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Movies like The Ruling Voice (1931)

The best movies like The Ruling Voice (1931) are Killer Heat (2024), On the Waterfront (1954) and Mata Hari (1931). If The Ruling Voice hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. 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

  2. On the Waterfront (1954)

    A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  3. Mata Hari (1931)

    A semi-fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was accused of spying for Germany during World War I.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  4. Blue 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 this
  5. Jamesy Boy (2014)

    Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

    The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. They 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 this
  8. Wanda (1970)

    After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Appointment with Death (1988)

    Emily Boynton, the stepmother to three children, blackmails the family lawyer into destroying a second will of her late husband that would have freed the children from her dominating influence. She takes herself, the children, and her daughter-in-law on holiday to Europe and the Holy Land. At a dig, Emily is found dead and Hercule Poirot investigates.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Gotti (1996)

    John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Donnie Brasco (1997)

    An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  12. Robbery (1967)

    In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Empire (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 this
  14. Cry 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 this
  15. The 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 this
  16. Hoodlum (1997)

    In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. The 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 this
  18. No Man of Her Own (1950)

    A penniless pregnant woman adopts the identity of a rich woman killed in a train crash.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Face (1997)

    Ray is an aging ex-socialist who has become a bankrobber after seeing the demise of socialism in 1980s Britain. Teaming up with a gang of other has-beenish crims, he commits one bank job too many. The gang dissolves in a murderous flurry of recriminations.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Collision (2022)

    Over the course of one fateful day, a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

  21. Blonde Crazy (1931)

    The adventures of a cocky con man and his beautiful accomplice.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  22. The Front Page (1931)

    Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  23. Social Register (1934)

    Chorus girl Patsy Shaw crashes a high-society party, meets playboy Charlie Breen, they fall in love, and are on their merry way to wedded bliss. However, Charlie's snobbish, ever-loving mama doesn't think that Patsy is worthy and sets out to prove it.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

  24. Morocco (1930)

    Mogador, Morocco. Late 1920s. A complex romance develops between a womanizing Legionnaire and a disillusioned Parisian cabaret singer.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  25. Five Star Final (1931)

    Searching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print a serial based on a past murder, tormenting a woman involved.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  26. Midnight (1934)

    Jury foreman Edward Weldon's questioning leads to the death sentence for Ethel Saxon. His daughter Stella claims to have killed her lover, the gangster Garboni, just as Saxon was to sit in the electric chair.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime

  27. Anna Christie (1930)

    Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he sent at five years old to live with relatives in Minnesota. He has not seen her since, but believes her to be a decent and respectably employed young woman. When Anna arrives, however, it is clear that she has lived a hard life in the dregs of society, and that much of spirit has been extinguished. She falls in love with a young sailor rescued at sea by her father, but dreads to reveal to him the truth of her past. Both father and young man are deluded about her background, yet Anna cannot quite bring herself to allow them to remain deluded.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  28. The Criminal Code (1931)

    After young Robert Graham commits a murder while drunk and defending his girlfriend, he is prosecuted by ambitious Mark Brady and sentenced to 10 years. Six years later, Brady becomes the prison warden and offers the beleaguered Robert a job as his chauffeur. Robert cleans up his act, but, on the eve of his pardon, his cellmate drags him back into the world of violence, and he faces a difficult choice that could return him to prison.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

  29. Three on a Match (1932)

    Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  30. Petulia (1968)

    Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this

Like The Ruling Voice and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Ruling Voice?

The closest matches to The Ruling Voice are Killer Heat (2024), On the Waterfront (1954) and Mata Hari (1931). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Ruling Voice?

Start with Killer Heat (2024), the closest match to The Ruling Voice.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Ruling Voice?

On the Waterfront (1954), rated 7.8/10 by 1,880 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Ruling Voice?

Killer Heat (2024) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Ruling Voice?

Yes: Killer Heat (2024), On the Waterfront (1954) and Mata Hari (1931).

How are movies similar to The Ruling Voice chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ruling Voice, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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