Movies like The Emperor (1990)

True 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

Above 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

Siberian 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

Ill 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

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

The Public Eye (1992)

A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

Each Dawn I Die (1939)

A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

Run (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

The Parts You Lose (2019)

An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime

American 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

King 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

Winged 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

El padrino: The Latin Godfather (2004)

In the streets of East Los Angeles, Manny is a formidable drug dealer. Impressed by his extravagant lifestyle and prowess, his young son, Kilo, yearns to follow in his footsteps. Kilo resolves to learn how to prosper in the drug world, and his new life as a dealer begins. In a world where a man wants everything, he may end up with nothing.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

The 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 crime & drama

Inside 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

State Property (2002)

A Philadelphia gang member becomes a drug kingpin and starts a feud with vicious rivals in his quest for the American Dream.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

Empire (2002)

Big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top, Victor soon finds out that he's been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

Blindfire (2020)

A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the person responsible while examining his own accountability and the ingrained racism which brought him to this point.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

Mob Town (2019)

Based on the true story of the notorious 1957 ‘mob summit’ in upstate New York. Spearheaded by Vito Genovese, more than 50 leaders of the organized crime syndicates from around the country converged on the sleepy town to discuss upcoming expansion plans. Their plans are foiled when local police trooper Ed Croswell discovers their activities and, consequently, exposes the mob to the American public. Croswell’s actions shed light on the massive web of corruption and changed the face of law enforcement forever.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime

The 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 crime

Lila Says (2005)

Chimo develops a crush on the pretty, blond Lila, a girl who recently moved into his Arab ghetto with her aunt. When the leader of a rival gang also falls for Lila, the ensuing love triangle initiates a journey of sexual discovery -- and sets off a chain of devastating events.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

I Have the Wallet (1978)

After failing in his studies, Atoua turns to pickpocket. He meets his classmate Shukri, who is now the manager of a food company, he promises to find him a job but Atoua feels that he's lying. He steals his wallet and finds documents implicating Shukri and other people in embezzlement cases.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

As Not to Fly the Smoke (1984)

Fahmi Abdul Hadi .. A distinguished student of law school .. His dreams are simple and his actions are ideal and pure .. Fahmi collides with the bitter reality of life when losing his mother because he cannot afford the price of her treatment. At a time, He watches his colleagues around him spend money like water and making fun of his poverty and even refuse to help him to treat his mother. Fahmi decides to abandon the idealism and take revenge of all who failed him.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama

New Year's Eve (2020)

The events of the film takes place on new year's eve of 2009 in the Red Sea at a resort near the city of Hurgahda inside the world of the wealthy where difficult situations and crises happen when they get together.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Sea Shadow (2011)

Mansoor, a 16 year-old teenager, living in a coastal "freej" (an Emirati neighborhood), has strong feelings for 16 year-old girl Kaltham. But culture and tradition, as well as family hardship, make it difficult for him to express his feelings. A conversation with his "know-it-all" friend convinces him that a gift is the best way to express love, and so, he begins to look for ways to save money for the gift without arousing the suspicion of his family and friends.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Journey of a Lifetime (1974)

A very conservative man meets a young passionate woman during his holiday in Alexandria . A journey that changed the course of his life

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

48 hours in Israel (1998)

Amal raises her brother Nasr after the death of her father and husband in an Israeli raid on Suez in 1956. Nasr grows up and joins the Egyptian intelligence and travels to Greece to obtain an important microfilm, but he disappears after being kidnapped. However, he manages to hide the microfilm. Amal decides to travel to Greece to search for her brother. Both the Egyptian intelligence and the Israeli intelligence (Mossad) monitor Amal to obtain the microfilm, and the events of the film continue.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

Mr. Omar (1941)

Gaber Effendi is a simple employee at Ezbet Omar al-Alfi's, expelled by the head of the family after Jabir discovers that there is fraud in the accounts of the estate. Gaber meets with Berlanti, the wife of Omar Bey's, noting a great similarity between him and her absent husband in India, Omar. Following the advice of a legal advisor, Omar Bey's family believes that he is still alive and living in India. By chance, Jaber Effendi goes to Omar's house and is seen by the family and gets married, but Omar finds out the truth and tries to exploit the resemblance to seize wealth, but ultimately fails.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Clown (2007)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama

The Baby Doll Night (2008)

Hossam, an Egyptian tour guide working in the US, comes to Egypt on vacation during New Year's Eve and hopes to spend a romantic night with his wife in their hotel. Unbeknownst to him, Awadain the terrorist who has other plans for the hotel that night.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama