Movies like Villain (1971)
The best movies like Villain (1971) are The Long Good Friday (1980), Sweeney 2 (1978) and Get Carter (1971). If Villain hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCaliber 9 (1972)7.5/10 from 285 votes
- NewestLegend (2015)Released 2015
The Long Good Friday (1980)
In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSweeney 2 (1978)
Second theatrical spin-off from the popular 1970's police series. Regan and Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Get Carter (1971)
Jack Carter is a small-time hood working in London. When word reaches him of his brother's death, he travels to Newcastle to attend the funeral. Refusing to accept the police report of suicide, Carter seeks out his brother’s friends and acquaintances to learn who murdered his sibling and why.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe General (1998)
The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hit (1984)
Ten years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPayroll (1961)
A vicious gang of crooks plan to steal the wages of a local factory, but their carefully laid plans go wrong, when the factory employs an armoured van to carry the cash. The gang still go ahead with the robbery, but when the driver of the armoured van is killed in the raid, his wife plans revenge, and with the police closing in, the gang start to turn on each other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Too Hot to Handle (1960)
A French reporter working on a steamy story about the secret strip joints found in London's Soho district becomes involved in the lives of the owner and star of a famous club.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Sexy 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: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGangster No. 1 (2000)
An old gangster is advised that Freddie Mays would leave jail after thirty years in prison. His mood changes and he recalls when he was a young punk and who joined Freddie's gang—a man he both envied and ultimately betrayed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
An aging hood is about to go back to prison. Hoping to escape his fate, he supplies information on stolen guns to the feds, while simultaneously supplying arms to his bank robbing chums.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSitting Target (1972)
Imprisoned Harry Lomart is a vicious, brute of a man and yet he is prepared to do his long jail term as he is confident that on his release his beautiful wife Pat will be waiting for him, but a visit from Pat brings him his worst nightmare.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Mona Lisa (1986)
George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King's Cross days. That's when George's troubles just start.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweeney! (1977)
When one of Regan's snouts complains that his girlfriend's recent suicide was murder, the flying squad detective feels compelled to investigate. He uncovers a conspiracy that reaches the heart of the government, and finds himself fitted up, suspended and under the scrutiny of Special Branch.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Layer Cake (2004)
When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegend (2015)
Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Krays (1990)
Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two become notorious crime lords who rule over the East End club scene. But at the height of their power, the brothers veer into different lives, giving the older crime bosses a chance to reclaim what the Krays took from them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Cosmo Vittelli, the proprietor of a sleazy, low-rent Hollywood cabaret, has a real affection for the women who strip in his peepshows and the staff who keep up his dingy establishment. He also has a major gambling problem that has gotten him in trouble before. When Cosmo loses big-time at an underground casino run by mobster Mort, he isn't able to pay up. Mort then offers Cosmo the chance to pay back his debt by knocking off a pesky, Mafia-protected bookie.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Young Americans (1993)
Experienced New York Police Detective John Harris is sent to London to help a local task force investigate a series of gangster killings organized by a new player in town, an American. With the help of a young teen wronged by gangsters, Harris navigates London's seedy, drug-fuelled underworld in order to take down its new criminal empire.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisPerformance. (1970)
In underworld terms, Chas Devlin is a 'performer,' a gangster with a talent for violence and intimidation. Turner is a reclusive rock superstar. When Chas and Turner meet, their worlds collide—and the impact is both exotic and explosive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Offence (1973)
A burned-out British police detective finally snaps while interrogating a suspected child molester.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCroupier (1998)
Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer who to make ends meet, takes a job as a croupier. Jack remains an observer, knowing that everything in life is a gamble and that gamblers are born to lose. Inevitably, he gets sucked into the world of the casino which takes its toll on his relationships and the novel he is writing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaliber 9 (1972)
Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPoint Blank (1967)
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHell Is a City (1960)
Set in Manchester, heartland of England's industrial north, Don Starling escapes from jail becoming England's most wanted man. Ruthless villain Starling together with his cronies engineered a robbery that resulted in the violent death of a young girl. Detective Inspector Martineau has been assigned to hunt him down and bring him in. From seedy barrooms, through gambling dens the trail leads to an explosive climax high on the rooftops of the city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
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: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet Him Have It (1991)
In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Criminal (1960)
When a robbery at a racetrack goes wrong ex-con Johnny Bannion is caught and sent back to prison. He won't tell the rest of the gang where he has stashed the loot leading to violent consequences.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · 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: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorsalino (1970)
In 1930s Marseilles two small-time crooks decide to join forces when they meet while brawling over a woman. Starting with fixed horse races and boxing matches, they soon find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEssex Boys (2000)
Billy has just scored an entry-level position with the local crime cartel. His first job is to mind Jason, a newly released thug with a vicious temper. Jason thinks it's his job to teach Billy about crime, drugs and women. Little does he know that Billy has his eyes on Jason's own wife, Lisa. When an ecstasy deal goes bad, Jason vows revenge on the boss, while Billy looks to take out Jason. Before long, bodies start turning up
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Villain?
The closest matches to Villain are The Long Good Friday (1980), Sweeney 2 (1978) and Get Carter (1971). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Villain?
People who watched Villain most often go on to The Long Good Friday (1980), Sweeney 2 (1978) and Get Carter (1971).
What is the highest-rated movie like Villain?
Caliber 9 (1972), rated 7.5/10 by 285 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Villain?
Legend (2015) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Villain?
Yes: The Long Good Friday (1980), Sweeney 2 (1978) and Get Carter (1971).
How are movies similar to Villain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Villain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.