Movies like El Arriero (2009)
The best movies like El Arriero (2009) are Traffic (2000), The Mule (2018) and Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995). If El Arriero hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGoodFellas (1990)8.5/10 from 15,015 votes
- NewestThe Baker (2023)Released 2023
- In SpanishNobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995)Also in Spanish
Traffic (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 drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mule (2018)
Earl Stone, a man in his eighties, is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does so well that his cargo increases exponentially, and Earl hit the radar of hard-charging DEA agent Colin Bates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995)
Alcoholic prostitute Gloria is in the middle of a business deal with gangsters when a fatal confrontation occurs. She flees Mexico City, returning to her native Madrid, where she's reunited with her comatose husband and his mother, while hitman Eduardo is pursuing her to retrieve information.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaria Full of Grace (2004)
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snitch Cartel (2011)
The real life story of Andres Lopez Lopez aka "Frecita" during his years involved with the Colombian Cartel aka "Cartel Norte del Valle"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCocaine Godmother (2017)
At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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
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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParked (2010)
Fred Daly returns to Ireland with nowhere to live but his car. Then dope-smoking 21-year-old Cathal parks beside him, and brightens up his lonely world. Encouraged by Cathal, Fred meets attractive music teacher Jules. Growing closer, these three outsiders are set on a course that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl diario de una prostituta (2013)
During a murder investigation, the police uncover a human trafficking network that involves a politician the media is protecting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad of No Return (2009)
Road of no Return follows the final nine days in the lives of four atypical hit men who are secretly brought together in a covert operation to fight the drug trafficking epidemic in the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisKid Cannabis (2014)
An eighteen year old high school drop out and his twenty-seven year old friend start trafficking marijuana across the border of Canada in order to make money and their lives are changed forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Baker (2023)
A quiet, stoic man, lives a monk-like existence in self-imposed exile. When his estranged son is killed in a drug deal gone bad, he is left to look after a granddaughter he never knew existed, and he is forced back into a life he tried to put behind him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTogo (2022)
Togo just wants to watch his neighbors' homes, wash their cars and clean up their sidewalks. But the drug traffickers want more from him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this600 Miles (2015)
Arnulfo Rubio smuggles weapons from Arizona to Mexico for a drug cartel, but he is being investigated by agent Harris. When agent Harris blows his covers, he and Arnulfo end up in a journey where he will be the hostage of this young criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraining Day (2001)
On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRun brother run (2019)
Salim and Alì, two Nigerian brothers, work in a tomato field managed by Fulvio, a violent and racist corporal. Alì, as opposed to Salim, lives a life which goes over the legality. One day, Fulvio commands the two brothers to deliver a drug shipment to a notorious local criminal, but on the return something goes wrong. The corporal's son, Vincenzo, will help Salim to escape his father's brutality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Violent Cop (1989)
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTink (TBA)
The movie is based on the story of Gerald Tinker, the American Olympian and NFL player who become embroiled in the Miami drug trafficking scene of the ’70s and ’80s. After winning Olympic gold at the notorious 1972 Munich Games, Black sprinter Tinker was discarded by professional sports and pulled into a covert cocaine pipeline running through Miami International Airport – forcing him to outrun the law, the mob, and his own past to protect the only family he has left.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
No Code of Conduct (1999)
A cop, his partner, and his father uncover a plot by city elders to smuggle drugs from Mexico into Phoenix, Arizona.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
GoodFellas (1990)
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSwedish Package Holiday (1989)
Three intertwined stories about Serbian truck driver who is involved into drug trafficking without knowing, Czech family who live by the road which makes them a lot of troubles since many cars crash into their house, and a bus full of Swedish grannies who go on a Trans-European package holiday.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)
Sent to Mexico to help take care of aging Father Benito, young Father Amaro faces a moral challenge when he meets a 16-year-old girl who he starts an affair with. Likewise, the girl's mother had been having an affair with Father Benito. Father Amaro must choose between a holy or sinful life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEasy Rider (1969)
Wyatt and Billy, two Harley-riding hippies, complete a drug deal in Southern California and decide to travel cross-country in search of spiritual truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Arriero?
The closest matches to El Arriero are Traffic (2000), The Mule (2018) and Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Arriero?
Start with Traffic (2000), the closest match to El Arriero.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Arriero?
GoodFellas (1990), rated 8.5/10 by 15,015 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Arriero?
The Baker (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El Arriero?
Yes: Nobody Will Speak of Us When We're Dead (1995), Maria Full of Grace (2004) and The Snitch Cartel (2011).
How are movies similar to El Arriero chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Arriero, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.