Movies like The Defender of Death-row Convicts (2012)
The best movies like The Defender of Death-row Convicts (2012) are The Third Murder (2017), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) and Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972). If The Defender of Death-row Convicts hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedRashomon (1950)8.0/10 from 2,673 votes
- NewestBlack Box Diaries (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseThe Third Murder (2017)Also in Japanese
The Third Murder (2017)
A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFemale Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
After being used and betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFemale Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)
After being cruelly set up and deceived by Sugimi, a detective in cahoots with the mob with whom she was whole-heartedly in love, Matsushima’s desire for revenge knows no bounds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Life of David Gale (2003)
A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Box Diaries (2024)
Journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country's outdated judicial and societal systems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKate (2021)
A ruthless criminal operative has less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her enemies and in the process forms an unexpected bond with the daughter of one of her past victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood on the Sun (1945)
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIrezumi (1966)
Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)
Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Corner (1997)
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImprint (2006)
An American journalist travels through 19th-century Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTenchu! (1969)
A ronin desperately seeks a way out of financial straits; he allies with the Tosa clan under the ruthless leader Takechi, who quickly takes advantage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo End All Wars (2001)
Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon, Lt. Jim Reardon and Maj. Ian Campbell are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRashomon (1950)
Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJust Mercy (2019)
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurder in the First (1995)
A young, inexperienced public defender is assigned to defend an inmate accused of committing murder while behind bars.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHaikyu!! the Movie: The End and the Beginning (2015)
Shouyou Hinata, after losing to Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High's setter Tobio Kageyama in his first official volleyball match, transfers to Karasuno High, intent on finally having a proper volleyball team and getting his revenge on Kageyama. Upon arrival at Karasuno, however, Hinata finds out Kageyama has also gone to Karasuno. Initially at odds with each other, the two form an oddball combination and fight together with the other members of the volleyball club. Karasuno reunites with a former rival school, Nekoma High, in a practice match and reignites their school rivalry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMifune: The Last Samurai (2016)
An account of the life and work of legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune (1920-97), the most prominent actor of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Joe (1949)
An American veteran returns to Tokyo to try to pick up the threads of his pre-World War II life there, but finds himself squeezed between criminals and the authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Defender of Death-row Convicts?
The closest matches to The Defender of Death-row Convicts are The Third Murder (2017), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) and Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Defender of Death-row Convicts?
Start with The Third Murder (2017), the closest match to The Defender of Death-row Convicts.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Defender of Death-row Convicts?
Rashomon (1950), rated 8.0/10 by 2,673 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Defender of Death-row Convicts?
Black Box Diaries (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Defender of Death-row Convicts?
Yes: The Third Murder (2017), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) and Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972).
How are movies similar to The Defender of Death-row Convicts chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Defender of Death-row Convicts, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















