Movies like Smugglers (2023)
The best movies like Smugglers (2023) are Gangnam Blues (2015), The Drug King (2018) and Friend (2001). If Smugglers hooked you with its crime and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedUnstoppable (2018)7.8/10 from 291 votes
- NewestJack & Lou: A Gangster Love Story (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanGangnam Blues (2015)Also in Korean
Gangnam Blues (2015)
Jong-dae and Yong-ki make a living by picking up paper and empty bottles. Both then join different gangster clan and becomes involved in a struggle of political interests over development in Gangnam, Seoul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Drug King (2018)
Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriend (2001)
Despite their different family backgrounds, four friends grew up together in the wearisome years of the 70s. But as time goes by, each of them takes a different life path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outlaws (2017)
In Chinatown, law and order is turned upside down when a trio of feral Chinese gangsters arrive, start terrorizing civilians, and usurping territory. The beleaguered local gangsters team up with the police, lead by the badass loose cannon Ma Seok-do, to bring them down. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Roundup: No Way Out (2023)
Detective Ma Seok-do changes his affiliation from the Geumcheon Police Station to the Metropolitan Investigation Team, in order to eradicate Japanese gangsters who enter Korea to commit heinous crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRomeo Must Die (2000)
Two warring gang families (one African-American, the other Chinese) maneuver for bragging rights to the Oakland, California docks. Han Sing and Trish O'Day uncover a trail of deceit that leaves most of the warring factions dead... or worse!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnstoppable (2018)
Dong-chul and Ji-soo are a happily married couple. One day, Dong-chul comes home to find his house in disarray and his wife missing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisContraband (2012)
When his brother-in-law runs afoul of a drug lord, family man Chris Farraday turns to a skill he abandoned long ago—smuggling—to repay the debt. But the job goes wrong, and Farraday finds himself wanted by cops, crooks and killers alike.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpecial Delivery (2022)
A black-market cabbie drives criminals at breakneck speeds until she is left in charge of a fugitive's son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisAbsolution (2024)
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children. He is determined to leave a positive legacy for his grandson, but the criminal underworld isn’t done with him and won’t loosen their grip willingly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisStone (1974)
After one of its members witnesses a political assassination, an outlaw motorbike gang becomes the target of a string of murders, prompting a cop to join their ranks to determine who is responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKundo: Age of the Rampant (2014)
In 1862, amidst the rule of the late Joseon dynasty in Korea, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the unjust authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022)
A gutsy crew of Joseon pirates and bandits battle stormy waters, puzzling clues and militant rivals in search of royal gold lost at sea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
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 crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisNameless Gangster (2012)
Ik-hyeon, a corrupt officer, joins forces with another crook, Hyung-bae, to continue his illegal activities before he loses his job. Eventually, he decides to escape and pin the blame on his partner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreathless (2009)
Sang-hoon is a lowlife gangster, a debt collector exercising thuggish ways to collect his money. The recipient of nothing but anger since his childhood, he expresses himself through violence. When he finally encounters someone who can stand up to him, feisty school-girl Yoon-hee they become unlikely friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Yakuza (1974)
When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer, to Japan to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Debt Collector (2018)
A classically-trained martial artist goes to work as a debt collector for the mob. The job seems easy enough, until one “client” pulls him into a situation deeper than could ever be expected.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisVanishing Point (1971)
Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive from Colorado to San Francisco. Shortly after pickup, he takes a bet to get the car there in less than 15 hours.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Nice Guys (2016)
A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYour Move (2023)
A 1960s period thriller centring around a gang of ex-airforce servicemen who now run a nefarious smuggling operation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Shadows of the Sea (1922)
An idealistic sea captain, Dick Carson (Conway Tearle), is wounded by revenue officers while smuggling arms to a South American country. He finds aid and refuge at the home of Dr. Jordan (J. Barney Sherry) whose young wife, Dorothy (Doris Kenyon), is being courted by Andrews (Crauford Kent), who kills the doctor in a quarrel. To avoid the revenue officers, Carson takes them aboard his ship and sets sail for the Far East. He and Dorothy fall in love but, first, he must deal with a mutiny on his ship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
The Getaway King (2021)
Comedy about Zdzisław Najmrodzki, most famous polish criminal in the times of Polish People Republic, named "the getaway king", known for stealing cars and escaping prison many times, but never hurting anybody.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrailty (2002)
A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAt Close Range (1986)
Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Easy Way (2008)
Albert Spaggiari is arrested in Nice and brought to a judge's office for interrogation, but he escapes to South America where he meets a journalist who is investigating the event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAngels Hard as They Come (1971)
A group of crazy bikers meet up with a group of drug-addicted hippies in a small town, but the two roving factions are soon at odds with one another and chaos ensues.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Jack & Lou: A Gangster Love Story (2025)
In the 1970s, old gangster moll Lou Rolfe is confronted with her involvement in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre orchestrated in 1929 by her former husband, Al Capone's main hit-man, Jack McGurn.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Smugglers?
The closest matches to Smugglers are Gangnam Blues (2015), The Drug King (2018) and Friend (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Smugglers?
Start with Gangnam Blues (2015), the closest match to Smugglers.
What is the highest-rated movie like Smugglers?
Unstoppable (2018), rated 7.8/10 by 291 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Smugglers?
Jack & Lou: A Gangster Love Story (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Smugglers?
Yes: Gangnam Blues (2015), The Drug King (2018) and Friend (2001).
How are movies similar to Smugglers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Smugglers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.