Movies like 48 Hours (1950)
The best movies like 48 Hours (1950) are Run (1991), Out of Exile (2023) and Black Site (2022). If 48 Hours hooked you with its thriller and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedIn the Heat of the Night (1967)7.7/10 from 1,324 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
Run (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 action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of Exile (2023)
Recently paroled thief Gabriel Russell tries to balance his life and mend a troubled family as an FBI agent hunts him down, along with his crew after a botched armored car robbery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking Tall: Lone Justice (2007)
In Dallas, witnesses against a drug-lord are murdered in a safe-house.The testimony of FBI agents becomes the only chance to keep him in prison. They are lodged in another safe-house, but the place is invaded and the agents are executed. However, Kate is only wounded, and her boyfriend Nick believes there is a traitor in the agency and takes her to his ranch to protect her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locksmith (2023)
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Virtuoso (2021)
Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisConvict (2014)
Set in the dark and old Parramatta prison built by the original convicts our lead character Ray a war veteran finds himself serving 18 months for manslaughter after defending his fiance. He soon realizes that the prison boss has it in for him and does everything possible to break Ray even going after his fiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe International (2009)
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
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 thisHunting Season (2025)
When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStriking Distance (1993)
Demoted Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy works river patrol while a serial killer targets women from his past, forcing him to conduct an unauthorized investigation to prove his innocence and expose a dirty cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisKing Ivory (2025)
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. "Big Mac."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTed Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)
Set in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer’.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Cold Light (2026)
Fresh out of prison, Ava's attempt to reclaim her drug operation collapses when she witnesses a brutal crime, forcing her to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisVakeel Saab (2021)
A retired lawyer with a troubled past returns to the courtroom to fight for three young women falsely accused in a high-profile assault case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Tell No One (2006)
A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnemy of the State (1998)
When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJoram (2023)
A father is on the run with his little baby girl to escape the ghosts of his past and the forces that want him dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Hollywood Detective (1989)
An actor at the end of the line who used to play a PI on TV turns to real detective work when a fan of his begs him to help her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Crime of Passion (1999)
When a physician is murdered, his eldest daughter is accused of the crime, but the man's seductive new wife may not be all that she appears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Breakout (1975)
A bush pilot is hired for $50,000 to go to Mexico to free an innocent prisoner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Green Cockatoo (1937)
A young girl is travelling to London to find work. Arriving at the station, she meets a man who has been stabbed by a member of a gang of crooks involved with greyhound racing. She becomes a suspect, but flees the scene in order to deliver a message to the dead man's brother. She is protected from the police by a night club entertainer, who she learns is the man she is seeking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Flowers of the City Jail (1984)
A pregnant woman arrested for frustrated murder is sent to the Manila City Jail where she meets several women with shocking pasts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like 48 Hours?
The closest matches to 48 Hours are Run (1991), Out of Exile (2023) and Black Site (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after 48 Hours?
Start with Run (1991), the closest match to 48 Hours.
What is the highest-rated movie like 48 Hours?
In the Heat of the Night (1967), rated 7.7/10 by 1,324 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like 48 Hours?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to 48 Hours chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside 48 Hours, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.