Movies like Breakaway (1956)
The best movies like Breakaway (1956) are Welcome to the Punch (2013), Cult Killer (2024) and Pickup on South Street (1953). If Breakaway hooked you with its crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Big Sleep (1946)7.6/10 from 1,220 votes
- NewestCult Killer (2024)Released 2024
Welcome to the Punch (2013)
When notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London, it gives detective Max Lewinsky one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPickup on South Street (1953)
In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lost Son (1999)
Xavier Lombard is a world-weary private eye in London, in exile from his native Paris; his best friend is Nathalie, a high-class call girl. He gets a call from an old friend from the Paris police department, now a businessman whose brother-in-law is missing. The missing man's parents hire Xavier over their daughter's objections, and quickly he finds himself in the realm of children's sexual slavery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParker (2013)
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe November Man (2014)
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: 4.50 from Paddington (1987)
Travelling on the 4.50 from Paddington, Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a murder on a passing train - but where is the body?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Anderson Tapes (1971)
Thief Duke Anderson—just released from ten years in jail—takes up with his old girlfriend in her posh apartment block, and makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't know is that his every move is being recorded on audio and video, although he is not the subject of any surveillance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwilight (1998)
A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Too Deep (1999)
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Organization (1971)
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThirteen at Dinner (1985)
Actress Jane Wilkinson wants a divorce, but her husband, Lord Edgware, refuses. She convinces Hercule Poirot to use his famed tact and logic to make her case. Lord Edgware turns up murdered, a well-placed knife wound at the base of his neck. It will take the precise Poirot to sort out the lies from the alibis - and find the criminal before another victim dies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGod Told Me To (1976)
A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random citizens who claim that 'God told them to'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Losers (2010)
On a mission deep in the Bolivian jungle, a team of elite commandos finds itself on the receiving end of a lethal betrayal. Now presumed dead, the men join forces with a mysterious operative named Aisha to hunt down their enemy and even the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCamera Sleuth (1951)
In this Pete Smith Specialty short, we see how real-life investigator Jo Goggin used a motion picture surveillance camera to gather evidence and disprove a fraudulent insurance claim.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Fallen Angels (2008)
Jakob Aasen has hired his old friend, private investigator Varg Veum, to spy on his wife Rebecca, whom he suspects of infidelity. Against his better judgement Varg accepts the job, and in an ironic twist he and Rebecca rekindle their former love. Meanwhile a serial killer is targeting members of Jacob's band and their families...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVarg Veum - Sleeping Beauty (2008)
After extricating 17-year-old Lisa Halle from a life of prostitution in Copenhagen, private investigator Varg Veum becomes ensnared in a tangle of parental neglect and bad love when he is hired to locate Lisa's boyfriend, Peter Werner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
I Love Trouble (1948)
A wealthy man hires a private detective to investigate his wife's mysterious past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Big Sleep (1946)
Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nice Guys (2016)
A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGentleman (2022)
Hyun-soo, a C.E.O of a private detective agency, visits a pension with a client asking for her dog. While waiting outside of pension, he is falsely accused of kidnapping the client. During the arrest Hyun-soo, a serious car accident occurs and people misunderstand Hyun-soo as a prosecutor instead of a suspect. To find the real criminal, Hyun-soo pretends to be a prosecutor. Hwa-jin is an elite prosecutor but demoted to the provinces while trying to catch a law firm conglomerate Do-hoon, who colluded with the prosecutor’s leadership, meets Hyun-soo. Hwa-jin finds out the case is related to Do-hoon, she begins cooperating with Hyun-soo. While cooperating is on-going, they realize that there is a dirty truth behind the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Varg Veum - Woman in the Fridge (2008)
An international oil drilling company hires private investigator Varg Veum to find their missing systems designer, Arne Samuelsen. Varg discovers the headless body of a woman jammed into the fridge in Arne's apartment - and is promptly knocked unconscious. When he wakes up the body is gone and the Police has arrived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisVarg Veum - Yours Until Death (2008)
Private eye Varg Veum is on a routine mission searching for his client Jonas Andresen's stolen car. The car is found having been used in a brutal robbery and not long after that the client himself turns up dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Dark Corner (1946)
Ex-con turned private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Kathleen Stewart, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Breakaway?
The closest matches to Breakaway are Welcome to the Punch (2013), Cult Killer (2024) and Pickup on South Street (1953). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Breakaway?
Start with Welcome to the Punch (2013), the closest match to Breakaway.
What is the highest-rated movie like Breakaway?
The Big Sleep (1946), rated 7.6/10 by 1,220 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Breakaway?
Cult Killer (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Breakaway?
Yes: Welcome to the Punch (2013), Cult Killer (2024) and Pickup on South Street (1953).
How are movies similar to Breakaway chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Breakaway, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.