Movies like Impulse
The best movies like Impulse (1954) are Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Flawless (2007) and True Believer (1989). If Impulse 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 ratedA Prophet (2009)7.6/10 from 1,815 votes
- NewestTradimento (2026)Released 2026
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Gang leader Tony pulls off a major diamond heist with his crew, but cop-turned-criminal Ling knows who has the loot and responds by kidnapping Tony's daughter and holding her for ransom. Unfortunately, Tony's lost the diamonds as well. As he frantically searches for his daughter and the jewels, Tony pairs with a high-kicking government agent who once worked with Ling and seeks revenge on him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlawless (2007)
A female executive and a night janitor conspire to commit a daring diamond heist from their mutual employer, The London Diamond Corporation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlunder Road (1957)
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeist 88 (2023)
A criminal mastermind recruits a group of young bank employees to steal 80 million dollars in one of the largest bank heist in US history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 & drama
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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & drama
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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & drama
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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanic (2000)
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarathon Man (1976)
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDen of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)
Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous and unpredictable world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world's largest diamond exchange.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParker (2013)
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew's latest heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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 · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisMan on a Ledge (2012)
An ex-cop turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. The NYPD dispatch a female police psychologist to talk him down. However, unbeknownst to the police on the scene, the suicide attempt is a cover for the biggest diamond heist ever pulled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrime 101 (2026)
When an elusive thief whose high-stakes heists unfold along the iconic 101 freeway in Los Angeles eyes the score of a lifetime, with hopes of this being his final job, his path collides with a disillusioned insurance broker who is facing her own crossroads. Determined to crack the case, a relentless detective closes in on the operation, raising the stakes even higher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Killers (1946)
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLabyrinth (2003)
Psychologist Dr. Brennac is asked by a colleague to help with the case of Claude, a patient on trial for multiple murders. Is Claude really guilty of the crimes, or is he a victim of his own mind?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver's Edge (1986)
A group of high-school friends must come to terms with the fact that one of them, Samson, killed another, Jamie. Faced with the brutality of death, each must decide whether to turn their friend in to the police, or to help him escape the consequences of his dreadful deed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Prophet (2009)
Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJackson County Jail (1976)
A young woman stumbles into a nightmare land of hijacking and humiliation while driving cross-country from California to New York.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Boys Next Door (1986)
Roy and Bo leave their small town the weekend after graduation for a short road trip to LA. Soon, they find themselves lashing out and leaving a trail of bodies behind them. The violence escalates throughout.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTradimento (2026)
Jamie Rizzo, son of a mafia concierge, takes matters into his own hands when he loses his chance at becoming a made man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Wrong Man (1956)
In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Border (1982)
A corrupted border agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFisher (2021)
A naive teenage girl who catfishes people online for gifts attracts the attention of the wrong person, setting off a chain of events that puts her and her friends in danger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Polytechnique (2009)
A dramatization of the École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, on December 9, 1989, where 14 female engineering students were murdered (and 13 were wounded) by a 25 year old psychotic misogynist armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Impulse?
The closest matches to Impulse are Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Flawless (2007) and True Believer (1989). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Impulse?
Start with Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), the closest match to Impulse.
What is the highest-rated movie like Impulse?
A Prophet (2009), rated 7.6/10 by 1,815 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Impulse?
Tradimento (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Impulse?
Yes: Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), Flawless (2007) and True Believer (1989).
How are movies similar to Impulse chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Impulse, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.