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Movies like Inspector Palmu

The best movies like Inspector Palmu are Thick as Thieves (1999), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Small Apartments (2012). If Inspector Palmu hooked you with its drama and crime, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. Thick as Thieves (1999)

    Two master thieves go at odds with one another as one sets the other up for a crime. The first, a suave pro who does his job and then hides in his own privacy, listening to old jazz records and caring for his ailing dog, Wally. The other is a local gangster with a taste for the finer life, who decides to eliminate the competition. This ignites a war between the two men and their aides. An angry mob boss and a female police officer try to sort the mess before things get too out of hand.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  2. Breaking News in Yuba County (2021)

    An overlooked pencil-pusher catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister, a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

  3. Small Apartments (2012)

    When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

  4. Intermission (2003)

    A raucous story of the interweaving lives and loves of small-town delinquents, shady cops, pretty good girls and very bad boys. With Irish guts and grit, lives collide, preconceptions shatter and romance is tested to the extreme. An ill-timed and poorly executed couple's break-up sets off a chain of events affecting everyone in town.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  5. Perrier's Bounty (2010)

    A gangster named Perrier looks to exact his revenge on a trio of fugitives responsible for the accidental death of one of his cronies.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

  6. Little Siberia (2025)

    A pastor's faith turns upside down when a meteorite lands in his small Finnish town, its impact stirring up chaos and criminal intentions.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama

  7. Blindspotting (2018)

    Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  8. Where the Money Is (2000)

    Henry Manning has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It's a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay, has a plan of her own.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

  9. Things Change (1988)

    Jerry, a misfit Mafia henchman, is assigned the low-level job of keeping an eye on Gino, a shoe repairman fingered by the Mob to confess to a murder he didn't commit. But Gino's mistaken for a Mafia boss, and the two are suddenly catapulted to the highest levels of mobster status. Only friendship will see them through this dangerous adventure alive!

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Defendor (2009)

    A crooked cop, a mob boss and the young girl they abuse are the denizens of a city's criminal underworld. It's a world that ordinary Arthur Poppington doesn't understand and doesn't belong in, but is committed to fighting when he changes into a vigilante super-hero of his own making, Defendor. With no power other than courage Defendor takes to the streets to protect the city's innocents.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Crime and Punishment (1983)

    Former student Rahikainen is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Rahikainen struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. 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 this
  13. Siberian 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 this
  14. The 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

  15. Winged 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

  16. Suburbicon (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

  17. The 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 this
  18. The 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 this
  19. Inside 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 this
  20. Violent Saturday (1955)

    Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this

Like Inspector Palmu and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like Inspector Palmu?

The closest matches to Inspector Palmu are Thick as Thieves (1999), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Small Apartments (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after Inspector Palmu?

Start with Thick as Thieves (1999), the closest match to Inspector Palmu.

What is the highest-rated movie like Inspector Palmu?

Blindspotting (2018), rated 7.3/10 by 756 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like Inspector Palmu?

Little Siberia (2025) is the most recent release on this list.

How are movies similar to Inspector Palmu chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Inspector Palmu, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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