Movies like Operation Java
If Operation Java hooked you with its thriller and crime, these are the films to watch next. Every pick says why it matches.
The Seven-Ups (1973)
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLaRoy, Texas (2024)
Broke and depressed, Ray is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip, he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThick as Thieves (2009)
A master thief recruits a notorious thief to help him steal two famous Faberge eggs from an impenetrable vault in an effort to pull off one final job and repay his debt to the Russian mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Independent (2022)
It's the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history. America is poised to elect either its first female president or its first viable independent candidate. Reporting history as it's made, an idealistic young journalist teams up with her idol, legendary journalist Nick Booker, to uncover a conspiracy that places the fate of the election, and the country, in their hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
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 crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPickup on South Street (1953)
In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIslands (2025)
In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband disappears, and the police suspect Tom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young Savages (1961)
A district attorney investigates the racially charged case of three teenagers accused of the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKurup (2021)
The Film is based on the infamous 'Charlie Murder Case' in the Indian State of Kerala where the main culprit Sukumara Kurup has been on the run for decades and is still not been caught. The story revolves around the perspective of Sukumara Kurup and the Police officers who were investigating the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive Minutes of Heaven (2009)
The story of former Ulster Volunteer Force member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffin's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrute Force (1947)
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGotcha! (1985)
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Rob a Bank (2007)
Caught in the middle of a bank robbery, a slacker and a bank employee become the ones who arbitrate the intense situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisOverdrive (2017)
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFun with Dick and Jane (1977)
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWrong Cops (2013)
A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMentes Peligrosas (TBA)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Wild Card (2015)
When a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal skills and a gambling problem gets in trouble with the mob, he has one last play… and it's all or nothing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Terrorist (2018)
The lives of two sisters, Reshma and Asma, is thrown into disarray when Reshma receives a call about Asma's kidnapping.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Eesho (2022)
While working the night at an ATM, a security guard, who is the prime witness in the case against a powerful industrialist, happens across a mysterious man named Eesho. They engage in a conversation and the guard pours his heart out to the stranger before realising that Eesho may not be a friend. Who is Eesho and what does he want?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Hopeless (2023)
Yeon-gyu is a teenage boy who wants to escape his hometown where violence is commonly enacted among neighbors. He only hopes to have a peaceful life with his mother. However, the world never allows him to have a dream nor hope for life. When Yeon-gyu needs a hand from grown-ups, Chi-geon, a thug of the town, offers a favor. The simple favor leads Yeon-gyu to explore the world of Chi-geon. It ironically results Yeon-gyu gradually falling into Chi-geon's life. Grasping hope to run away from where he is, he struggles between the border. Can he escape from the town at the end?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Crumb Catcher (2024)
After blacking out on his wedding night, Shane and his wife head to a remote estate for their honeymoon. That night, there’s a knock at the door; a waiter and bartender from the reception, blackmailing Shane for something he can’t remember doing. But the blackmailers don’t just want money. They’re after business partners for their invention, an outlandish device called… The Crumb Catcher.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
I Thought I Was Alone (2023)
As a divorced Japanese man's repetitive daily life unfolds, a mysterious presence lurking in the shadows suggests he may not be as alone as he thought.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Stain (2026)
When Malee, a young woman with a dark past, is drawn by fate to an apartment where she must confront haunting memories from her childhood, she encounters Pran, a botanist, a tea blending master, and the founder of a Thai floral tea brand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
มากับฝน (2018)
Gap, a handsome young man, a part-time employee at a Happy Time convenience store, meets Som, a young woman who has lost her memory. Som tries to find out who she is and why she always wants to follow Gap. Gap begins to be frightened by Som's appearance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Rwa Bhineda (2023)
A rice farmer's grudge against a child who belittles rice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Like Operation Java and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Operation Java?
The closest matches to Operation Java are The Seven-Ups, LaRoy, Texas, Thick as Thieves.
How are movies similar to Operation Java chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Operation Java, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.
Are there Malayalam movies like Operation Java?
Yes: Kurup, Eesho.