Movies like Dirty Hands (1999)
The best movies like Dirty Hands (1999) are The House on Carroll Street (1988), All Day and a Night (2020) and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). If Dirty Hands hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedZ (1969)7.8/10 from 667 votes
- NewestPearlescent Fog (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanSomeday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (2023)Also in German
The House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuilty by Suspicion (1991)
Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parallax View (1974)
An ambitious reporter gets in trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergio (2020)
A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomeday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (2023)
Set in a warm summer in 1990 in former East Germany, it follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic farmer who is twice her age.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Visit (1964)
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrue Colors (1991)
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO.G. (2018)
Louis Menkins is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBelly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMindwalk (1991)
On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Jack, a failed presidential candidate, Tom, a poet and Sonia, a physicist, engage in an intellectual conversation about politics, philosophy and life over the course of a single day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisZ (1969)
A prominent politician is murdered during a demonstration. The government and army are trying to suppress the truth, but a tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lives of Jenny Dolan (1975)
A newspaper reporter's life is endangered when she is assigned to investigate a political assassination.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Little Piece of Sunshine (1990)
Sunshine, an idyllic and almost forgotten island under British rule, is shortly to become independent. But a few days before this event is to take place, the British governor of the island is shot. Her Majesty's secret service is called in and Sam McCready asks Desmond Hannah of Scotland Yard to take charge of the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pearlescent Fog (2025)
In 1882, when Jelena Ilka Marković – the widow of Jevrem Marković, accused of participating in the Topolska Rebellion and summarily executed – attempted to assassinate King Milan Obrenović and thus avenge her husband. She was arrested, and a few months later she was found dead in her prison cell.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Scent of Rain in the Balkans (2011)
Trials and tribulations of a Jewish family from Sarajevo during turbulent times between 1914 and 1945. Based on TV series of the same title.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nayak: The Real Hero (2001)
Shivajirao, a TV reporter, gets a chance to be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a day after being challenged by incumbent Chief Minister Balraj Chauhan. After his one-day stint turns out to be a huge success, his life spirals out of control and he is embroiled in political intrigue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo Love the Damned (1980)
Young radical Riccardo returns home after hiding in South America for five years, only to find out that his comrades either gave up their ideals or turned to drugs, while all they fought for seems to have set the stage for near-anarchy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tintomara (1970)
In March 1792 the Swedish King Gustav III is murdered at a masked ball. Five young people are involved in the murder story, including Tintomara, a 17 year old inter-sex who dominates over the others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
570 (2024)
The story will revolve around the 36 hours after the brutal assignation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members., according to the information and testimony from the Bangabandhu assassination case in 1996.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rakht Charitra 2 (2010)
The sequel carries forward the tale of power and revenge which exploded in Rakht Charitra 1. The rebel leader turned politician, Pratap consolidates his political base but is forced to retread the path of vengeance once again after a rival from the past, Surya Narayan Reddy chooses to avenge the assassination of his family. Surya swears vengeance against Pratap after his family is wiped out in a bomb attack and Pratap is hell bent on decimating his enemy, even if it means separating ways with his mentor and political veteran, Shivaji.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Dirty Hands and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dirty Hands?
The closest matches to Dirty Hands are The House on Carroll Street (1988), All Day and a Night (2020) and Guilty by Suspicion (1991). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dirty Hands?
Start with The House on Carroll Street (1988), the closest match to Dirty Hands.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dirty Hands?
Z (1969), rated 7.8/10 by 667 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dirty Hands?
Pearlescent Fog (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Dirty Hands?
Yes: Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (2023).
How are movies similar to Dirty Hands chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dirty Hands, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.