Movies like Design for Murder (1939)
The best movies like Design for Murder (1939) are The Crash (2026), Bully (2001) and Dead Man's Shoes (2004). If Design for Murder hooked you with its crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Big Heat (1953)7.7/10 from 587 votes
- NewestThe Crash (2026)Released 2026
The Crash (2026)
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBully (2001)
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man's Shoes (2004)
A soldier returns to his small town and exacts a deadly revenge on the thugs who tormented his disabled brother while he was away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Retreat, No Surrender (1986)
The mob is trying to strongarm local martial arts schools, forcing young Jason Stillwell and his family to move after his father is injured defending their dojo. With his father now rejecting violence, Jason is forced to train on his own to protect himself and his best friend from the members of a rival karate school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPromising Young Woman (2020)
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVendetta (2022)
When his daughter is murdered, William Duncan takes the law into his own hands, setting out on a quest for retribution. After killing the street thug responsible for her death, he finds himself in the middle of a war with the thug's brother, father, and their gang, who are equally hell-bent on getting even. What ensues is a tense back-and-forth game of vengeance. By the end, William comes to find that the quest for revenge never has a winner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brotherhood of Justice (1986)
High-school students start a vigilante group in their neighbourhood but, as their power increases, they become more abusive and dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dirties (2013)
The line between reality and fiction starts to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hole (2001)
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Heat (1953)
After the suspicious suicide of a fellow cop, tough homicide detective Dave Bannion takes the law into his own hands when he sets out to smash a vicious crime syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRhymes for Young Ghouls (2013)
In 1976, a Mi'gMaq teenager plots revenge against the sadistic Indian agent who imprisoned her in a residential school where rape and abuse are common.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOver the Edge (1979)
A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCape Fear (1962)
Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeathers (1989)
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRighteous Kill (2008)
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisCutter's Way (1981)
Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Day in Paradise (1998)
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLet's Go to Prison (2006)
When a career criminal's plan for revenge is thwarted by unlikely circumstances, he puts his intended victim's son in his place by putting him in prison...and then joining him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Interpreter (2005)
After Silvia Broome, an interpreter at United Nations headquarters, overhears plans of an assassination, an American Secret Service agent is sent to investigate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnderworld (1927)
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Eye for an Eye (1981)
Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Housemaid (1960)
A piano composer's family moves into a new house; when his pregnant wife collapses from working to support the family, he hires a housemaid to help with housework.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLadies They Talk About (1933)
A moll, imprisoned after participating in a bank robbery, helps with a breakout plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jailbreakers (1960)
The film stars Robert Hutton and Mary Castle as a married couple, held hostage in a dismal, deserted town by three escaped convicts. The crooks are looking for a cache of stolen loot, and they intend to keep Hutton and Castle alive long enough to locate and dig up the cash for them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Running Wild (2006)
A homicide detective joins forces with a prosecutor to avenged the murder of his half-brother. The aggressive detective and the by-the-book prosecutor must put aside their differences in order to find the killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPornostar (1998)
A young man decides one day to start killing yakuza. After he kills his first two he gets roped into helping a wannabe gangster and his bumbling underlings to perform a hit. While things work out in the beginning, this young psychopath quickly becomes more trouble than the gang expected. Will they be able to rid themselves of him, or will they be his next victims?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
The Horseman (2008)
A tender drama unfolds between a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the quiet outback roads of Australia. What she doesn't know is that between stops, he is leaving behind a bloody trail of bodies in a revenge motivated killing spree.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFight for Your Life (1977)
A minister dispenses justice on three convicts who take his family hostage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like Design for Murder and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Design for Murder?
The closest matches to Design for Murder are The Crash (2026), Bully (2001) and Dead Man's Shoes (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Design for Murder?
Start with The Crash (2026), the closest match to Design for Murder.
What is the highest-rated movie like Design for Murder?
The Big Heat (1953), rated 7.7/10 by 587 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Design for Murder?
The Crash (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Design for Murder?
Yes: The Crash (2026), Bully (2001) and Dead Man's Shoes (2004).
How are movies similar to Design for Murder chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Design for Murder, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.