Movies like Kanika (2018)
The best movies like Kanika (2018) are True Believer (1989), Omkara (2006) and Winged Creatures (2009). If Kanika 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 ratedThe Enforcer (2022)7.0/10 from 533 votes
- NewestInside Man (2023)Released 2023
- In HindiOmkara (2006)Also in Hindi
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmkara (2006)
Half-caste bandit Omkara Shukla abducts his lady love, Dolly Mishra, from her family. Thanks to his cleverness, he gets away with the kidnapping. A conspiracy, however, forms against him when he denies his right-hand man, Langda Tyagi, a promotion. Ultimately, this plot threatens not only his relationship with Dolly, but their lives and those of their associates as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisGulaal (2009)
A law student witnesses the struggles of the Rajputs, deception, homicide and crime after being elected as General Secretary of his college.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelly (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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeorgetown (2019)
Ulrich Mott is an eccentric and versatile social climber with grandiose plans to affect United States foreign policy. Encouraged in his attempts by his strategically chosen (and much older) wife, the well-connected journalist Elsa Brecht, Mott has a knack for making himself indispensable and impossible to ignore. The only one seemingly immune to his charms is Elsa's daughter Amanda, who might simply disapprove of her mother marrying a much younger man - or perhaps she senses something more sinister beneath the smooth-talking surface?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican 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
SnoozefestMovies like thisPanic (2000)
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Skin (2019)
A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer found innocent without standing trial, he takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIll 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
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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHo Sakta Hai! (2006)
Mohan is a medical student who lives in the United States. One day, he receives a strange phone call from his grandfather asking him to come back to his native village in India. Once he arrives, he finds out that his brother and sister-in-law have mysteriously disappeared. Moreover, his little cousin Tanaji survived, but is behaving very strangely, he never speaks a word, gets up in the middle of the night, sometimes suddenly turns cold, and mistreats his toys. Mohan tries to solve the mystery, but fails to find a rational explanation for all the creepy things that happen. Everything points in the direction of the caretaker's wife, Parvati, who performs rituals of black magic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Bulundi (1981)
A college professor agrees to teach the son of a gangster and becomes a pawn in a deadly game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
India Is Ours (1950)
Though times have changed, Ram still uses old ways of farming due to a drought in the village. His brother, Bala, goes to Bombay to earn his living. Mahadev, a Zamindar in the village, eyes Usha, the lover of Bala. Due to the drought, the crops fail in the village, and Shikh Sahib, a social worker, comes to help the farmers, and shows them new ways of farming. Ramu goes to Bombay to take a loan for cooperative farming and asks Bala to turn back to the village, but he refuses. [The film is a socio-economic study of post-independence India, blending documentary elements with narrative storytelling. The film is often described as a "simple story woven into the documentary design" and features actors like Prithviraj Kapoor and Dev Anand.]
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aakhari Decision (2010)
Aakhari Decision is a Bollywood action film directed by Deepak Bandhu and starring Anant Jog, Nagesh Bhonsle, Mushtaq Khan, Navni Parihar, Amar Sidhu, and Sumona Chakravarti. It was filmed in India and the United States.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Red Zone (TBA)
"Red Zone" is an International Feature Film in English language created by the Award Winning Film Maker Sunil Babbar. It is based on Buddhism. The film reflects the mysterious life journey of a revered Buddhist Monk, who wishes to achieve the Buddhahood in his present life, but falls down when a mysterious girl enters his life. Shot on the beautiful locales of Galle Fort in Sri Lanka, it presents the journey of two different persons belonging to two different Worlds, exhibiting their pains, agonies and their quest to achieve Buddhahood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Aaj Aur Kal (1963)
An over-bearing oppressive emperor continues to preside over a region in post-independent India along with his subdued children.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shukriyaa (1988)
Young and playful Neema's prank with a live electric wire kills her mother, and leaves her dad, Dayal, angered and devastated by Neema and his wife's death respectively. Dayal begins to resent his daughter so much so that he cannot stand the sight of her. Neema grows up to be nervous and insecure young woman, klutz-like, and terrified of her father. Things change for the better , when she meets the owner of a restaurant, Ajay Singh, and both fall in love w When Dayal comes to know of this, his anger knows no bounds, and he forbids her to ever see Ajay again. When Ajay finds out about Dayal's plan to marry Neema elsewhere, he is determined to marry Neema at all costs - and so is Neema, who now seems to have given up her timidity. What Neema does not know is that Ajay does not love her - all he is interested is humiliating and possibly killing Dayal - to set right a devastating incident that changed his life forever when he was a child. Will Ajay be able to carry out his deadly task?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Gafla (2006)
Subodh is a man with drive and ambition who sees the booming stock market as his ticket to riches. Although he becomes a successful trader, it's not enough to satisfy his dreams, and in attempting to become a major player in the markets, he finds himself embroiled in an elaborate stock scam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Benazir (1964)
Sibling rivalry abounds in this film about two privileged brothers, Anwar and Nawab, and the women who come between them. Nawab, although a married man and father, engages in frequent secret rendezvous with his mistress, Benazir. Meanwhile, Anwar declares his love for a woman named Shahida, whom he desires to wed. So when Nawab witnesses Anwar in the arms of the lovely Benazir, he's outraged -- and puzzled -- by the brotherly betrayal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Salaam Venky (2022)
Sujata, an ideal mother, who battles the most challenging situations one can ever face with a smile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Kanika?
The closest matches to Kanika are True Believer (1989), Omkara (2006) and Winged Creatures (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Kanika?
Start with True Believer (1989), the closest match to Kanika.
What is the highest-rated movie like Kanika?
The Enforcer (2022), rated 7.0/10 by 533 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Kanika?
Inside Man (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Hindi movies like Kanika?
Yes: Omkara (2006), Gulaal (2009) and Ho Sakta Hai! (2006).
How are movies similar to Kanika chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Kanika, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.