Movies like BuyBust (2018)
The best movies like BuyBust (2018) are The Substitute (1996), Havoc (2025) and The Rookie (1990). If BuyBust hooked you with its action and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedElite Squad (2007)8.1/10 from 2,866 votes
- NewestHavoc (2025)Released 2025
The 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 thisHavoc (2025)
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Rookie (1990)
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn Too Deep (1999)
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond the Law (1993)
Dan Saxon is an undercover cop who infiltrates a biker gang to nail the scum behind a drug-smuggling operation. In order to maintain the trust of the gang's leader, he must commit ever more dangerous and heinous crimes. Just how far 'beyond the law' will Saxon go?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian jail on trumped-up drug charges. In order to win his freedom he must fight against the jailhouse fighting champ Uri Boyka in a battle to the death. This time he is not fighting for a title, he is fighting for his life!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Crew (2008)
Hoping to raise enough capital to finance a legitimate business and leave behind his life of crime, Liverpool underworld boss Ged Brennan sends his brother Ratter and a crew to pull a daring final heist. But when Ratter kills a drug kingpin during the job, Brennan must turn to rival crook Franner to avert an all-out gangland war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStone Cold (1991)
Joe Huff is a tough, loner cop with a flair for infiltrating dangerous biker gangs. The FBI blackmail Huff into an undercover operation that entails infiltrating The Brotherhood – a powerful Mississippi biker gang linked in the murder of government officials as well as dealing drugs with the mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Organization (1971)
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJudgment Night (1993)
Four young friends, while taking a shortcut en route to a local boxing match, witness a brutal murder which leaves them running for their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am All Girls (2021)
A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLayer Cake (2004)
When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Double (2011)
The mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin 'Cassius', forces retired CIA operative, Paul Shepherson to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland. Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisMiami Vice (2006)
A case involving drug lords and murder in South Florida takes a personal turn for undercover detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Unorthodox Crockett gets involved romantically with the Chinese-Cuban wife of a trafficker of arms and drugs, while Tubbs deals with an assault on those he loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWire Room (2022)
New recruit Justin Rosa must monitor arms-smuggling cartel member Eddie Flynn — and keep him alive at all costs. When a SWAT team descends on Flynn’s home, Rosa breaks protocol and contacts the gangster directly to save his life. As gunmen break into the Wire Room and chaos erupts, Mueller and Rosa make a final, desperate stand against the corrupt agents and officials who seek to destroy evidence and kill them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCalm with Horses (2020)
In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between these two families, Arm's loyalties are truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSniper: Rogue Mission (2022)
When a crooked federal agent is involved in a human sex trafficking ring, Sniper and CIA Rookie Brandon Beckett goes rogue, teaming up with his former allies Homeland Security Agent Zero and assassin Lady Death to uncover the corrupt agent and take down the criminal organization.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStripped Naked (2009)
When exotic dancer Cassie happens upon a drug deal gone bad, she steals the money and the drugs thinking she now has the funds to make her dream of moving to Paris come true. But waiting three days to get her passport proves tougher than she thought when everyone she knows from her ex-boyfriend, to her drug addict boss, to her lesbian lover, to the rightful owner of the money decides to get in on the action.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Stick (1985)
After getting out of jail, car thief Ernest "Stick" Stickley witnesses the murder of his friend Rainy during a drug deal. To avoid getting killed by the same people, who work for mobster Chucky, Stick gets a job as a chauffeur for millionaire Barry Braham and lies low. As he gets used to his new routine, Stick woos Barry's financial consultant, Kyle McClaren, but must fight back when Chucky's men come after him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisElite Squad (2007)
In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOutland (1981)
On the sunless moon Io, Marshall William T. O’Niel goes toe-to-toe with the corrupt manager of a mining colony and his gang of roughnecks while investigating a rash of worker suicides.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaja (1996)
On the run from a drug deal gone wrong, a beautiful young woman escapes across the border only to find herself trapped in a dangerous web of intrigue and deceit in old Mexico.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Cop (1988)
An obsessive, insubordinate homicide cop is convinced a serial killer is loose in the Hollywood area and disobeys orders in order to catch him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe're Not Here to Fuck Spiders (2020)
In early 2018, an email was sent to a select group of journalists and politicians in Australia, containing a link to thousands of hours of secretly filmed footage documenting day to day life in an ice dealer's house in South Sydney. The footage was refined down to this story of the ice dealer, Anton Berger, his girlfriend Effs, whom he keeps imprisoned in the house, his crew, Pincer, Bezza and Ahmed, and the bikers and corrupt cops he deals with.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Izzat (2005)
Three young immigrant boys, Wasim, Riaz and Munawar, come of age in the east end of Oslo, Norway. They find school boring and become attracted to the hard boiled gang East Side Crew, run by brothers Sadiq and Khalid. Petty theft soon develops into drug dealing, violence and murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
The Hunted (2003)
In the wilderness of British Columbia, two hunters are tracked and viciously murdered by Aaron Hallam. A former Special Operations instructor is approached and asked to apprehend Hallam—his former student—who has 'gone rogue' after suffering severe battle stress from his time in Kosovo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisG.I. Joe: Resolute (2009)
G.I. JOE is a highly trained, classified special operations unit composed of men and women from around the globe. G.I. JOE: RESOLUTE, the raging battle between G.I. JOE and COBRA has never been more intense. Every life is at stake… and even the good guys can die. This is no game. Your favorite G.I. JOE characters are back… but this time, no one is safe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Like BuyBust and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like BuyBust?
The closest matches to BuyBust are The Substitute (1996), Havoc (2025) and The Rookie (1990). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after BuyBust?
Start with The Substitute (1996), the closest match to BuyBust.
What is the highest-rated movie like BuyBust?
Elite Squad (2007), rated 8.1/10 by 2,866 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like BuyBust?
Havoc (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to BuyBust chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside BuyBust, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.