Movies like The Ruffian (1961)
The best movies like The Ruffian (1961) are Frank and Penelope (2022), The Corrupted (2019) and Wardriver (2026). If The Ruffian hooked you with its crime and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLaRoy, Texas (2024)6.8/10 from 200 votes
- NewestMexican Psycho (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishThe Legacy of the Bones (2019)Also in Spanish
Frank and Penelope (2022)
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Corrupted (2019)
Set ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, the film follows Liam, an ex-con trying to win back the love and trust of his family. He has lost everything at the hands of a local crime syndicate run by Clifford Cullen, who has high-level connections in politics, finance and the police force. Liam's drive for redemption sees him caught up in a web of conspiracy, crime, and corruption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWardriver (2026)
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGod Is a Bullet (2023)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Cold Light (2026)
Fresh out of prison, Ava's attempt to reclaim her drug operation collapses when she witnesses a brutal crime, forcing her to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
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 · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwake (2007)
While undergoing heart surgery, a man experiences a phenomenon called ‘anesthetic awareness’, which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Right Hand (2024)
Cash is trying to live a quiet, honest life in a small Appalachian town. When a vicious crime boss forces him back into her services, he soon learns he's capable of anything -- even killing -- to protect his family and his home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisLaRoy, Texas (2024)
Broke and depressed, Ray is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip, he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Snails (2021)
A writer secludes himself in the mountains and falls in lust with local Berta. After realizing the oddities of the rural community the author starts to question the lines between reality and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMexican Psycho (2026)
Follows an "ultra-violent and intelligent" psychopath who challenges the police by leaving a white paper rabbit at each crime scene, connecting them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing of Killers (2023)
Garan is a part of a group of international hitmen who are contracted to take out the most dangerous killer in the world, only to find out that they're the ones being hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like this6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (2017)
An adrenaline seeking snowboarder gets lost in a massive winter storm in the back country of the High Sierras where he is pushed to the limits of human endurance and forced to battle his own personal demons as he fights for survival....
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Samantha Caine is a small-town schoolteacher and mom with no memory of her life before washing up on a beach eight years ago. After a car accident and a violent home invasion trigger flashes of her past, she discovers she used to be a deadly CIA assassin. Teaming up with a wisecracking private investigator, Samantha must return to her old ways to take down the people who tried to erase her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in the Night (1946)
George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, while trying to track down his old identity, he stumbles onto a three year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crooked Way (1949)
A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
The Champagne Murders (1967)
A champagne tycoon's partner suspects his partner's gigolo husband of murders he's been framed for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
The Brighton Strangler (1945)
After suffering a head injury during the London Blitz, theatre actor John Loder comes to believe himself to be the Brighton Strangler, the murderer he was playing onstage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
Cedric the Entertainer plays Jake, a seemingly regular guy who has no idea who he is after being hit over the head by mysterious assailants. When he finds himself entangled in a government conspiracy, Jake and his pursuers become convinced that he is an undercover agent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisFuuto Presents: Kamen Rider W Special Event Supported by Windscale (2010)
The special event is a stage show held on December 20, 2009 at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall, to commemorate the release of the movie Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider W & Decade Movie Taisen 2010. It features the casts and song artists from the Kamen Rider W TV series.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Before I Go to Sleep (2014)
A woman wakes up every day, remembering nothing as a result of a traumatic accident in her past. One day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiccoli crimini coniugali (2017)
Following a terrible accident at home, Elia loses his memory. His wife tries to help him through a long conversation to piece together their life and perhaps give him a chance to reinvent himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisReminiscences (2010)
Juan Daniel's memory doesn't belong to him anymore. After an amnesiac accident at the beginning of 2009, he started watching home-videos and having reminiscent dreams in the need of reconstructing his memory and identity. Months later, he found himself with too many celluloid, analog and digital memories, three generations' eyes captured by different formats. This is the neurological experience Juan Daniel suffered.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like The Ruffian and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ruffian?
The closest matches to The Ruffian are Frank and Penelope (2022), The Corrupted (2019) and Wardriver (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ruffian?
Start with Frank and Penelope (2022), the closest match to The Ruffian.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ruffian?
LaRoy, Texas (2024), rated 6.8/10 by 200 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ruffian?
Mexican Psycho (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Ruffian?
Yes: The Legacy of the Bones (2019), The House of Snails (2021) and Mexican Psycho (2026).
How are movies similar to The Ruffian chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ruffian, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.