Movies like Escape from Ensenada (2018)
The best movies like Escape from Ensenada (2018) are True Romance (1993), Mexicali (2026) and The Substitute (1996). If Escape from Ensenada hooked you with its action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTrue Romance (1993)7.5/10 from 3,244 votes
- NewestBalls Up (2026)Released 2026
True Romance (1993)
Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Wish II (1982)
Paul Kersey is again a vigilante trying to find five punks who murdered his housekeeper and daughter in Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSavaged (2014)
After thugs brutalize a deaf-mute woman, the spirit of an Apache warrior takes over her lifeless body and sets out on a bloodthirsty quest for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTruth or Consequences, N.M. (1997)
Raymond Lembecke is a con just out of prison after serving time for selling drugs for his mob boss Tony Vago. (Lembecke was innocent and took the rap for Vago.) Lembecke thinks Vago owes him big time so, when his former boss gets him a measly job in a warehouse, he decides on revenge and plans to steal a million dollars worth of drugs from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJawbone (2017)
A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBalls Up (2026)
Two marketing executives go "balls out" and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier 3 (2017)
In the late 1980s, Pat Tate journeys from peddling pills in Marbella to his time in prison, where he solidifies his power before his release to reclaim his turf.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHobo with a Shotgun (2011)
A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and where the city's crime boss reigns. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes and even a pedophile Santa, the Hobo goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how - with a 20-gauge shotgun. Mayhem ensues when he tries to make things better for the future generation. Street justice will indeed prevail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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 action
SnoozefestMovies like thisDeath Race: Beyond Anarchy (2018)
Black Ops specialist Connor Gibson infiltrates a maximum security prison to take down legendary driver Frankenstein in a violent and brutal car race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtreme Prejudice (1987)
Lean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGridlocked (2016)
Former SWAT leader David Hendrix and hard-partying movie star Brody Walker must cut their ride-along short when a police training facility is attacked by a team of mercenaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisNever Back Down: Revolt (2021)
An amateur fighter is lured by a trafficking syndicate specializing in elite underground fighting where her brutal captor forces her to fight or face certain death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Angel (1990)
Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. While involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner is killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way of the Gun (2000)
Two criminal drifters without sympathy get more than they bargained for after kidnapping and holding for ransom the surrogate mother of a powerful and shady man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaylight's End (2016)
Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisHowl Coyote Howl (TBA)
After a bloody exchange with some bounty hunters, Anna, a veteran of the War in Afghanistan, and Gloria, her ill-prepared God-fearing friend, team up with a pair of coyotes to escape into Mexico.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Campus Code (2015)
The college experience - studying, dating, partying... but when one of their classmates disintegrates right before their eyes, Ari, Becca, Izzy, Greta and Arun must battle security, the Griefers and each other to uncover the incredible truth about themselves and this other-worldly campus before they are all eliminated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Sombra Del Sahuaro (2005)
Film based loosely on the life of Mexican drug kingpin Ricardo Lopez.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)
When a Black oil well worker is killed by a band of California neo-Nazis, his gun-wielding grandmother busts out of her retirement home to avenge him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisEl tigre enmascarado (1951)
Aspiring opera singer Luis Landa returns to his hometown to avenge the murder of his brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Les Cortaron la Cabeza Por Culeros! (2006)
A cruel drug dealer arrives into a city to kill his enemies and cut their heads off.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Los zetas (2007)
This film shows the birth of "Los Zetas", the most dangerous Mexican Drug Cartel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Magnicidio: Complot en Lomas Taurinas (2002)
Political thriller involving the players related to the assassination of presidential candidate Coloso.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Escape from Ensenada?
The closest matches to Escape from Ensenada are True Romance (1993), Mexicali (2026) and The Substitute (1996). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Escape from Ensenada?
Start with True Romance (1993), the closest match to Escape from Ensenada.
What is the highest-rated movie like Escape from Ensenada?
True Romance (1993), rated 7.5/10 by 3,244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Escape from Ensenada?
Balls Up (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Escape from Ensenada?
Yes: True Romance (1993), Mexicali (2026) and The Substitute (1996).
How are movies similar to Escape from Ensenada chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Escape from Ensenada, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.