Movies like On the Waterfront (1954)
The best movies like On the Waterfront (1954) are Atlantic City (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and King Creole (1958). If On the Waterfront 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 ratedCatch Me If You Can (2002)8.0/10 from 17,861 votes
- NewestSecrets of a Soul (2012)Released 2012
Atlantic City (1980)
In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKing Creole (1958)
Delinquent Danny Fisher flunks out of high school, quits his job as a nightclub busboy, and one night gets the chance to perform. Success is imminent and local crime boss Maxie Fields wants to hire him to perform at The Blue Shade. Danny declines, but Fields won't take no for an answer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrince of the City (1981)
New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWoman of Straw (1964)
Anthony Richmond schemes to get the fortune of his tyrannical, wheelchair-using tycoon uncle Charles Richmond by persuading Maria, a nurse he employs, to marry him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrong Man (1956)
In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Walk Alone (1947)
Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outfit (1973)
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCatch Me If You Can (2002)
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night of the Hunter (1955)
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisLittle Caesar (1931)
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarlet Street (1945)
Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppointment with Death (1988)
Emily Boynton, the stepmother to three children, blackmails the family lawyer into destroying a second will of her late husband that would have freed the children from her dominating influence. She takes herself, the children, and her daughter-in-law on holiday to Europe and the Holy Land. At a dig, Emily is found dead and Hercule Poirot investigates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRobbery (1967)
In this fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, career criminal Paul Clifton plans an audacious crime: the robbery of a mail train carrying millions in cash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOwning Mahowny (2003)
Dan Mahowny was a rising star at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. At twenty-four he was assistant manager of a major branch in the heart of Toronto's financial district. To his colleagues he was a workaholic. To his customers, he was astute, decisive and helpful. To his friends, he was a quiet, but humorous man who enjoyed watching sports on television. To his girlfriend, he was shy but engaging. None of them knew the other side of Dan Mahowny--the side that executed the largest single-handed bank fraud in Canadian history, grossing over $10 million in eighteen months to feed his gambling obsession.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Enemy (1931)
Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLonely Hearts (2006)
In the late 1940s, a murderous couple known as the 'The Lonely Hearts Killers' kills close to a dozen people. Two detectives try to nab the duo who find their targets via the personals in the paper.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStreet Kings (2008)
Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSweet Sixteen (2002)
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTouch of Evil (1958)
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChicago (2002)
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecrets of a Soul (2012)
Secrets of a Soul: Margarethe, Creator of bizarre sculptures! Night club dancer? Mad woman? Victim of an occult conspiracy?! Dark menaces steal her soul and organs. Though dead they keep her alive...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hannibal Rising (2007)
The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill and learnt sword skills from his Japanese girlfriend, who happened to have similar fate
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWidow Wanted (1965)
One of Ahmed's relatives dies and leaves him a huge fortune to inherit, but on one condition, which is to search for a widow to marry, and he continues to search again and again for someone suitable for the task.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rocky (1976)
Rocky Balboa is a Philadelphia club fighter who seems to be going nowhere. But when a stroke of fate puts him in the ring with a world heavyweight champion, Rocky knows that it's his one shot at the big time — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go the distance and come out a winner!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Discovery of Heaven (2001)
Disappointed with humanity, God wants to revoke his contract with humanity and wants to take back the stone tablets containing the ten commandments. To this end an angel is sent out to affect the personal lives of three humans so an appropriate child may be conceived.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like On the Waterfront and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like On the Waterfront?
The closest matches to On the Waterfront are Atlantic City (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and King Creole (1958). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after On the Waterfront?
Start with Atlantic City (1980), the closest match to On the Waterfront.
What is the highest-rated movie like On the Waterfront?
Catch Me If You Can (2002), rated 8.0/10 by 17,861 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like On the Waterfront?
Secrets of a Soul (2012) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like On the Waterfront?
Yes: Atlantic City (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and King Creole (1958).
How are movies similar to On the Waterfront chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside On the Waterfront, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.