Movies like Act of Violence (1979)
The best movies like Act of Violence (1979) are Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004), I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017) and Cocaine Godmother (2017). If Act of Violence hooked you with its tv movie and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedScarface (1983)8.2/10 from 13,683 votes
- NewestFast Charlie (2023)Released 2023
Redemption: 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 thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCocaine Godmother (2017)
At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRay Donovan: The Movie (2022)
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each of them struggles to overcome their violent upbringing, but destiny dies hard, and only their fierce love for each other keeps them in the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992)
A town busybody is poisoned at a busy reception in the home of famous film star Marina Gregg. The poisoned drink seemed intended for Marina, but Miss Marple is not so sure. She sets out to discover the true identity of the killer before he or she can strike again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScum (1977)
Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of terror and neglect, with Carlin emerging as an unlikely leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Firm (1989)
A seemingly respectable estate agent leads a double life as the head of a vicious, well-organised gang of football hooligans. When 'The Firm' decide to confront a rival gang, it ends in tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGourmet Detective: A Healthy Place to Die (2015)
When Henry is invited as a guest speaker at a luxury resort spa, he quickly finds himself at the center of another murder. With Maggie at his side, our favorite duo must not only find the killer but be careful they don't become his latest victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Elizabeth Smart Story (2003)
Based on the true story of the kidnapping of teenager Elizabeth Smart,in June 2002, by two people in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReal Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
Aurora finds a member of her crime buff group, the Real Murders Club, killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. As other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Aurora will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJuice (1992)
Four Harlem friends -- Bishop, Q, Steel and Raheem -- dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn't willing to take no for answer in a game where everything's for keeps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnother Day in Paradise (1998)
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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 thisThe Neighbor in the Window (2020)
A suburban wife finds herself and the security of her family threatened by another seemingly friendly neighborhood mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Charlie (2023)
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarface (1983)
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNatural Born Killers (1994)
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOliver Twist (2005)
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA History of Violence (2005)
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Outsiders (1983)
In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival and redemption exposes the fragile innocence and enduring bonds of youth on the wrong side of town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRumble Fish (1983)
Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSnatch (2000)
Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this48 Hrs. (1982)
A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGladiator (2000)
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisZatoichi (2003)
Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Act of Violence?
The closest matches to Act of Violence are Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004), I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017) and Cocaine Godmother (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Act of Violence?
Start with Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004), the closest match to Act of Violence.
What is the highest-rated movie like Act of Violence?
Scarface (1983), rated 8.2/10 by 13,683 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Act of Violence?
Fast Charlie (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Act of Violence?
Yes: Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004), I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017) and Cocaine Godmother (2017).
How are movies similar to Act of Violence chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Act of Violence, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.