1969)
Arthur and Anatole are two little robbers. They want to rob money, money that will travel in a special train from Paris to Bruxelles. They don't know that other people have planned to do the same thing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoy Kills World (2024)
When his family is murdered, a deaf-mute named Boy escapes to the jungle and is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRohan's Alien Therapy (2016)
Rohan, the alien-obsessed oddball returns and this time undergoing a major event. He talks to his therapist to make sense of the entire ordeal. Did the aliens return?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Ghostbusters (2016)
Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBoston Strangler (2023)
Reporters Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole bravely pursue the story of the Boston Strangler at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChildren of Invention (2010)
Two young children living illegally in a model apartment outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother disappears
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Reform Girl (1933)
A young girl just out of prison and desperate for money finds herself involved in a plot to smear a politician by pretending to be his long-lost daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like The Instigators and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Instigators?
The closest matches to The Instigators are Married to the Mob (1988), Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) and Pain & Gain (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Instigators?
Start with Married to the Mob (1988), the closest match to The Instigators.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Instigators?
Reservoir Dogs (1992), rated 8.1/10 by 16,022 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Instigators?
In the Grey (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Instigators?
Yes: Married to the Mob (1988), Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) and Pain & Gain (2013).
How are movies similar to The Instigators chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Instigators, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.