Movies like Breakdown (1952)
The best movies like Breakdown (1952) are Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Web (1947) and Salvable (2025). If Breakdown 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 ratedHigh and Low (1963)8.4/10 from 1,234 votes
- NewestSalvable (2025)Released 2025
Beyond 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 thisThe Web (1947)
A brash young lawyer takes a short-term, high-paying job as bodyguard for a slick business exec being threatened by a former partner, and quickly realizes he may be in over his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSalvable (2025)
When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark City (1950)
War hero Danny Haley fleeces out-of-town dupes in a rigged poker game. He and his pals see Arthur Winant as an easy mark, but they've reckoned without Winant's homicidal brother, who wants revenge after Arthur commits suicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPitfall (1948)
An insurance man wishing for a more exciting life becomes wrapped up in the affairs of an imprisoned embezzler, his model girlfriend, and a violent private investigator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 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 thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlast of Silence (1961)
A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohnny O'Clock (1947)
When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 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 thisI Wake Up Screaming (1941)
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLike Blood (2019)
Cliff is the leader of an enterprise he runs with his two best friends. His time in the life has taken a toll and he's eager to run away with his girlfriend Stephanie. They have a plan, but things take a dark twisted turn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
High and Low (1963)
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAn Inspector Calls (1954)
An upper-crust family dinner is interrupted by a police inspector who brings news that a girl known to everyone present has died in suspicious circumstances. It seems that any or all of them could have had a hand in her death. But who is the mysterious Inspector and what can he want of them?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnderdog: Part Two (2020)
Suenaga finds his life on the verge of collapsing as violence consumes those around him. However, he finds a worthy opponent in Omura, an up-and-coming wunderkind who is trying to escape his violent past. The men's fight for redemption culminates in a climatic match brimming with raw, testosterone-fueled emotions. Upholding the Rocky Balboa spirit of learning to get hit and keep moving forward, Underdog is a tough, uncompromising epic that deserves a spot in the pantheon of great boxing films.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Resurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomeboy (1988)
Johnny Walker is a cowboy and a boxer. He is very shy and a bit of a fool. He is in love with Ruby, but he cannot tell her. He is also a bit old to keep on boxing, but its the only thing he does well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAli (2001)
In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlphaville (1965)
Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended by the scientist’s daughter Natasha, Lemmy must unravel the mysteries of the strictly logical Alpha 60 and teach Natasha the meaning of the word “love.”
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAgainst the Ropes (2004)
A fictional story inspired by North America's most famous female boxing promoter, Jackie Kallen. Her struggle to survive and succeed in a male dominated sport.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAfricain poids-moyens (2005)
A young Congolese boxer, Samwa, and his older brother, Nourou, arrive in Brussels for the final of the Afro-European Middleweight Championship to fight against the Belgian title holder. Samwa trains heavily, despite some harsh conditions, under the authoritarian look of his brother. Until the day when the Belgian fight promoters, aware of the fact that the political situation gives the final a symbolical turn, order to Samwa to lose the fight. The day before the match, Samwa and Nourou watch Patrice Lumumba's independence's speech. Samwa decides not to give up but in this power's struggle, one of the brothers will betray the other one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Breakdown?
The closest matches to Breakdown are Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Web (1947) and Salvable (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Breakdown?
Start with Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), the closest match to Breakdown.
What is the highest-rated movie like Breakdown?
High and Low (1963), rated 8.4/10 by 1,234 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Breakdown?
Salvable (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Breakdown?
Yes: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), The Web (1947) and Salvable (2025).
How are movies similar to Breakdown chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Breakdown, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.