Movies like Set Me Free! (1988)
The best movies like Set Me Free! (1988) are PTU (2003), Belly (1998) and The Protector (1985). If Set Me Free! hooked you with its crime, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInfernal Affairs (2002)7.8/10 from 1,974 votes
- NewestTed Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)Released 2021
PTU (2003)
Follows a police tactical unit during one dangerous night on the streets of Hong Kong as they try to recover a cop's stolen gun. Things turn deadly when they run into a web of gangland crimes.
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 Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisChasing the Dragon (2017)
An illegal immigrant from Mainland China sneaks into the corrupt British-colonized Hong Kong in 1963, transforming himself into a ruthless drug lord.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExpect the Unexpected (1998)
Bumbling mainland crooks mess up a jewelry heist. Two cops serious Ken and jokey Sam investigate but mix up these amateurs with dangerous mainland robbers in the neighborhood.
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 thisMiracles: The Canton Godfather (1989)
A country boy becomes the head of a gang through the purchase of some lucky roses from an old lady. He and a singer at the gang's nightclub try to do a good deed for the old lady when her daughter comes to visit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWrong Cops (2013)
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpecial ID (2013)
A career-long undercover Hong Kong cop is sent to Mainland China when his former protégé becomes the primary suspect in a murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFull Alert (1997)
A police inspector becomes obsessed with apprehending a criminal planning a major heist at the Hong Kong Jockey Club in the weeks leading up to Hong Kong's return to China.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInfernal Affairs (2002)
Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYes, Madam! (1985)
Two unlucky thieves break into a just murdered man's hotel room and steal his passport, with a hidden microfilm, wanted by a triad boss. Two ass-kicking women cops—one Chinese, one British—are on the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAs Tears Go By (1988)
Mid-level gangster Wah falls in love with his beautiful cousin, but must also continue to protect his volatile partner-in-crime and friend, Fly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTriad Wars (2008)
In the midst of a violent gang war, a series of misfortunes threaten the fate of a gang boss and his mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Untold Story (1993)
Macau cops begin to suspect a man running a pork buns restaurant of murder, after tracing the origin of a case full of chopped up human remains that washed ashore, which leads them to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast Cops (1998)
Tung is a street cop in Hong Kong who's friends with a Triad named Fai. Fai hires a hit man to murder a business rival; the hit goes wrong and Fai, implicated in the incident, goes on the run.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisProject Gutenberg (2018)
The Hong Kong police is hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter" . The gang possesses exceptional counterfeiting skills which makes it difficult to distinguish the authenticity of its counterfeit currency. The scope of their criminal activities extends globally and greatly attracts the attention of the police. In order to crack the true identity of "Painter", the police recruits a painter named Lee Man to assist in solving the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCode of Silence (1985)
A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisDog Bite Dog (2006)
A young Cambodian man who has been trained to fight for money in his country is hired to kill someone in Hong Kong. He performs the hit and then flees from Hong Kong police, who are wrestling with internal problems of a model cop and his son, who is also on the force and who was told by his dad not to become a police officer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Set Me Free!?
The closest matches to Set Me Free! are PTU (2003), Belly (1998) and The Protector (1985). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Set Me Free!?
Start with PTU (2003), the closest match to Set Me Free!.
What is the highest-rated movie like Set Me Free!?
Infernal Affairs (2002), rated 7.8/10 by 1,974 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Set Me Free!?
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Set Me Free! chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Set Me Free!, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.