Movies like Illicit: The Dark Trade (2008)
The best movies like Illicit: The Dark Trade (2008) are Sour Grapes (2016), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and The Secret (2006). If Illicit: The Dark Trade hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInside Job (2010)7.7/10 from 1,093 votes
- NewestA Toxic Love Story (2026)Released 2026
Sour Grapes (2016)
Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American wine market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling the wine world elite, in this humorous and suspenseful tale of an ingenious con on the eve of the 2008 stock market crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Toxic Love Story (2026)
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Secret (2006)
Interviews with leading authors, philosophers and scientists, with an in-depth discussion of the Law of Attraction. The audience is shown how they can learn and use 'The Secret' in their everyday lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020)
An investigation into the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of “fake news” in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)
With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her 10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStolen: Heist of the Century (2025)
Antwerp, 2003. A gang of thieves rob the impenetrable Diamond Center. Who was behind one of the world's biggest heists - and how did they pull it off?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZero Days (2016)
Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTed Bundy: Mind of a Monster (2019)
New exclusive access and never before heard testimony gives a unique insight into the mind of America's most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy. Breathtaking archive from the time and the voice of Bundy himself, reveals the monster inside the man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside Job (2010)
A film that exposes the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBuy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (2024)
This subversive documentary unpacks the tricks brands use to keep their customers consuming — and the real impact they have on our lives and the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mole: Undercover in North Korea (2020)
A real-life undercover thriller about two ordinary men who embark on an outrageously dangerous ten-year mission to penetrate the world's most secretive and brutal dictatorship: North Korea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSurplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers (2003)
Swedish documentary film on consumerism and globalization, created by director Erik Gandini and editor Johan Söderberg. It looks at the arguments for capitalism and technology, such as greater efficiency, more time and less work, and argues that these are not being fulfilled, and they never will be. The film leans towards anarcho-primitivist ideology and argues for "a simple and fulfilling life".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDerren Brown: Pushed to the Edge (2016)
Derren Brown investigates the power of social compliance by persuading an unwitting member of the public into believing that they have pushed someone to their death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCome See Me in the Good Light (2025)
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeliver Us from Evil (2006)
Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012)
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVoyeur (2017)
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
SnoozefestMovies like thisCapital in the Twenty-First Century (2019)
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Half Measures: Creating the Final Season of Breaking Bad (2013)
A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Yes Men Fix the World (2009)
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConman: The Life and Crimes of Mark Acklom (2019)
Documentary following the story of a cunning fraudster who posed as an MI6 agent to con his ex-girlfriend out of almost £300,000.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Dangerous Lies: Unmasking Belle Gibson (2025)
The real story of wellness campaigner Belle Gibson's massive worldwide fraud and the famous interview that brought the con artist down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Playing for the Mob (2014)
The story of how mobster Henry Hill - played by Ray Liotta in Martin Scorsese 1990 classic, Goodfellas - helped orchestrate the fixing of Boston College basketball games in the 1978-79 season. The details of that point-shaving scandal are revealed for the first time on film through the testimony of the players, the federal investigators and the actual fixers. Playing For The Mob may be set in the seemingly golden world of college basketball, but like Goodfellas, this is a tale of greed, betrayal and reckoning. Ultimately, they both share the same message: With that much money at stake, you can't trust anybody.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Al Capone: Icon (2014)
Al Capone - The quintessential self-made American man, ruthless killer, or both? To this day we are fascinated with this celebrity gangster. Americans love a bad boy; a tragic anti-hero. Al Capone is one of the originals, one of the most notorious bootleggers and gangsters of the twentieth century, believed to have personally murdered dozens of people and ordered the killing of hundreds of others. But that’s only one side of this complicated man. He was also a hugely popular public figure, dynamic and charismatic; he opened one of the nation's first soup kitchens, and was a devoted patron and guardian of jazz, giving African American musicians opportunities that they would otherwise never have had. So what made him a crime boss instead of a powerful politician?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
All the Queen's Horses (2017)
For two decades, a comptroller in a small Illinois town financed her successful horse-breeding business by stealing $53 million in public funds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Laboratory Greece (2019)
A journey through Greece and Europe’s past and recent history: from the Second World War to the current crisis. It is a historical documentary, a look into many stories. «If Democracy can be destroyed in Greece, it can be destroyed throughout Europe» Paul Craig Roberts
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Check Fraud: Paper and Persuasion (1980)
Presents a check-passer describing the tricks of his trade. Explains how a conscientious check-out clerk can easily trip him up.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Camera Sleuth (1951)
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, we see how real-life investigator Jo Goggin used a motion picture surveillance camera to gather evidence and disprove a fraudulent insurance claim.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Praise the Lord (1988)
PBS Frontline traces rise and fall of television evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker and investigates why government agencies failed to vigorously investigate charges of corruption in Bakker empire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Black Hand Strawman: The History of Organized Crime in Kansas City (2009)
The film shines a light on Kansas City’s less glorious past when it was a major distribution hub for heroin in the 1930s and 1940s. Black Hand Strawman explains how Kansas City’s Mafia exercised control over the Teamsters Union Local 41 from the 1950s into the 1980s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Illicit: The Dark Trade?
The closest matches to Illicit: The Dark Trade are Sour Grapes (2016), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and The Secret (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Illicit: The Dark Trade?
Start with Sour Grapes (2016), the closest match to Illicit: The Dark Trade.
What is the highest-rated movie like Illicit: The Dark Trade?
Inside Job (2010), rated 7.7/10 by 1,093 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Illicit: The Dark Trade?
A Toxic Love Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Illicit: The Dark Trade?
Yes: Sour Grapes (2016), A Toxic Love Story (2026) and The Secret (2006).
How are movies similar to Illicit: The Dark Trade chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Illicit: The Dark Trade, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.