Movies like The French Detective (1975)
The best movies like The French Detective (1975) are Blindfire (2020), 36th Precinct (2004) and The Public Eye (1992). If The French Detective 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 ratedYannick (2023)7.0/10 from 758 votes
- NewestMisdirection (2026)Released 2026
- In French36th Precinct (2004)Also in French
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like this36th Precinct (2004)
In Paris, two cops are competing for the vacant job of chief of police, in the middle of the search for a gang of violent thieves. The movie is directed by Olivier Marchal, a former police officer who spent 12 years with the French police before creating this story, taken in part from real events of the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Eye (1992)
A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue City (2020)
Caught in the crosshairs of police corruption and Marseille’s warring gangs, a loyal cop must protect his squad by taking matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisTrafficking (2023)
Fresh out of prison, a former debt collector working for a gangland boss is told he has a terminal brain tumour. In an attempt to atone for his past he rescues a young girl from trafficking, forcing him into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with his boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kingdom (2024)
Lesia, a teenager, is taken by a man to a villa where her fugitive father and his men are hiding. A war erupts, leading to death and a chase where father and daughter bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grissom Gang (1971)
Violent crime caper set in 1930s Kansas in which a gang kidnap an heiress and attempt to recover a ransom. However, the scheme is jeopardised when the leader falls in love with their beautiful captive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarron's Cove (2025)
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest of the Best 2 (1993)
In an underground fight club, blackbelt Travis Brickley is killed after losing to the evil martial arts master Brakus. Travis' death is witnessed by Walter Grady, the son of his best friend Alex Grady. Alex and his partner, Tommy Lee, vow to avenge their friend's death by defeating Brakus and shutting down the fight club.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisM (1951)
In the city, someone is murdering children. The police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMisdirection (2026)
A desperate couple have pulled off a string of high-end break-ins to pay off a mob debt. When they attempt to rob their latest victim, they find themselves caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The tables are turned and the hunters become the hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Devils Are Here (2025)
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killer (2024)
Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Her Name (2016)
In 1982, André Bamberski learns about the death of his 14 year-old daughter, Kalinka, while she was on vacation with her mother and stepfather in Germany. Convinced that Kalinka’s death was not an accident, Bamberski begins to investigate. A botched autopsy report raises his suspicions and leads him to accuse Kalinka’s stepfather, Dr Dieter Krombach, as the murderer. Unable to indict Krombach in Germany, Bamberski attempts to take the trial to France, where he will dedicate his life to Kalinka’s justice and the imprisonment of Krombach.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNowhere to Run (1993)
Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Dried Hands (2024)
A reluctant serial killer grapples with his base desires and longs for his own death, as a small town Detective closes in on his trail to stop the killing spree while dealing with her own debilitating trauma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
The Bigfoot Trap (2023)
A journalist's life is changed forever when he's locked inside of a bigfoot trap by an insane sasquatch hunter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Suddenly (1954)
The tranquility of a small town is marred only by sheriff Tod Shaw's unsuccessful courtship of widow Ellen Benson, a pacifist who can't abide guns and those who use them. But violence descends on Ellen's household willy-nilly when the U.S. President passes through town... and slightly psycho hired assassin John Baron finds the Benson home ideal for an ambush.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad House 2: Last Call (2006)
Shane Tanner, the son of a legendary cooler named Dalton, learns that his uncle Nate got beat up by a group of men because he doesn't want to sell his bar, The Black Pelican, to a bunch of drug dealers. To help out his uncle, Shane teams up with local school teacher Beau Hampton, who is a regular at the Black Pelican, and takes down the baddies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAs Time Runs Out (1999)
A wealthy man races against time to save his kidnapped son whose abductor left him with a bomb set to detonate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Lost in Africa (2010)
Simon, an adopted boy of a Danish couple visiting Kenya with his mother, goes missing in Kibera slum. When his mother offers a reward on TV, the kidnappers are on the run.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Yannick (2023)
In the middle of a performance of the play "Le Cocu", a bad boulevard comedy at a Parisian theatre, Yannick gets up and interrupts the show to take the evening back in hand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore Dawn (TBA)
A man and his family must escape a horde of blood-thirsty infected people while being held hostage by a group of criminals in a small country town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Money Monster (2016)
Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiberty Stands Still (2002)
As the heir and current marketing director for one of the nation's biggest gun manufacturers, Liberty Wallace is indifferent to the atrocities made possible through her business and her CEO husband, Victor. On her way to see her actor lover, Liberty ends up chained to a food cart full of explosives -- all at the insistence of "Joe", a sniper whose young daughter was a victim of gun violence, and who now has Liberty in his sights.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The French Detective?
The closest matches to The French Detective are Blindfire (2020), 36th Precinct (2004) and The Public Eye (1992). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The French Detective?
Start with Blindfire (2020), the closest match to The French Detective.
What is the highest-rated movie like The French Detective?
Yannick (2023), rated 7.0/10 by 758 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The French Detective?
Misdirection (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The French Detective?
Yes: 36th Precinct (2004), Rogue City (2020) and The Kingdom (2024).
How are movies similar to The French Detective chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The French Detective, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.