Movies like Shaft (1971)
The best movies like Shaft (1971) are Dead Man Down (2013), Gangster Squad (2013) and Scarface (1932). If Shaft 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 ratedThe Wrestler (2008)7.5/10 from 4,189 votes
- NewestIn Cold Light (2026)Released 2026
Dead Man Down (2013)
In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGangster Squad (2013)
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarface (1932)
In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Corruptor (1999)
Danny is a young cop partnered with Nick, a seasoned but ethically tainted veteran. As the two try to stop a gang war in Chinatown, Danny relies on Nick but grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way Nick gets things done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoxy Brown (1974)
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaid in Full (2002)
Ace is an impressionable young man working for a dry cleaning business. His friend, drug dealer Mitch, goes to prison. In an unrelated incident, he finds some cocaine in a pants pocket. Soon, Ace finds himself dealing cocaine for Lulu. Via lucky breaks and solid interpersonal skills, Ace moves to the top of the Harlem drug world. Of course, unfaithful employees and/or rivals conspire to bring about Ace's fall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoffy (1973)
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
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 thisAl Capone (1959)
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGloria (1980)
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAbsolution (2024)
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children. He is determined to leave a positive legacy for his grandson, but the criminal underworld isn’t done with him and won’t loosen their grip willingly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisCode of Silence (1985)
A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Caesar (1973)
Raised in Harlem, Tommy Gibbs becomes a successful mob boss but he clashes with the rival Mafia and his old enemy, dirty cop McKinney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies 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 Protector (1985)
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is kidnapped. The Federal authorities suspect that Laura's father is involved with Mr. Ko, a Hong Kong drug kingpin, so the NYC police commissioner sends the two cops to Hong Kong to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisLegend (2015)
Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detective Leonard "Nipper" Read hot on their heels, the brothers continue their rapid rise to power and achieve tabloid notoriety.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Thousand and One (2023)
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrailty (2002)
A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCarlito's Way: Rise to Power (2005)
Seduced by the brutal New York underworld, future gangster legend Carlito Brigante enters a deadly circle of greed and retribution. Assisted by his two brothers-in-crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming Spanish Harlem's ultimate kingpin. He quickly learns, however, that the only way to survive at the top is through loyalty to his friends and respect for the rules of the street.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBreaking News (2004)
After a disastrous failure to stop a robber gang, the police attempt to redeem themselves through a series of publicity stunts and shootouts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Lieutenant (1992)
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSea of Love (1989)
Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLife Eternal (2015)
Brenner returns to Graz, the city where he grew up. When confronted with his old friends, his former girlfriend and the major sin he committed when he was young, murders and a fateful gunshot to the head result. After Brenner comes out of a coma, he begins to search for the person who tried to kill him - however, everybody claims that he himself is responsible. In the beginning Brenner was at the end of his rope, but he could face a new beginning in the end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Say a Word (2001)
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he is horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a young woman, suffering from PTSD, who knows a secret six digit code number.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelly of the Beast (2003)
An ex-CIA agent returns to Thailand and reconnects with an old partner in order to rescue his daughter who has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisShort Circuit 2 (1988)
Robot Johnny 5 moves to the city to help his friend Ben Jahrvi with his toy manufacturing enterprise, only to be manipulated by criminals who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrestler (2008)
Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shaft?
The closest matches to Shaft are Dead Man Down (2013), Gangster Squad (2013) and Scarface (1932). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shaft?
Start with Dead Man Down (2013), the closest match to Shaft.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shaft?
The Wrestler (2008), rated 7.5/10 by 4,189 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shaft?
In Cold Light (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shaft?
Yes: Dead Man Down (2013), Gangster Squad (2013) and Scarface (1932).
How are movies similar to Shaft chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shaft, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.