Movies like Sheer Luck (1931)
The best movies like Sheer Luck (1931) are Killer Heat (2024), The Wild One (1953) and They Live by Night (1949). If Sheer Luck hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Sheer Luck
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlue Story (2019)7.3/10 from 254 votes
- NewestRomeo dan Juliet (2026)Released 2026
Killer Heat (2024)
An expat PI is hired to investigate a suspicious death in Crete, Greece, where jealousies run deep amongst the victim's powerful family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Wild One (1953)
The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Live by Night (1949)
An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Secret (2014)
In 1860s Paris, a young woman, Therese, is trapped in a loveless marriage to the sickly Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. She spends her days behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband’s alluring friend, Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences. Based on Emile Zola’s novel, Thérèse Raquin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Story (2019)
Blue Story is a tragic tale of a friendship between Timmy and Marco, two young boys from opposing postcodes. Timmy, a shy, smart, naive and timid young boy from Deptford, goes to school in Peckham where he strikes up a friendship with Marco, a charismatic, streetwise kid from the local area. Although from warring postcodes, the two quickly form a firm friendship until it is tested and they wind up on rival sides of a street war. Blue Story depicts elements of Rapman's own personal experiences and aspects of his childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFallen Angel (1945)
An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her over, and it involves June. Before long, murder works its way into this passionate love triangle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Only Live Once (1937)
Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is framed for murder, Taylor is forced to flee with his wife Joan Graham and baby. While escaping prison after being sentenced to death, Taylor becomes a real murderer, condemning himself and Joan to a life of crime and death on the road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSkin (2019)
A destitute young man, raised by racist skinheads and notorious among white supremacists, turns his back on hatred and violence to transform his life, with the help of a black activist and the woman he loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEdge of the City (1957)
A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFire with Fire (1986)
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisTime Is Up (2021)
Vivien, an accomplished student with a passion for physics, and Roy, a troubled young man, are involved in an accident that forces them to reclaim their lives one minute at the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlind (2017)
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisSilverton Siege (2022)
After a failed sabotage mission, a trio of anti-apartheid freedom fighters ends up in a tense bank hostage situation. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Devil Diamond (1937)
A group of thugs tries to steal the cursed title gem from a jeweler who has been hired to cut it into small, saleable pieces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Air Eagles (1931)
Two former WWI aces from opposite sides, Bill Ramsey and Otto Shumann, in the best tradition of Eddie Rickenbacker and the Red Baron, barnstorm their way across the Poverty Row skies of middle-America while competing for daredevil honors and the favors of the lovely Eve.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & romance
They Never Come Back (1932)
Prizefighter Jimmy Nolan, facing an opportunity to get a championship fight, is knocked out when he sustains what is apparently a permanent injury to his arm. From there, Nolan's path leads downhill. He is drawn into a romance with a nightclub entertainer, then is framed on a theft charge by a jealous suitor. After his prison term, Nolan makes a spectacular comeback in a fight which proves his courage and integrity, while disproving the fallacy about the old sports adage that "they never come back."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
The Stone Face (1973)
After losing his son in a traffic accident and his wife to mental illness, Harry moves to a gloomy Stockholm suburb. A local youth gang is harassing the neighborhood and Harry comes up with the idea of hiring the gang to kill the bureaucrats who are responsible for the construction of the suburb. The film is a fierce critique of the political project of building suburbs designed only for workers to sleep in and also wants to have a say in the debate over nature vs nurture.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
The Moth (1934)
Wealthy young socialite Diane Wyman squanders her fortune and becomes involved in a scandalous raid at a wild party. Her legal guardian, a lecherous old man who has the hots for her, hires a private detective to spy on her. He tails her to a train headed for New Orleans, but she catches on to him. She befriends a young woman aboard the train and they both give the private eye the slip. What Diane doesn't know, however, is that that her newfound friend is actually a notorious criminal known as The Moth, and she has her own reasons for helping Diane escape--she, too, is being tailed by a detective, who's after a cache of jewels she's stolen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Bowery at Midnight (1942)
A seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses his Bowery mission as a front for his criminal gang. Police attempt to close in on the gang as they commit a series of robberies, murders and bizarre experiments on corpses.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Miracle in Harlem (1948)
A crooked real estate tycoon tricks a trusting young woman out of her small candy store. When he is found dead, the girl is suspected of the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Death's Dice (TBA)
Stuck in his motel room, Billy's luck runs out as he tries to save his straining relationship with his daughter, stay one step ahead of the cops, and devise a plan to beat a notorious crime lord before a fate worse than death arrives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sleight of Hand (2016)
Sleight of Hand is 2016 short film directed by Aly Bérubé
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Romeo dan Juliet (2026)
An abstract reimagining of Shakespeare's tragedy, where Romeo and Juliet's voices and bodies collide with memory, fantasy, and fate in an ever-shifting space imbued with echoes of Indonesian aesthetics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Sheer Luck?
The closest matches to Sheer Luck are Killer Heat (2024), The Wild One (1953) and They Live by Night (1949). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Sheer Luck?
Start with Killer Heat (2024), the closest match to Sheer Luck.
What is the highest-rated movie like Sheer Luck?
Blue Story (2019), rated 7.3/10 by 254 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Sheer Luck?
Romeo dan Juliet (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Sheer Luck?
Yes: Killer Heat (2024), The Wild One (1953) and They Live by Night (1949).
How are movies similar to Sheer Luck chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Sheer Luck, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.