Movies like Chiko (2008)
The best movies like Chiko (2008) are Short Sharp Shock (1998), Clockers (1995) and Love in Thoughts (2004). If Chiko hooked you with its drama and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Lives of Others (2006)8.0/10 from 4,350 votes
- NewestDrug Lord's Redemption (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanShort Sharp Shock (1998)Also in German
Short Sharp Shock (1998)
Gabriel, Bobby and Costa are old friends from Altona, a multicultural hood in Hamburg. Just out of prison, Gabriel wants to turn his back on crime, but the others continue to operate as petty criminals. Friendships are tested as the trio navigate a dark world of mafia bosses and deals gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClockers (1995)
Strike is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug lord Rodney Little. When a night manager at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike’s older brother turns himself in as the killer. Detective Rocco Klein doesn’t buy the story, however, setting out to find the truth, and it seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove in Thoughts (2004)
A posthumous look at the last days of Guenther's life as he, his best friend, and his sister let loose on a four-day binge of alcohol, drugs, and sex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGet Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Express (1978)
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Gangster (2007)
Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSharky's Machine (1981)
Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new 'machine' gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBelly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoe (1970)
After murdering his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend, a wealthy ad executive stumbles into a bar and strikes up an uneasy alliance with Joe Curran, a drunken bigot with a bloodlust who works at a local factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Principal (1987)
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the head of security try to clean up the school and stop the narcotics trade, they run up against a teenage mafia. A violent confrontation on the campus leads to a deadly showdown with the drug dealer's gang, and one last chance for Latimer to save his career... and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaid 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWe Own the Night (2007)
A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 thisOut of the Furnace (2013)
Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in prison. His brother is then lured into one of the most violent crime rings in the Northeast.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBullet (1996)
A tough, Jewish ex-con just released from prison crosses a powerful drug dealer and former prison rival in his return to a life of crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiberian 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 thisChristiane F. (1981)
A teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lives of Others (2006)
In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDrug Lord's Redemption (2025)
A former successful drug baron lives a life of debauchery until he is sentenced to a long prison term. In prison he becomes a Christian and leads a prison revival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Gomorrah (2008)
An inside look at Italy's modern-day crime families, the Camorra in Naples and Caserta. Based on a book by Roberto Saviano. Power, money and blood: these are the "values" that the residents of the Province of Naples and Caserta have to face every day. They hardly ever have a choice and are forced to obey the rules of the Camorra. Only a lucky few can even think of leading a normal life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Star Is Born (1954)
A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ceiling (2018)
On the brink of divorce a middle aged man, Olavi, retreats to his cabin by the lake. After a few days he finds that the ceiling has come down making him unable to stand up straight. His friend Tuomas arrives and insists that something has to be done whereas Olavi is content with the limited space.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Scorpion (1997)
Josef Bertholt is head of operations of the Munich Police's drug squad. When his wife Lily is the victim of a hit by drug dealers, he becomes even more obsessed with his work.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Die Anruferin (2008)
A lonely woman's prank phone call leads to an unexpected friendship with a grieving widow.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mouth to Mouth (2005)
An aimless adolescent joins several itinerant misfits who live on the fringe of society and welcome at-risk youths into their fold.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisGet Shorty (1995)
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesperado (1995)
El Mariachi plunges headfirst into the dark border underworld when he follows a trail of blood to the last of the infamous Mexican drug lords, Bucho, for an action-packed, bullet-riddled showdown. With the help of his friend and a beautiful bookstore owner, El Mariachi tracks Bucho, takes on his army of desperados, and leaves his own trail of blood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Chiko and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Chiko?
The closest matches to Chiko are Short Sharp Shock (1998), Clockers (1995) and Love in Thoughts (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Chiko?
Start with Short Sharp Shock (1998), the closest match to Chiko.
What is the highest-rated movie like Chiko?
The Lives of Others (2006), rated 8.0/10 by 4,350 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Chiko?
Drug Lord's Redemption (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Chiko?
Yes: Short Sharp Shock (1998), Love in Thoughts (2004) and Christiane F. (1981).
How are movies similar to Chiko chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Chiko, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.