Movies like American Sicario (2021)
The best movies like American Sicario (2021) are Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), We Die Young (2019) and Blowback (2022). If American Sicario 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 ratedPulp Fiction (1994)8.5/10 from 31,312 votes
- NewestThe Get Out (2026)Released 2026
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the United States border.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Die Young (2019)
Lucas, a 14-year-old boy inducted into the gang life in Washington D.C., is determined that his 10-year-old brother won't follow the same path. When an Afghanistan war veteran comes into the neighborhood, an opportunity arises.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlowback (2022)
When a master thief is sabotaged during a bank heist and left for dead, he seeks revenge on his former crew one target at a time. Now, with the cops and the mob closing in, he's in the race of his life to reclaim an untold fortune in cryptocurrency from those who double-crossed him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGringo (2018)
An American businessman with a stake in a pharmaceutical company that's about to go public finds his life is thrown into turmoil by an incident in Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtreme Prejudice (1987)
Lean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
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 action & crime
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSicario (2015)
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 51st State (2001)
An American master chemist plans to score big on a once in a lifetime drug deal. All does not go as planned and he is soon entangled in a web of deceit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriple Frontier (2019)
Struggling to make ends meet, former special ops soldiers reunite for a high-stakes heist: stealing $75 million from a South American drug lord.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Man Standing (1996)
John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Bala (2019)
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNarco Cultura (2013)
To a growing number of Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, narco-traffickers have become iconic outlaws and the new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto, nurturing a new American dream fueled by the war on drugs. Narco Cultura looks at this explosive phenomenon from within, exposing cycles of addiction to money, drugs, and violence that are rapidly gaining strength on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Get Out (2026)
A nightclub owner is on the verge of leaving his dangerous past behind for retirement with his girlfriend. When masked gunmen rob him and he finds himself squeezed by ruthless cartels, a mysterious newcomer arrives with an interest in buying the business. With danger closing in from all sides, he must navigate a deadly web of deception, power, and survival - where escape may no longer be an option.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKillerman (2019)
A New York City money launderer desperately searches for answers after waking up with no memory, millions in stolen cash and drugs, and an insane crew of dirty cops violently hunting him down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRambo: Last Blood (2019)
After fighting his demons for decades, John Rambo now lives in peace on his family ranch in Arizona, but his rest is interrupted when Gabriela, the granddaughter of his housekeeper María, disappears after crossing the border into Mexico to meet her biological father. Rambo, who has become a true father figure for Gabriela over the years, undertakes a desperate and dangerous journey to find her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPulp Fiction (1994)
A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNo Country for Old Men (2007)
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBangkok Dangerous (2000)
Kong, a deaf-mute, lives a life of quiet desperation working for Bangkok mobsters. Despite his disability, Kong's mentor Joe trains him to be a stone-cold assassin. After a brutal hit abroad, Kong returns to Bangkok and falls in love with young pharmacy clerk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisHot Tamale (2006)
A road trip to Los Angeles inadvertently leads a young man from Wyoming into a wild maze of psychotic hit-men, racy women, jewel thieves and a salsa band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Unleashed (2005)
Raised as a slave, Danny is used to fighting for his survival. In fact, his "master," Bart, thinks of him as a pet and goes as far as leashing him with a collar so they can make money in fight clubs, where Danny is the main contender. When Bart's crew is in a car accident, Danny escapes and meets a blind, kindhearted piano tuner who takes him in and uses music to free the fighter's long-buried heart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShadowboxer (2005)
Mikey and Rose are professional assassins. They are also lovers, and once upon a time Rose also knew Mikey's father. During an elaborate hit job for a malicious gangster, Rose fails to kill the main target, the gangster's pregnant girlfriend. Instead, she delivers her baby and convinces Mikey to help her protect them both. As Rose weakens from cancer, Mikey becomes breadwinner for this unusual family. But tranquility will not last.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Replacement Killers (1998)
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill Boksoon (2023)
At work, she's a renowned assassin. At home, she's a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That's easy. It's parenting that's the hard part.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode of Silence (1985)
A Chicago cop is caught in the middle of a gang war while his own comrades shun him because he wants to take an irresponsible cop down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAngel of Death (2009)
A career assassin becomes haunted by one of her victims following a near fatal injury to her brain. Becoming a rogue assassin settling the score with her former mob employers, chaos and power struggles ensue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisTrespass (1992)
Two Arkansas firemen, Vince and Don, get hold of a map that leads to a cache of stolen gold in an abandoned factory in East St. Louis. What they don't know is that the factory is on the turf of a local gang, who come by to execute one of their enemies. Vince sees the shooting, the gang spots Vince, and extended mayhem ensues. As Vince and Don try to escape, gang leader King James argues with his subordinate Savon about how to get rid of the trespassers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like American Sicario and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like American Sicario?
The closest matches to American Sicario are Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), We Die Young (2019) and Blowback (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after American Sicario?
Start with Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), the closest match to American Sicario.
What is the highest-rated movie like American Sicario?
Pulp Fiction (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 31,312 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like American Sicario?
The Get Out (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like American Sicario?
Yes: Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), We Die Young (2019) and Blowback (2022).
How are movies similar to American Sicario chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside American Sicario, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.