Movies like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton
The best movies like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton are Belly (1998), Ill Manors (2012) and The Bygone (2019). If The Ballad of Lionel Hampton hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Ballad of Lionel Hampton
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAbove the Rim (1994)7.1/10 from 251 votes
- NewestLast Hit (2026)Released 2026
Belly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIll Manors (2012)
Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bygone (2019)
When a young rancher crosses paths with a Lakota girl from a nearby reservation, her mysterious disappearance sparks a search that uncovers a harrowing past and hints at a dire future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian Education (2013)
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Fury (1950)
A family man – desperate for a job – latches onto a friend who encourages him into being a criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)
This South African movie tracks the rise of a once-petty criminal to the heights of the criminal underworld. After cutting his teeth on hijacking, before moving onto bigger game, an ambitious man hits a setback when most of his gang are shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisState Property (2002)
A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAdulthood (2008)
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlunder Road (1957)
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Murderer (2022)
The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Grissom Gang (1971)
Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Eye (1992)
A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisLittle Statue (2011)
Little Statue" directed by Bahram Baryal, is a crime drama film. The story revolves around a gang of criminals who are hired for a mission to steal a golden statue recently discovered in Afghanistan. When their initial plan fails, they resort to kidnapping the daughter of the archaeologist who found the statue. Their goal is to force him to hand over the statue to them instead of the government. But things don’t go as planned…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
CHEESECAKE (2024)
A chilling meeting between a deadly assassin and a former associate as The female assassins threatens the target in order to force him to give up important information of interest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Last Hit (2026)
A pair of criminals seeking a fresh start are intervened by their boss, who takes one of them hostage to force a final job. Vincent and Maya decide to escape their gang and settle for a peaceful life, but they are trapped into one last hit with hidden agendas, betrayals, and unexpected alliances. Last Hit is a high-stakes, action-packed thriller about redemption, betrayal, and the ultimate cost of freedom. Vincent and Maya decide to escape from their life of crime when their boss, Dante starts blurring the lines between heists and hits. During their last job they realize they've walked into a setup orchestrated by Dante himself. This trap pushed Vincent and Maya to the firm decision to walk away from the gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Killing of Time (2024)
In this indirect sequel to "The Pure and the Damned," childhood friends Ellis and Benny kill time as they await their newest partner in the midst of a robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
The John Perkins Tapes (2024)
This is the recovered footage of serial killer Johns Perkins, who filmed his victims, creating what he believed to be artistic videos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The King of Snipers (2023)
The genius sniper Anna is forced to accept an assassination assignment. In the process, she gradually finds her true calling to fight for kindness and to defend a greater love. Tai, a special agent for the UN army, stands up for justice when drug lords try to harm innocent citizens. The two join forces to block the bill to legalize drug cultivation and distribution in Libiwala. They fight to the death with the drug lord Luo Jie and eventually foil his plans, protecting the people from the drugs. This is the exciting story of them working together to save a nation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Hazard (1995)
A film based on the true story of a twenty year old girl who lives with her mother and her younger, parasitic partner in Bratislava’s Petržalka district. Her ideas about life are full of ideals, but reality is completely different. Out of boredom, and lacking positive motivation and family care, the young girl commits an irreversible act that ruins her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cartel (2025)
He's a well known Fraudster who runs a Cartel, but When the scores are up.the only language he understands is survival ,But Amanda will do anything possible to save her brother who's caught in the web of this syndicate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Cielo (2025)
Santa, an eight-year-old girl from the desolate Bolivian Altiplano, embarks on a rollercoaster journey to take her mother from a life of misery into paradise. The two of them made a pact: when her mother passes, the girl would follow the stars and carry her body across the desert toward heaven, a place they are certain is physically real. Crossing the wilderness, Santa encounters a group of female wrestlers that help her on her way. Also, a gruff policeman who arrests Santa but soon suspects she has magical powers. He decides that to achieve his own salvation he must join Santa on her quest beyond the horizon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Trojan (TBA)
This film will be the conclusion to Thomas Arslan's Trojan films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton?
The closest matches to The Ballad of Lionel Hampton are Belly (1998), Ill Manors (2012) and The Bygone (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ballad of Lionel Hampton?
Start with Belly (1998), the closest match to The Ballad of Lionel Hampton.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton?
Above the Rim (1994), rated 7.1/10 by 251 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton?
Last Hit (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Ballad of Lionel Hampton?
Yes: Belly (1998), Ill Manors (2012) and The Bygone (2019).
How are movies similar to The Ballad of Lionel Hampton chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ballad of Lionel Hampton, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.