Movies like Before the fire (2015)
The best movies like Before the fire (2015) are Busting (1974), Blood Ties (2013) and Foreign Correspondent (1940). If Before the fire hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedArgentina 1985 (2022)7.8/10 from 787 votes
- NewestMexico 86 (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Courier (2024)Also in Spanish
Busting (1974)
Defying orders to lay-off the case, two Los Angeles vice-squad cops go after a local mobster and use unorthodox methods to achieve results.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForeign Correspondent (1940)
American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Courier (2024)
After shrewdly seizing his chance to join a money-laundering scheme, a modest valet dives into a world of fast cash, fast cars — and an inevitable crash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexico 86 (2026)
When a last-minute chance to host the 1986 World Cup appears, a cunning Mexican bureaucrat, armed with nothing but guts and audacity, cons his way through FIFA to beat the United States, but in a country of power games, every victory has a price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Independent (2022)
It's the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history. America is poised to elect either its first female president or its first viable independent candidate. Reporting history as it's made, an idealistic young journalist teams up with her idol, legendary journalist Nick Booker, to uncover a conspiracy that places the fate of the election, and the country, in their hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLoving Pablo (2017)
The film chronicles the rise and fall of the world's most feared drug lord Pablo Escobar and his volatile love affair with Colombia's most famous journalist Virginia Vallejo throughout a reign of terror that tore a country apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEyes of Laura Mars (1978)
A famous fashion photographer develops a disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Legacy of the Bones (2019)
Inspector Amaia Salazar must return to the Baztan valley in order to solve a series of suicides that seem to follow a similar pattern.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFedora (1978)
Down-on-his-luck Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress, out of retirement, only to discover the horrifying truth behind her success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome 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
SnoozefestMovies 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo manches, Frida (2016)
After being released from prison, Zequi, a bank robber, sets out to recover money buried by his accomplice; but is horrified to learn that a high school gymnasium is now over the site where the loot is hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Virgin (2024)
Hildegart is conceived and educated by her mother Aurora to be the woman of the future, to become one of the most brilliant minds of Spain in the 1930s and one of the European references on female sexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArgentina 1985 (2022)
In the 1980s, a team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunslingers (2025)
When the most wanted man in America surfaces in a small Kentucky town, his violent history -- and a blood-thirsty mob seeking vengeance and a king’s ransom -- soon follow. As brothers face off against one another and bullets tear the town to shreds, this lightning-fast gunslinger makes his enemies pay the ultimate price for their greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Marine 3: Homefront (2013)
A Marine must do whatever it takes to save his kidnapped sister and stop a terrorist attack masterminded by a radical militia group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVictims Fight Back (1985)
Shocking documentary centering on victims of violent crime who seek to get revenge on their assailants.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Profil af et job 1 – Folkene bag kameraet (1988)
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Profil af et job 2 - Folkene bag kameraet (1988)
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Killing Jesus (2017)
Paula, a young art student, witnesses the assassination of her father, a university professor. Frustrated by the local police she starts to investigate the murder herself. Driven by anger, frustration and sorrow, she commits fearless acts that put her and her family at risk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Recce (2018)
After the South African Defense Force wrongfully declares young Recce Henk Viljoen dead behind enemy lines, it’s up to him alone to use every skill and tool in his arsenal to make it back to his grieving wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Black Virgin (2018)
Belisario's wife is very sick, a healer comes to meet her and gives him the mission to climb the Andes mountains to bring back an object buried in the snow to try to save her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Son of Rambow (2007)
Will is looking for an escape from his family when he encounters Lee, the school bully. Armed with a video camera and a copy of Rambo, Lee plans to make his own action-packed video epic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWatchmen (2009)
In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLucas (1986)
A brilliant but socially inept 14-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends – Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love – fall for each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCitizen X (1995)
Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like Before the fire and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Before the fire?
The closest matches to Before the fire are Busting (1974), Blood Ties (2013) and Foreign Correspondent (1940). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Before the fire?
Start with Busting (1974), the closest match to Before the fire.
What is the highest-rated movie like Before the fire?
Argentina 1985 (2022), rated 7.8/10 by 787 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Before the fire?
Mexico 86 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Before the fire?
Yes: The Courier (2024), Mexico 86 (2026) and Loving Pablo (2017).
How are movies similar to Before the fire chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Before the fire, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.