Movies like Contraband (2012)
The best movies like Contraband (2012) are The Locksmith (2023), Rapid Fire (1992) and Beyond the Law (1993). If Contraband hooked you with its thriller and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Usual Suspects (1995)8.2/10 from 11,943 votes
- NewestLast Hit (2026)Released 2026
The Locksmith (2023)
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisRapid Fire (1992)
College student Jake Lo is pursued by smugglers, mobsters and crooked federal agents after he witnesses a murder by a Mafia kingpin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeyond the Law (1993)
Dan Saxon is an undercover cop who infiltrates a biker gang to nail the scum behind a drug-smuggling operation. In order to maintain the trust of the gang's leader, he must commit ever more dangerous and heinous crimes. Just how far 'beyond the law' will Saxon go?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadise Highway (2022)
A truck driver has been forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a deadly prison gang. With FBI operatives hot on her trail, Sally's conscience is challenged when the final package turns out to be a teenage girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisTraffic (2000)
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBraven (2018)
A logger defends his family from a group of dangerous drug runners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Infiltrator (2016)
A U.S Customs official uncovers a massive money laundering scheme involving Pablo Escobar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Lightning (1973)
An ex-con teams up with federal agents to help them with breaking up a moonshine ring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Day in Paradise (1998)
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYear of the Dragon (1985)
In New York, racist Capt. Stanley White becomes obsessed with destroying a Chinese-American drug ring run by Joey Tai, an up-and-coming young gangster as ambitious as he is ruthless. While pursuing an unauthorized investigation, White grows increasingly willing to violate police protocol, resorting to progressively violent measures -- even as his concerned wife, Connie, and his superiors beg him to consider the consequences of his actions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Innocent Man (1989)
Jimmie Rainwood was minding his own business when two corrupt police officers (getting an address wrong) burst into his house, expecting to find a major drug dealer. Rainwood is shot, and the officers frame him as a drug dealer. Rainwood is convicted of drug dealing, based on the perjured evidence of a police informant. Thrown into a seedy jail, fighting to prove his innocence is diffucult when he has to deal with the realities of prison life, where everyone claims they were framed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaximum Risk (1996)
Alain Moreau's investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the beauty of the south of France to the mean streets of New York City and into the arms of his brother's beautiful girlfriend. Pursued by ruthless Russian mobsters and renegade FBI agents, the duo race against time to solve his brother's murder and expose an international conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 this'R Xmas (2001)
A New York drug dealer is kidnapped, and his wife must try to come up with the money and drugs to free him from his abductors before Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Cover (1992)
Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Fast (2024)
When The Thief’s partner is kidnapped after stealing millions in cash from a merciless drug lord named Nushi, he reluctantly teams up with an angst-ridden orphan to rescue him. Nushi enlists her most trusted hitman, The Cowboy, a lovable charmer who’s quick with his guns, to track down the Thief. Guns, cars, and explosions will give the newfound partners a head start, but how long will they be able to keep it up?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Usual Suspects (1995)
The lone survivor of an explosive heist gone wrong recounts for interrogators the events that began with five disparate criminals assembled for a police lineup - with alleged criminal mastermind Keyser Soze at the center of it all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLayer Cake (2004)
When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & 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 thisLast Hit (2026)
A pair of criminals seeking a fresh start are intervened by their boss, who takes one of them hostage to force a final job. Vincent and Maya decide to escape their gang and settle for a peaceful life, but they are trapped into one last hit with hidden agendas, betrayals, and unexpected alliances. Last Hit is a high-stakes, action-packed thriller about redemption, betrayal, and the ultimate cost of freedom. Vincent and Maya decide to escape from their life of crime when their boss, Dante starts blurring the lines between heists and hits. During their last job they realize they've walked into a setup orchestrated by Dante himself. This trap pushed Vincent and Maya to the firm decision to walk away from the gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Rx (2005)
What is meant to be a weekend party across the border soon becomes a heartbreaking journey that tests the boundaries of companionship, romantic love and personal ethics.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Paid in Full (2002)
Ace is an impressionable young man working for a dry cleaning business. His friend, drug dealer Mitch, goes to prison. In an unrelated incident, he finds some cocaine in a pants pocket. Soon, Ace finds himself dealing cocaine for Lulu. Via lucky breaks and solid interpersonal skills, Ace moves to the top of the Harlem drug world. Of course, unfaithful employees and/or rivals conspire to bring about Ace's fall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPride and Glory (2008)
A saga centered on the Tierneys, a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGridiron Gang (2006)
Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCamorra (1972)
The fast career of a young Neapolitan among contraband, gambling dens, bribes and illegality. He will upgrade its rank till the maximum level of the "Family".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Pink Cadillac (1989)
A skip tracer helps out a bail-jumper after her child is kidnapped by a group of ethno-nationalist thugs, of which her husband is a member, going by the name of Birthright. The baby is taken as leverage because, although initially oblivious, she has their money!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlack Souls (2014)
A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlow (2001)
The story of how George Jung, together with the Medellín Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, established the billion-dollar cocaine empire in the United States in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Contraband?
The closest matches to Contraband are The Locksmith (2023), Rapid Fire (1992) and Beyond the Law (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Contraband?
Start with The Locksmith (2023), the closest match to Contraband.
What is the highest-rated movie like Contraband?
The Usual Suspects (1995), rated 8.2/10 by 11,943 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Contraband?
Last Hit (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Contraband?
Yes: The Locksmith (2023), Rapid Fire (1992) and Beyond the Law (1993).
How are movies similar to Contraband chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Contraband, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.