Movies like Dolores Claiborne (1995)
The best movies like Dolores Claiborne (1995) are Sleepers (1996), Fracture (2007) and Mortal Thoughts (1991). If Dolores Claiborne hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPrimal Fear (1996)7.7/10 from 4,269 votes
- NewestRun for Your Life (2014)Released 2014
Sleepers (1996)
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.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFracture (2007)
A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse is played out, each must manipulate and outwit the other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMortal Thoughts (1991)
A loathsome man ends up dead, but it's not clear who's to blame. If ever a person got what he deserved, it's James Urbanksi, an abusive drunk who steals from his wife, Joyce, and promises her close friend Cynthia Kellogg that she'll be the next target of his rage. At a group outing, James bleeds to death after someone cuts his throat. But because he's such a terrible human being, police aren't sure which of his acquaintances decided to kill him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisGone Baby Gone (2007)
When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Client (1994)
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDomestic Disturbance (2001)
Frank Morrison is a divorced father with a 12-year-old son, Danny. His ex-wife Susan and son Danny now live with Rick Barnes, Susan's new husband. Danny, who has a reputation for telling lies, accuses his stepfather of committing a murder. Initially, no one believes his accusations, but then Frank becomes convinced and is the only one who believes him. Now, the father Danny trusts must protect him from the stepfather he fears.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisRun for Your Life (2014)
Journalist Meredith Redmond is a battered Canadian woman who flees Canada to escape her abusive husband, Robert. She settles in Seattle, but her now-remarried ex-husband eventually finds her. To protect her two children, she must choose between killing him herself, hiring someone to kill him, or disappearing with her children and assuming new identities. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Changeling (2008)
Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, her quest for truth exposes a world of corruption.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurder by Numbers (2002)
Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomeone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Claire Gregory, an upper class New York personality, witnesses a murder in a luxurious nightclub. Detective Mike Keegan, recently promoted, is assigned to protect her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWicked (1998)
A cul-de-sac in an oppressive suburb becomes a literal dead end for wife and mother Karen Christianson when she is brutally murdered in her own home. In the wake of the event, Karen's teenage daughter Ellie begins to exhibit bizarre behaviors as she slowly acquires her mother's demeanor and mannerisms. Meanwhile, Karen's husband Ben nurtures a less-than-innocent interest in the family's sultry live-in nanny, Lena.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
SnoozefestMovies like thisAs Good As Dead (1995)
Susan moves to LA and befriends party girl Nicole, who suffers from painful stomach ulcers but cannot be treated without insurance. Susan decides to temporarily switch identities with Nicole so that her friend can have an operation. However, when Nicole suddenly dies after the procedure, ending Susan’s legal identity, Susan has to pose as Nicole to regain her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery
Primal Fear (1996)
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.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLosing Isaiah (1995)
Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted social worker, Margaret Lewin, and her husband, Charles. Years later, Khaila has gone through rehab and holds a steady job. After learning that her child is still alive, she challenges Margaret for the custody.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPresumed Innocent (1990)
Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Heat of the Night (1967)
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Time to Kill (1996)
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.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSilent Fall (1994)
Having seen the double murder of his parents, autistic youth Tim Warden is sent to therapy with controversial therapist Dr. Jake Rainer. Jake tries to probe the silent child about what he saw, but he gets more details about the Wardens' household dynamics from Tim's teenage sister, Sylvie. As he spends more time with the siblings, Jake learns that the Wardens' marriage was not as perfect as it seemed, and he uncovers other new details that might help solve the crime.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisMystic River (2003)
The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Juror (1996)
Struggling single mother Annie Laird impulsively agrees to serve on a jury, hoping for a little excitement in her humdrum life. But she gets far more than she bargained for when she's forced to sacrifice the truth to save her son from the mob's seductive, psychotic enforcer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisKiss the Girls (1997)
Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArlington Road (1999)
Bedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed — and increasingly paranoid — since his wife's accidental death in a botched FBI operation. When a seemingly all-American couple set up house next door, Michael begins to suspect there’s more to them than meets the eye.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Dreams (1999)
A suburban housewife learns that she has psychic connections to a serial killer, and can predict this person's motives through her dreams.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisDouble Jeopardy (1999)
Libby Parsons, wrongly convicted of her husband Nick's murder, thinks he is still alive. She survives the long years in prison with two burning desires sustaining her -- finding her son and solving the mystery that destroyed her once-happy life. Standing between her and her quest, however, is her parole officer, Travis Lehman. Libby poses a challenge to the cynical officer, one that forces him to face up to his own failings while pitting him against his superior and law enforcement colleagues, as she plunges into a desperate fight for justice, survival, and revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gift (2000)
Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Accused (1988)
Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnough (2002)
Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch's hidden possessive dark side, a controlling and abusive alter ego that can turn trust, love and tranquility into terror. Terrified for her child's safety, Slim flees with her daughter. Relentless in his pursuit and enlisting the aid of lethal henchmen, Mitch continually stalks the prey that was once his family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life of David Gale (2003)
A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeaven's Prisoners (1996)
A hardened New Orleans cop, Dave Robicheaux, finally tosses in the badge and settles into life on the bayou with his wife. But a bizarre plane crash draws him back into the fray when his family is viciously threatened.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dolores Claiborne?
The closest matches to Dolores Claiborne are Sleepers (1996), Fracture (2007) and Mortal Thoughts (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dolores Claiborne?
People who watched Dolores Claiborne most often go on to Sleepers (1996), Fracture (2007) and Mortal Thoughts (1991).
What is the highest-rated movie like Dolores Claiborne?
Primal Fear (1996), rated 7.7/10 by 4,269 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dolores Claiborne?
Run for Your Life (2014) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Dolores Claiborne?
Yes: Sleepers (1996), Fracture (2007) and Mortal Thoughts (1991).
How are movies similar to Dolores Claiborne chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dolores Claiborne, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.