Movies like Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
The best movies like Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) are Michael Clayton (2007), Killer's Kiss (1955) and The File on Thelma Jordon (1949). If Roman J. Israel, Esq. hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWitness for the Prosecution (1957)8.2/10 from 1,817 votes
- NewestOscar Shaw (2026)Released 2026
Michael Clayton (2007)
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClosed Circuit (2013)
A high-profile terrorism case unexpectedly binds together two ex-lovers on the defense team - testing the limits of their loyalties and placing their lives in jeopardy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisIslands (2025)
In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband disappears, and the police suspect Tom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Corner (1997)
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Way Out (1950)
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Enforcer (1951)
After years of investigation, Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has managed to build a solid case against an elusive gangster whose top lieutenant is about to testify.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoman on the Run (1950)
Frank Johnson, a sole witness to a gangland murder, goes into hiding and is trailed by Police Inspector Ferris, on the theory that Frank is trying to escape from possible retaliation. Frank's wife, Eleanor, suspects he is actually running away from their unsuccessful marriage. Aided by a newspaperman, Danny Leggett, Eleanor sets out to locate her husband. The killer is also looking for him, and keeps close tabs on Eleanor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Star Chamber (1983)
As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle with his tortured conscience and growing despair as he watches helplessly as the ruthless criminals brought before his court go free because clever lawyers find obscure loopholes in the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar Shaw (2026)
After retiring from the police force, a relentless detective haunted by the tragic loss of his closest friend sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, seeking redemption and fighting to restore justice to the streets he once swore to protect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThick as Thieves (2009)
A master thief recruits a notorious thief to help him steal two famous Faberge eggs from an impenetrable vault in an effort to pull off one final job and repay his debt to the Russian mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Seven-Ups (1973)
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCatch a Fire (2006)
The true story of anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and particularly the life of Patrick Chamusso, a timid foreman at Secunda CTL, the largest synthetic fuel plant in the world. Patrick is wrongly accused, imprisoned and tortured for an attempt to bomb the plant, with the injustice transforming the apolitical worker into a radicalised insurgent, who then carries out his own successful sabotage mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndemnity (2022)
An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWitness for the Prosecution (1957)
An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisChanging Lanes (2002)
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two complete strangers into vicious adversaries. Their means of destroying each other might be different, but their goals, ultimately, will be the same: Each will systematically try to dismantle the other's life in a reckless effort to reclaim something he has lost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Mercy (2019)
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShakedown (1988)
When a local drug dealer shoots a dishonest cop in self-defense, lawyer and renegade undercover cop join forces to clear him. But when their investigation leads them into a maze of greed and corruption, they learn that in a town where everything is for sale, anything can happen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJewels of Brandenburg (1947)
A former secret agent is sent to retrieve a priceless collection of stolen jewels from a Lisbon nightclub owner who worked both sides during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Sunset (1988)
Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMurder Over New York (1940)
When Charlie's old friend from Scotland Yard is murdered when they attend a police convention in New York, Chan picks up the case he was working on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
Marcus and Mike are forced to confront new threats, career changes, and midlife crises as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReversal of Fortune (1990)
Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wives He Forgot (2006)
When a man, beaten and bloody, stumbles into the law office of Charlotte Saint John, she discovers that he has amnesia. She takes him in as a guest, hoping that his memory will recover once his wounds heal. While she helps nurse him to health, the two start falling in love. But everything changes when his wife comes to get him. When another woman comes forward claiming to be Jay's wife as well, he's put on trial for bigamy and Charlotte defends him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
We Are Your Friends (2015)
Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMessage from the King (2017)
On a relentless quest to avenge his sister's murder, a man from Cape Town infiltrates a sprawling network of lowlifes and elites in Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Neon Demon (2016)
When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Roman J. Israel, Esq.?
The closest matches to Roman J. Israel, Esq. are Michael Clayton (2007), Killer's Kiss (1955) and The File on Thelma Jordon (1949). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Roman J. Israel, Esq.?
Start with Michael Clayton (2007), the closest match to Roman J. Israel, Esq..
What is the highest-rated movie like Roman J. Israel, Esq.?
Witness for the Prosecution (1957), rated 8.2/10 by 1,817 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Roman J. Israel, Esq.?
Oscar Shaw (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Roman J. Israel, Esq.?
Yes: Michael Clayton (2007), Killer's Kiss (1955) and The File on Thelma Jordon (1949).
How are movies similar to Roman J. Israel, Esq. chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Roman J. Israel, Esq., then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.