Movies like The Gamble (1991)
The best movies like The Gamble (1991) are The Set-Up (1949), They Drive by Night (1940) and Paradise Highway (2022). If The Gamble hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTraining Day (2001)7.5/10 from 6,997 votes
- NewestBallad of a Small Player (2025)Released 2025
The Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Drive by Night (1940)
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise Highway (2022)
A truck driver has been forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a deadly prison gang. With FBI operatives hot on her trail, Sally's conscience is challenged when the final package turns out to be a teenage girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhite Line Fever (1975)
An independent trucker with a pregnant wife fights cargo crooks and the big shot they work for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell Drivers (1957)
An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company owner who encourages competion amongst his drivers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThieves' Highway (1949)
Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVanishing Point (1971)
Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive from Colorado to San Francisco. Shortly after pickup, he takes a bet to get the car there in less than 15 hours.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Honey (2016)
A restless teenager escapes her troubled home and joins a traveling crew of young drifters selling magazines across the American Midwest. Immersed in a world of reckless partying, risky hustles, and fleeting romances, she searches for freedom and belonging on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanda (1970)
After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFat City (1972)
The story of two men, a veteran boxer who is down and out, and a young man who is just starting his life and boxing career. Their fighting careers cross paths as their lives and fortunes head in opposite directions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScarecrow (1973)
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLight Sleeper (1992)
John LeTour is a recovering drug user who suffers insomnia and still deals to a high-end New York clientele, even though he’s trying to move on from the business. John’s professional midlife crisis becomes something more acute — and dangerous — when he re-encounters an old flame while a string of seemingly drug-related murders rocks the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraining Day (2001)
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mule (2018)
Earl Stone, a man in his eighties, is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does so well that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoy Ride (2001)
Three young people on a road trip from Colorado to New Jersey talk to a trucker on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychotic killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Rider (1969)
Wyatt and Billy, two Harley-riding hippies, complete a drug deal in Southern California and decide to travel cross-country in search of spiritual truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBallad of a Small Player (2025)
Amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler running from his past—and his debts—becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Principal (1987)
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the head of security try to clean up the school and stop the narcotics trade, they run up against a teenage mafia. A violent confrontation on the campus leads to a deadly showdown with the drug dealer's gang, and one last chance for Latimer to save his career... and his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad of No Return (2009)
Road of no Return follows the final nine days in the lives of four atypical hit men who are secretly brought together in a covert operation to fight the drug trafficking epidemic in the country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLucky Number Slevin (2006)
Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlow (2001)
The story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mod Squad (1999)
Three youthful delinquents escape conviction for their crimes by teaming with the LAPD.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMoscow, Belgium (2008)
‘Moscou’ is a densely populated working class neighbourhood on the outskirts of Ghent, Belgium. Matty, mother of three, bumps her car into a truck on the parking lot of a supermarket. Johnny climbs down from the cabin. He is infuriated by the dent in his front bumper and yells at Matty. Although impressed by the accident, Matty fights back with sharp words. Their discussion turns into a row, and the police have to intervene. Matty goes home, the trunk of her car dancing up and down. Back in her apartment, Matty takes a hot bath to recover from the afternoon’s emotionswhen the phone rings. It’s Johnny, apologizing for his behaviour on the parking lot. Matty tells him to stay out of her life. A dramatic comedy begins about a woman whose soul is full of dents and bruises.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFresh (1994)
Death and violence anger twelve year old drug courier Fresh, who sets his rival employers against each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaid in Full (2002)
Ace is an impressionable young man working for a dry cleaning business. His friend, drug dealer Mitch, goes to prison. In an unrelated incident, he finds some cocaine in a pants pocket. Soon, Ace finds himself dealing cocaine for Lulu. Via lucky breaks and solid interpersonal skills, Ace moves to the top of the Harlem drug world. Of course, unfaithful employees and/or rivals conspire to bring about Ace's fall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolent Cop (1989)
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath Wish II (1982)
Paul Kersey is again a vigilante trying to find five punks who murdered his housekeeper and daughter in Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Gamble?
The closest matches to The Gamble are The Set-Up (1949), They Drive by Night (1940) and Paradise Highway (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Gamble?
Start with The Set-Up (1949), the closest match to The Gamble.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Gamble?
Training Day (2001), rated 7.5/10 by 6,997 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Gamble?
Ballad of a Small Player (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Gamble chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Gamble, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.