Movies like Independence Night (1948)
The best movies like Independence Night (1948) are Belly (1998), Sunflower (2006) and Ill Manors (2012). If Independence Night hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)7.3/10 from 394 votes
- NewestKing Ivory (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanSunflower (2006)Also in Korean
Belly (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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunflower (2006)
Tae-sik gets out of a prison after spending 10 years for killing a man and wishes nothing but an ordinary life. A local lady welcomes him into her household like a son and he gets a second chance in life. His former gang tries to destroy his new home in order to build a night club but he won’t let them destroy his new family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIll Manors (2012)
Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreen Fish (1997)
Returning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTrue Believer (1989)
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian Education (2013)
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against this backdrop two best friends, Kolyma and Gagarin, gradually become fierce enemies as they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour of the ‘honest criminal’ brotherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanic (2000)
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & 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 crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCruel Winter Blues (2006)
A gangster's quest for revenge is sidetracked by an encounter with his target's mother in this deeply-felt hybrid of a crime thriller and a family drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Ivory (2025)
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. "Big Mac."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Murderer (2022)
The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind bars. When Brown’s funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet, pitting himself against Leising in a deadly game of cat and mouse — and becoming the most unlikely and elusive fugitive on the FBI’s most-wanted list.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 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 drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shameless (2015)
A homicide detective tries to flush out a mob enforcer by befriending the suspect's beautiful girlfriend, but soon develops romantic feelings for her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 crime & drama
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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisIn the Blood (2014)
When her husband goes missing during their Caribbean vacation, a woman sets off on her own to take down the men she thinks are responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisPerro callejero (1980)
An abandoned child steals to survive and has problems when he decides to steal from the priest who helps him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBlue Hours (2020)
A family man is extorted to kill another man in less than 24 hours. Everything changes when he decides not to.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
District (2018)
A young adult learns that some boys in the hood are simply just goods to wealthy men in the area. It's a tale that truly questions how much you value your self-worth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Step Back (2021)
A young man finds himself in troubled times, can he regain footing in his life?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Essence: Part II (2019)
Marcus' feud with Isaac threatens to leave a lasting impact.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Essence 3: Now or Never (2020)
Despite major collateral damage, the conflict between Isaac and Marcus shows no sign of stopping.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Essence (2019)
Off a major event, Isaac attempts to get his life back on track. Will he succeed in doing so?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKelly's First Nudist Retreat (2003)
Kelly fantasizes about steamy sexual escapades, but can never find the courage to fulfill them. Finally, through a nudist retreat, Kelly realizes exactly what she needs to do to be cured.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Two of Us (1967)
A story of the caring friendship formed between a crusty, old anti-Semite and an eight-year-old Jewish boy who goes to live with him during World War II.
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 Independence Night?
The closest matches to Independence Night are Belly (1998), Sunflower (2006) and Ill Manors (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Independence Night?
Start with Belly (1998), the closest match to Independence Night.
What is the highest-rated movie like Independence Night?
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), rated 7.3/10 by 394 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Independence Night?
King Ivory (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Independence Night?
Yes: Sunflower (2006), Green Fish (1997) and Cruel Winter Blues (2006).
How are movies similar to Independence Night chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Independence Night, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.