Movies like The Scavenger (2026)
The best movies like The Scavenger (2026) are Siberian Education (2013), The Dead End (2015) and Belly (1998). If The Scavenger hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)8.2/10 from 307 votes
- NewestRed Lady With Two Guns (2026)Released 2026
- In ChineseThe Dead End (2015)Also in Chinese
Siberian 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 Dead End (2015)
A "Chinese noir full of sublimated homoeroticism" . The story of three brothers raising a little girl they found as a baby. These sworn brothers are not related by blood, but by a long-standing acquaintance and a serious crime they committed seven years ago. The movie features a homosexual love scene that was handled in a relatively straightforward manner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisUnder the Light (2023)
Officers Su Jianming and Li Huilin investigate a crime involving wealthy businessman Li Zhitian. As clues emerge, the investigation becomes more and more like a game of chess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisRedemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence resolutions which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)
Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolent Saturday (1955)
Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.
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 thisDown Terrace (2010)
After serving jail time for a mysterious crime, Bill and Karl get out of jail and become preoccupied with figuring out who turned them in to the police. On top of that, the "family business" is on the rocks, and the motley crew of criminals who operate out of Down Terrace aren't feeling terribly trusting of one another. It might look like an ordinary house, but at Down Terrace, the walls are closing in..
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 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 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 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 thisHidden Man (2018)
A martial arts-infused spy thriller set in 1937 Beijing. A time when China was lurching between revolution, prosperity, and chaos.
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 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 thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoodbye South, Goodbye (1998)
In this portrait of small-time hoods rendered in rhythm-of-life anecdotal detail, Gao is the leader of a circle of layabouts including his sidekick, Flathead, and their girlfriends, Pretzel and Ling. He is also the originator of petty crime schemes, which promise to get the gang nowhere fast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisTeacher Boy (2026)
A Canadian teacher in China, juggling two relationships, becomes entangled with a pair of small-time crooks as the consequences of his choices begin to close in on him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Coming SoonMovies like thisCan you hear me? (2025)
A middle-aged Chinese couple, illegal immigrants in the U.S. who do not speak English, must find a way to communicate with Americans and handle their daughter’s body after discovering her dead at home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Goldfish (1995)
An underground or unsanctioned picture from Beijing cinematographer Wu Di. A ballerina for the Beijing Dance Troop gains an opportunity to move to America. She attends an interview with a U.S Consulate officer to get the visa her fiancé, and is approved. Just as the plane is preparing to take off, the fiancé realizes that there will be nothing for him in America and that he might even become an impediment to his fiancé's success, so he wishes her luck and runs off the plane. The problem is; he now cant go home or he will lose face when people hear he was too afraid to go, so he fakes it, calling from Payphones located across from his family house in Beijing and pretending that he is calling from New York.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
An Amorous History of the Silver Screen - Part II (1931)
Part two of A comedy film set on Shanghai film studio. The background events frequently involve the shooting of other films being made at Mingxing Film Company at the time. This includes a sequence of the 17th episode of the silent wuxia film series Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, which is the only known footage from this historic series to exist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997)
A small-time triad must make a fateful decision to discover who he is. With that decision, his life can diverge in two paths, each leading to an ultimate fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Return of the King (2024)
During the period of the Five-Hu Rebellion, there was an old forest where the legend of the "Mountain God" was spread. The White Head Village, which had always believed in the White Tiger, was suddenly slaughtered by the White Tiger after a blessing ceremony. In response, the people invited Chu Jiang, the legendary hunter of White Head Village, to come out to the mountain
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRed Lady With Two Guns (2026)
On her wedding day in 1938, Gao Shengnan saw her husband brutally murdered by the Japanese army and her elders slaughtered. Taking up arms to rally a resistance force, she struck repeatedly at the invaders, earning widespread renown; later, guided by the Eighth Route Army, she resolved to join the revolution. When the Japanese attempted to lure her into a trap, she faced the enemy alone, risking her life to ensure the safety of her fellow villagers. At the critical moment, the Eighth Route Army launched a surprise attack and wiped out the enemy, but Gao Shengnan lay bloodied on the battlefield—her fate hanging in the balance...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lady Rider (2026)
Yangmu's twin brother, Zhuozhuo, died at birth, so her father, Wujin, raised her as a boy. Determined to fulfill her father's dream, she resolved to compete in horse racing and devoted herself to the traditional sport. Riding across the snow-covered Tibetan Plateau, she honed her courage and skill through the trials of speed and endurance. In the end, she fulfilled her promise by becoming the first woman in the history of the Tibet Autonomous Region to officially compete in and finish a traditional horse race.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Scavenger?
The closest matches to The Scavenger are Siberian Education (2013), The Dead End (2015) and Belly (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Scavenger?
Start with Siberian Education (2013), the closest match to The Scavenger.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Scavenger?
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959), rated 8.2/10 by 307 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Scavenger?
Red Lady With Two Guns (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Scavenger?
Yes: The Dead End (2015), Under the Light (2023) and Hidden Man (2018).
How are movies similar to The Scavenger chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Scavenger, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.