Movies like Police State (1987)
The best movies like Police State (1987) are Small Apartments (2012), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Thick as Thieves (1999). If Police State 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 Hate U Give (2018)8.1/10 from 2,266 votes
- NewestBreaking News in Yuba County (2021)Released 2021
Small Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBreaking News in Yuba County (2021)
An overlooked pencil-pusher catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister, a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThick as Thieves (1999)
Two master thieves go at odds with one another as one sets the other up for a crime. The first, a suave pro who does his job and then hides in his own privacy, listening to old jazz records and caring for his ailing dog, Wally. The other is a local gangster with a taste for the finer life, who decides to eliminate the competition. This ignites a war between the two men and their aides. An angry mob boss and a female police officer try to sort the mess before things get too out of hand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Money Is (2000)
Henry Manning has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It's a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay, has a plan of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisIntermission (2003)
A raucous story of the interweaving lives and loves of small-town delinquents, shady cops, pretty good girls and very bad boys. With Irish guts and grit, lives collide, preconceptions shatter and romance is tested to the extreme. An ill-timed and poorly executed couple's break-up sets off a chain of events affecting everyone in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlindspotting (2018)
Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPerrier's Bounty (2010)
A gangster named Perrier looks to exact his revenge on a trio of fugitives responsible for the accidental death of one of his cronies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThings Change (1988)
Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreebie and the Bean (1974)
Two San Francisco detectives want to bring down a local hijacking boss. But they'll have to get to him before a hitman does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Last Thing... (2005)
Sixteen-year-old Dylan is dying of cancer. When a charitable organization offers to grant Dylan his final wish, the teen has a surprising request: to meet supermodel Nikki Sinclair. Much to his mother's dismay, Dylan, with the help of his best friends, goes to New York to fulfill his dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDefendor (2009)
A crooked cop, a mob boss and the young girl they abuse are the denizens of a city's criminal underworld. It's a world that ordinary Arthur Poppington doesn't understand and doesn't belong in, but is committed to fighting when he changes into a vigilante super-hero of his own making, Defendor. With no power other than courage Defendor takes to the streets to protect the city's innocents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMob Town (2019)
Based on the true story of the notorious 1957 ‘mob summit’ in upstate New York. Spearheaded by Vito Genovese, more than 50 leaders of the organized crime syndicates from around the country converged on the sleepy town to discuss upcoming expansion plans. Their plans are foiled when local police trooper Ed Croswell discovers their activities and, consequently, exposes the mob to the American public. Croswell’s actions shed light on the massive web of corruption and changed the face of law enforcement forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBottle Rocket (1993)
Dysfunctional friends Dignan and Anthony plan and execute a robbery with their pot-growing friend, Bob. The short film that inspired Wes Anderson’s feature debut.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
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 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 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 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 thisCloser to the Moon (2014)
A Romanian police officer teams up with a small crew of bank robbers to pull off a heist by convincing everyone at the scene of the crime that they are only filming a movie.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian 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 thisStarter for 10 (2006)
In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching University Challenge, a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hate U Give (2018)
Raised in a poverty-stricken slum, a 16-year-old girl named Starr now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend, she's torn between her two very different worlds as she tries to speak her truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisStander (2003)
The life and career of Andre Stander, a South African police officer turned bank robber.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConvoy (1978)
Trucker Rubber Duck and his buddies Pig Pen, Widow Woman and Spider Mike use their CB radios to warn one another of the presence of cops. But conniving Sheriff Wallace is hip to the truckers' tactics, and begins tricking the drivers through his own CB broadcasts. Facing constant harassment from the law, Rubber Duck and his pals use their radios to coordinate a vast convoy and rule the road.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Morning (1959)
Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDumplin' (2018)
To prove a point about measuring up and fitting in, Texas teen Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson enters a local pageant run by her ex-beauty queen mom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI ♥ Huckabees (2004)
A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwo Weeks Notice (2002)
Dedicated environmental lawyer Lucy Kelson goes to work for billionaire George Wade as part of a deal to preserve a community center. Indecisive and weak-willed George grows dependent on Lucy's guidance on everything from legal matters to clothing. Exasperated, Lucy gives notice and picks Harvard graduate June Carter as her replacement. As Lucy's time at the firm nears an end, she grows jealous of June and has second thoughts about leaving George.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle in Seattle (2007)
Thousands of activists arrive in Seattle, Washington in masses to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 (World Trade Organization). Although it began as a peaceful protest with a goal of stopping the WTO talks, it escalated into a full-scale riot and eventually, a State of Emergency that pitted protesters against the Seattle Police Department and the National Guard.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDairy King (TBA)
Lactose intolerant man protests an ice cream shop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Police State?
The closest matches to Police State are Small Apartments (2012), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Thick as Thieves (1999). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Police State?
Start with Small Apartments (2012), the closest match to Police State.
What is the highest-rated movie like Police State?
The Hate U Give (2018), rated 8.1/10 by 2,266 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Police State?
Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Police State?
Yes: Small Apartments (2012), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Thick as Thieves (1999).
How are movies similar to Police State chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Police State, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.