Movies like Ballad for a Hoodlum (1963)
The best movies like Ballad for a Hoodlum (1963) are The Last Diamond (2014), Perfect Nanny (2019) and The Parts You Lose (2019). If Ballad for a Hoodlum 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 ratedLa Jetée (1962)7.8/10 from 1,070 votes
- NewestUnsubmissives (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchThe Last Diamond (2014)Also in French
The Last Diamond (2014)
Simon, a burglar on probation, agreed to go on the biggest shot of his life: The flight of the "Florentine", a mythical diamond set auction by its owners. To succeed, he must approach Julia, expert diamond for sale which is a considerable personal and family issue. Beyond a jigsaw particularly daring, Julia Simon will lead to a destiny she could not imagine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPerfect Nanny (2019)
When Myriam, the mother of two young children, decides, despite the reluctance of her husband to resume her activity in a law firm, the couple is looking for a nanny. After a severe casting, they hire Louise, who quickly conquers the affection of children and gradually occupies a central place in the home. Gradually the trap of mutual dependence will close, until the tragedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpeaking of Murder (1957)
Louis Bertain is the owner of a Paris garage which is the front for a robbery gang. He and his accomplices are careful to keep up a civic veneer by day, indulging in criminal activities only when "the red light is on" at night. This status quo is upset when one of the gang members becomes convinced that Louis' younger brother is a police informer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAcross 110th Street (1972)
In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this36th Precinct (2004)
In Paris, two cops are competing for the vacant job of chief of police, in the middle of the search for a gang of violent thieves. The movie is directed by Olivier Marchal, a former police officer who spent 12 years with the French police before creating this story, taken in part from real events of the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Crooked Somebody (2018)
An attention-seeking psychic is kidnapped and tries to use the situation to boost his popularity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
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 · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnsubmissives (2025)
Early 1990’s, south of France. Katy, Hélène, Laurence and Carole have been best friends since childhood. Now in their twenties, they find themselves struggling with hardship and limited opportunities in their sunny small hometown. Despite their challenging circumstances, they have maintained a resilient and cheerful spirit, supporting each other throughout life’s ups and downs. But their lives take a dramatic turn when Hélène, a single mother of three, receives a sudden notification that her welfare checks have been reduced, threatening her ability to support her family.Overwhelmed by this injustice and feeling powerless in the face of societal inequalities, the five women are driven by a fierce desire to change the course of their lives. They make the shocking decision to rob a bank, and soon, commit a series of increasingly daring heists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Upper Hand (1966)
In Paris, a gold smuggler is at war with other local gangsters who want piece of the action. Then the mob shows up and makes things worse. And an undercover US Treasury Department agent is trying to infiltrate the smuggling business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaldoror (2024)
When two girls go missing, Paul Chartier, an impulsive young police recruit, is assigned to “Maldoror”. This secret unit has been set up to monitor a dangerous sex offender. When the operation fails, fed up with the limits of the legal system, Chartier embarks on a solitary hunt to bring down the culprits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Eye (1992)
A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue City (2020)
Caught in the crosshairs of police corruption and Marseille’s warring gangs, a loyal cop must protect his squad by taking matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisWedding in Blood (1973)
In a small French town, the mayor discovers his wife is cheating on him, a betrayal that eventually leads to murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Call (2024)
Mady, a student, works as a locksmith by night. He helps Claire get into her apartment and soon realizes that she lied to him about her identity and robbed something that belonged to a dangerous man, Yannick. Mady gets embroiled in a manhunt and will have one night to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLa Menace (1977)
Henri Savin has managed a trucking company for his lover, Dominique Montlaur, for many years. Now he is planning to leave her for Julie Manet, the woman he has made pregnant, and Dominique is hysterical. She first threatens suicide, then shows up at a meeting of Savin and Julie. Dominique tries everything she can think of to break Savin and Julie apart, to no avail. Frustrated in her efforts, she jumps off a cliff and dies. Savin insists that he and Julie lie to the police about the encounter, although Dominique's death was a suicide and therefore they had no direct hand in it. Detective Waldeck investigates Dominique's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisShade (2003)
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from London (2008)
A switchman at a seaside railway witnesses a murder but does not report it after he finds a suitcase full of money at the scene of the crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Night of the Following Day (1969)
A gang of four professional criminals kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl's wealthy father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang's scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRonin (1998)
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Jetée (1962)
A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Red Spectacles (1987)
Summer 1995. With the arrival of the "Age of Cats", the former Kerberos police unit is now disbanded. However one member remains, a stray dog who returns to his old roost after a three-years exile. This wild dog no longer has a master, but now the "Young Lady of Fate" will guide him on his journey.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCliffhanger (1993)
A year after losing his friend in a tragic 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called to return to the same peak to rescue a group of stranded climbers, only to learn the climbers are actually thieving hijackers who are looking for boxes full of money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNegative Space (2017)
Even though Sam's father is hardly ever home because he is often away on business trips, he is able to connect with his son by teaching him how to pack a suitcase.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Olsen Gang's Last Trick (1998)
Egon escapes from the psychiatric ward, where he has been incarcerated since the gang's last coup. Keld and Benny pick him up, and when Egon, as always, is planning the big heist, the Olsen Gang is once again on the move.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)
A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. In the first of three parts, we follow Luper through three distinct episodes: as a child during the First World War; as an explorer in Mormon Utah; and as a writer in Belgium during the rise of fascism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea (2004)
A comic study of 20th-century history, reconstructing the life of writer, creator and professional prisoner Tulse Luper. Born in 1911 Newport and last heard of in 1989, Luper’s life is pieced together from the evidence found in 92 suitcases scattered across the globe. In the second of three parts, we follow Luper as he works in a cinema, giving him ample opportunity to cross paths with virtually every artistic device and dramatic character known to man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ballad for a Hoodlum?
The closest matches to Ballad for a Hoodlum are The Last Diamond (2014), Perfect Nanny (2019) and The Parts You Lose (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ballad for a Hoodlum?
Start with The Last Diamond (2014), the closest match to Ballad for a Hoodlum.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ballad for a Hoodlum?
La Jetée (1962), rated 7.8/10 by 1,070 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ballad for a Hoodlum?
Unsubmissives (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Ballad for a Hoodlum?
Yes: The Last Diamond (2014), Perfect Nanny (2019) and Speaking of Murder (1957).
How are movies similar to Ballad for a Hoodlum chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ballad for a Hoodlum, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.