Movies like Down by Law (1986)
The best movies like Down by Law (1986) are Cut Throat City (2020), Money Talks (1997) and Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015). If Down by Law 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 ratedChungking Express (1994)8.0/10 from 2,342 votes
- NewestThe Channel (2023)Released 2023
Cut Throat City (2020)
Four boyhood friends return to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina, to find their home decimated and prospects for work swept away. Turning to a local gangster for employment, the crew is hired to pull off a daring casino heist, right in the heart of the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMoney Talks (1997)
Sought by police and criminals, a small-time huckster makes a deal with a TV newsman for protection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Asses on the Bayou (2015)
The third installment in the successful Bad Ass action-comedy franchise. Bad Asses on the Bayou reunites the dynamic duo, Frank Vega and Bernie Pope, as they travel to Louisiana to attend the wedding of their dear friend Carmen Gutierrez. What was pictured as a wedding weekend escape to the south turns violently ugly as madness and mayhem ensue, pressing our senior heroes to once again serve justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJohnny Handsome (1989)
A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straight, but he is really planning his revenge on the man who killed his mentor and sent him to prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVice Squad (1982)
An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)
A rich man's daughter is held captive in an abandoned apartment by two former convicts who abducted her and hold her ransom in exchange for her father's money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnimal Factory (2000)
Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFight for Your Life (1977)
A minister dispenses justice on three convicts who take his family hostage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCarlito's Way (1993)
Free after years in prison, Carlito Brigante intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisStand Up Guys (2012)
After serving 28 years in prison for accidentally killing the son of a crime boss, newly paroled gangster Val reunites with his former partners in crime, Doc and Hirsch, for a night on the town. As the three men revisit old haunts, reflect on their glory days and try to make up for lost time, one wrestles with a terrible quandary: Doc has orders to kill Val, and time is running out for him to figure out a way out of his dilemma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Sierra (1941)
Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chase (1966)
The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Channel (2023)
After their bank heist goes wrong, a desperate criminal, his out-of-control brother, and their motley crew of ex-marines must escape New Orleans, United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStir Crazy (1980)
New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Boys (1983)
Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKlute (1971)
A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of Passion (1984)
Fashion designer Joanna Crane leads a double life. By night she is China Blue, a prostitute who's attracted the attention of a sexually frustrated private detective, and a psychopathic priest in possession of a murderous sex toy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ice Harvest (2005)
A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDillinger (1973)
After a shoot-out kills five FBI agents in Kansas City the Bureau target John Dillinger as one of the men to hunt down. Waiting for him to break Federal law they sort out several other mobsters, while Dillinger's bank robbing exploits make him something of a folk hero. Escaping from jail he finds Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson have joined the gang and pretty soon he is Public Enemy Number One. Now the G-men really are after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreeway (1996)
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaper Moon (1973)
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChungking Express (1994)
Two melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal server at a late-night restaurant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAll Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
When a casino-owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven. Wanting to get back at his killer, he cons his way back to the living with the warning that doing so damns him to Hell. Once back, he teams with his old partner, Itchy, to prep his retaliation. He stumbles upon an orphan girl who can talk to the animals, thus allowing him to get the inside info on the races to ensure his wins to finance his plans. However, all the while, he is still haunted by nightmares of what's waiting for him on the other side unless he can prove that he is worthy of Heaven again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother 48 Hrs. (1990)
For the past four years, San Francisco cop Jack Cates has been after an unidentified drug kingpin who calls himself the Ice Man. Jack finds a picture that proves that the Ice Man has put a price on the head of Reggie Hammond, who is scheduled to be released from prison on the next day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLe Cercle Rouge (1970)
When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBabette's Feast (1987)
A French housekeeper with a mysterious past brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late 19th century Denmark.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBetween Heaven and Earth (1959)
In the blasting heat of a Friday afternoon in Cairo, a group of people – among them a movie star, a thief, a madman, a cook and a pregnant woman – find themselves trapped in an elevator for 12 hours.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
The Soldier's Star (2006)
A Russian guitarist was enlisted in 1984 in the Afghan war. Imprisoned, he will meet an Afghan musician and a French journalist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Down by Law?
The closest matches to Down by Law are Cut Throat City (2020), Money Talks (1997) and Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Down by Law?
Start with Cut Throat City (2020), the closest match to Down by Law.
What is the highest-rated movie like Down by Law?
Chungking Express (1994), rated 8.0/10 by 2,342 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Down by Law?
The Channel (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Down by Law?
Yes: Cut Throat City (2020), Money Talks (1997) and Bad Asses on the Bayou (2015).
How are movies similar to Down by Law chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Down by Law, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.