Movies like Joy Road (2011)
The best movies like Joy Road (2011) are True Believer (1989), Cry of the City (1948) and Siberian Education (2013). If Joy Road hooked you with its crime and drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSiberian Education (2013)6.8/10 from 571 votes
- NewestTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)Released 2025
True 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 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 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 thisBeyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district attorney. The plan is to have Tom plant clues leading to his arrest for killing a female nightclub dancer. Once Tom is found guilty, he is to reveal the setup and humiliate the DA.
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 thisBelly (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 thisPanic (2000)
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Skin (2019)
A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
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 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 thisEmpire (2002)
Big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top, Victor soon finds out that he's been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
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 thisMonster (2021)
The story of Steve Harmon, a 17-year-old honor student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhantom Halo (2014)
Two brothers barely scrape by as their father continues to gamble and drink away the money they do bring home. They hatch a plan for a robbery but at what price?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Blue Gardenia (1953)
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while attempting to resist his advances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReasonable Doubt (2014)
When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Joy Road?
The closest matches to Joy Road are True Believer (1989), Cry of the City (1948) and Siberian Education (2013). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Joy Road?
Start with True Believer (1989), the closest match to Joy Road.
What is the highest-rated movie like Joy Road?
Siberian Education (2013), rated 6.8/10 by 571 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Joy Road?
Tyler Perry's Duplicity (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Joy Road?
Yes: True Believer (1989), Cry of the City (1948) and Siberian Education (2013).
How are movies similar to Joy Road chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Joy Road, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.