Movies like Mala, Love and Death (1977)
The best movies like Mala, Love and Death (1977) are The Betrayed (2008), Absolution (2024) and Marlowe (1969). If Mala, Love and Death hooked you with its crime and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFargo (1996)7.8/10 from 9,591 votes
- NewestDouble Bluff (2024)Released 2024
- In ItalianDeath Walks on High Heels (1971)Also in Italian
The Betrayed (2008)
Kidnappers force a young mother to recover money stolen by her shady husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisAbsolution (2024)
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children. He is determined to leave a positive legacy for his grandson, but the criminal underworld isn’t done with him and won’t loosen their grip willingly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisMarlowe (1969)
Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Heist and Seek (2020)
When a priceless crown is stolen during a benefit gala held by the Lawrenceton library, Aurora and the Real Murders Club must investigate who would kill to get their hands on it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Wake Up Screaming (1941)
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Limits of Control (2009)
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
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 mystery & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisSexy Beast (2001)
Ex-safecracker Gal Dove has served his time behind bars and is blissfully retired to a Spanish villa paradise with a wife he adores. The idyll is shattered by the arrival of his nemesis Don Logan, intent on persuading Gal to return to London for one last big job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTriple 9 (2016)
A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Walks on High Heels (1971)
Exotic dancer Nicole finds herself terrorized by a black-clad assailant determined on procuring her murdered father's stolen gems. Fleeing Paris in hopes of evading her knife-wielding pursuer, Nicole arrives in England only to discover that death stalks her at every corner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoodlum (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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny Dangerously (1984)
An honest, goodhearted man is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother's skyrocketing medical bills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucky Luciano (1973)
Lucky Luciano is one of the bosses of the Mafia. He orders the slaughter of 40 other responsibles, therefore becoming the only boss. But a few years later he is put into jail. In 1946, he got a pardon and is sent back to Sicilia. There, he begins becoming one of the chief of the Mafia. The US Army seems to refrain from interfering.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSharky's Machine (1981)
Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new 'machine' gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisColombiana (2011)
After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents' death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCube Zero (2004)
A young programmer whose job is to watch over the reality-warping Cube defies orders to rescue an innocent mother trapped in one of its rooms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisShaft (2000)
New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaft (1971)
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild at Heart (1990)
Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFargo (1996)
Jerry Lundegaard is a small-town Minnesota car salesman deeply in debt and willing to do almost anything to get out. Police chief Marge Gunderson discovers a string of violent crimes as Jerry's schemes spiral out of control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Crime (2006)
Vincent's life is on hold until he finds his wife's killer. Alice, his neighbor, is convinced she can make him happy. She decides to invent a culprit, so that Vincent can find revenge and leave the past behind. But there is no ideal culprit and no perfect crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisDouble Bluff (2024)
One man's attempts to defeat the tortures of his own mindscape come to a head in the midst of a game of poker, when a mysterious figure interjects the flow of things and everything takes a turn for the worst. As the audience and the protagonist experience the same horrors it leads them to ask the question - who's bluffing? Written and directed by Santino Benedetto, DB was brought to life by him and his fellow filmmaker and life long friend Thomas Dylan Gracey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCube (1998)
A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwimming Pool (2003)
A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.
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 Mala, Love and Death?
The closest matches to Mala, Love and Death are The Betrayed (2008), Absolution (2024) and Marlowe (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Mala, Love and Death?
Start with The Betrayed (2008), the closest match to Mala, Love and Death.
What is the highest-rated movie like Mala, Love and Death?
Fargo (1996), rated 7.8/10 by 9,591 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Mala, Love and Death?
Double Bluff (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Italian movies like Mala, Love and Death?
Yes: Death Walks on High Heels (1971) and Lucky Luciano (1973).
How are movies similar to Mala, Love and Death chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Mala, Love and Death, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.