Movies like The Detective 2 (2011)
The best movies like The Detective 2 (2011) are Limbo (2021), Inside Man (2023) and King Ivory (2025). If The Detective 2 hooked you with its crime and drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOne Night in Bangkok (2020)6.6/10 from 210 votes
- NewestKing Ivory (2025)Released 2025
Limbo (2021)
Veteran detective Cham works with rookie cop Will to hunt down the city's serial killer. The investigation leads them to a lair littered with dismembered female limbs, and an ex-con who killed Cham's wife and child years ago...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 thisOne Night in Bangkok (2020)
A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it's too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Nite in Mongkok (2004)
A gangster's son is accidentally killed during a drunken dispute with a rival gang, and Officer Milo's task force is assigned to the case. He soon learns that a hitman has been hired to take out the rival gang leader. While Milo and his crew desperately try to find and stop the hired gun, fearing all-out war in the streets, Lai Fu, a smart but inexperienced killer from a small town in the mainland, arrives in Hong Kong to do his job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stool Pigeon (2010)
Policeman Don often works with informants but numerous too-close calls and failed missions cause him to see the world as one betrayal after another. Then, he meets Ghost, Jr, and is given a new chance to change his views.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlindfire (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 thisPrison on Fire II (1991)
The rivalry between two Chinese prison factions heats up as a seasoned inmate forms an alliance that could cost him more than his freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
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 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 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 thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEach 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShock Wave 2 (2020)
After suffering life changing injuries in the line of duty, bomb disposal officer Fung turns his back on the police. But when a devastating series of bombings sweep Hong Kong, the police suspect their former ally may be involved after he is found unconscious at a crime scene. Now faced with memory loss and recalling only fragments of his former life, Fung sets out to uncover the truth and find out who he really is.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLegendary Assassin (2008)
An assassin who is fresh from his latest kill becomes stranded in an island, when he inadvertently befriends a female police officer. As the night progresses, the unspoken truth honored by the two sides of the law is broken. After the remains of a body that belonged to a drug lord and syndicate crime leader are found, chaos ensues and criminals ravage the once peaceful streets in a race against time to find the mysterious murderer that's loose and out for blood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
Two detectives who are up to their necks in trouble and in each other's face, as they try to shut down a drug-trafficking scheme that could be connected with international ties to organized crime. But in the midst of their investigation, innocent immigrant dock worker Luk Wan-Ting gets caught up in the mix when he witnesses the murder of an intelligence operative and is framed for the crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRevenge: A Love Story (2010)
A serial murderer has brutally killed several policemen and their pregnant wives. After a quick investigation, the murderer is revealed to be Kit, whom the case's detective-in-charge knows from a previous case. Once upon a time, Kit was an innocent boy in a rural village who also has a crush on naïve high school student Wing. After the death of Wing's grandmother, Kit rescues Wing from a foster care facility, and the two quickly fall in love. However, their romance ends prematurely when a local policeman arrests them. The events that follow lay the seeds for Kit's terrifying path to vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpecial ID (2013)
A career-long undercover Hong Kong cop is sent to Mainland China when his former protégé becomes the primary suspect in a murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Detective 2?
The closest matches to The Detective 2 are Limbo (2021), Inside Man (2023) and King Ivory (2025). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Detective 2?
Start with Limbo (2021), the closest match to The Detective 2.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Detective 2?
One Night in Bangkok (2020), rated 6.6/10 by 210 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Detective 2?
King Ivory (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Detective 2 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Detective 2, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.