Movies like Panic on the Air (1936)
The best movies like Panic on the Air (1936) are Radioland Murders (1994), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and 68 Kill (2017). If Panic on the Air hooked you with its comedy and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)8.1/10 from 7,520 votes
- NewestThe Pickup (2025)Released 2025
Radioland Murders (1994)
A series of mysterious crimes threatens the existence of a new radio network.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisFun with Dick and Jane (1977)
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this68 Kill (2017)
Chip's problem is that he can't say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisShadow of the Thin Man (1941)
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWrong Cops (2013)
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar (1991)
Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirheads (1994)
The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an FM rock radio station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)
A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pickup (2025)
A routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when mismatched armored truck drivers Russell and Travis are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by savvy mastermind Zoe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny Dangerously (1984)
An honest, goodhearted man is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother's skyrocketing medical bills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night at McCool's (2001)
On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHenry's Crime (2010)
An aimless man is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, an ex-con targets the same bank he was sent away for robbing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Honey Pot (1967)
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy exes into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Plot (1976)
Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSee No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot, but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both the law AND the original killers, can the pair work together to outwit them all?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTough Guys (1986)
Harry Doyle and Archie Lang are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust to a new life of freedom. and soon realize that they still have the pizzazz when, picking up their prison checks at a bank, they foil a robbery attempt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Done It? (1942)
Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKilling Them Softly (2012)
Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThousand Year Sleep (2007)
Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just an irrelevant flame burning nowhere in the vastness of space. Their dreams will be shattered and one man will marvel at the evil he has committed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & comedy
Balearic Caper (1966)
A scepter is stolen, and it's hunted for by various groups of international robbers and spies, for various reasons - in a parody of 007 movies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
The Infernal Trio (1974)
Marseilles, 1919. Georges Sarret is a distinguished and respected lawyer, recently honoured for his services in the First World War. He takes as his lover Philomène Schmidt, a young German woman, who has just lost her job and home. To enable Philomène to remain in France, Georges finds her a husband – who dies conveniently of natural causes a month after the wedding. Georges repeats the trick with Philomène's sister, Catherine – marrying her off to an old man who dies suddenly so that the scheming trio can profit from his life insurance. When an accomplice in the scheme, Marcel Chambon, threatens to blackmail them, Georges and his two lovers have no option but to kill him and his mistress...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Very Bad Things (1998)
Kyle Fisher has one last night to celebrate life as a single man before marrying Laura, so he sets out to Vegas with four of his best buddies. But a drug and alcohol filled night on the town with a stripper who goes all the way, turns into a cold night in the desert with shovels when the stripper goes all the way into a body bag after dying in their bathroom. And that's just the first of the bodies to pile up before Kyle can walk down the aisle...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big White (2005)
To remedy his financial problems, a travel agent has his eye on a frozen corpse, which just happens to be sought after by two hitmen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Gigolo (1980)
Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay. One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeauty Betrayed (2002)
A gun fires and supermodel Lily Sampson is dead. Two cops, Clark and his new partner Allie, are on the case. Their only clues are a revealing videotape of the victim in a searing game of bondage with a famous fashion photographer, and Lily's high school yearbook which reveals a mysterious twin sister and clues to a lifelong rivalry with another model.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Law of Desire (1987)
Pablo, a successful film director, disappointed in his relationship with his young lover, Juan, concentrates in a new project, a monologue starring his transgender sister, Tina. Antonio, an uptight young man, falls possessively in love with the director and in his passion would stop at nothing to obtain the object of his desire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Xposé (2014)
This is a dramatic chain of events in the most glamorous ,swinging era of Hindi films... the 1960s. It was a decade when film stars tasted success and carried their larger than life screen image on to real life with unbridled pomp and splendour. It was during this time that two ambitious films were made... Ujwal Nirmal Sheetal and Reena Mera Naam. The latter became a runaway hit while the former was struggling at the box office.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Vertigo for a Killer (1970)
Jean-Pierre Desagnat's Vertige pour un tueur involves Marc as a hood hunted down by his boss when he fails to execute a man who happens to be his friend. He is hidden by a woman whose husband has murdered his business associate and wants Marc to take the rap for the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like Panic on the Air and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Panic on the Air?
The closest matches to Panic on the Air are Radioland Murders (1994), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and 68 Kill (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Panic on the Air?
Start with Radioland Murders (1994), the closest match to Panic on the Air.
What is the highest-rated movie like Panic on the Air?
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), rated 8.1/10 by 7,520 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Panic on the Air?
The Pickup (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Panic on the Air?
Yes: Radioland Murders (1994), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and 68 Kill (2017).
How are movies similar to Panic on the Air chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Panic on the Air, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.