Movies like Caught in the Act (2021)
The best movies like Caught in the Act (2021) are Better Luck Tomorrow (2003), The Perfect Score (2004) and Prince of the City (1981). If Caught in the Act hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Perfect World (1993)7.5/10 from 1,976 votes
- NewestThe Social Reckoning (2026)Released 2026
Better Luck Tomorrow (2003)
A group of over-achieving Asian-American high school seniors enjoy a power trip when they dip into extra-curricular criminal activities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Perfect Score (2004)
Six high school seniors decide to break into the Princeton Testing Center so they can steal the answers to their upcoming SAT tests and all get perfect scores.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPrince of the City (1981)
New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKansas City (1996)
A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolice Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
Officer Carey Mahoney and his cohorts have finally graduated from the Police Academy and are about to hit the streets on their first assignment. Question is, are they ready to do battle with a band of graffiti-tagging terrorists? Time will tell, but don't sell short this cheerful band of doltish boys in blue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRobin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Set in Prohibition era Chicago, bootlegger Robbo and his cronies refuse to pay the greedy Guy Gisborne a cut of their profits after Guy shoots mob boss Big Jim and takes over. When Big Jim's daughter, Marian, gives Robbo a large sum, believing he has avenged her father's death, the gangster donates to an orphanage, cementing his reputation as a softhearted hood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Perfect World (1993)
A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKindergarten Cop (1990)
Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Natural (1984)
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney (2003)
Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBilly Jack (1971)
A Euro-Indigenous American Ex-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert "freedom school" for runaways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDick Tracy (1990)
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSo Undercover (2012)
When the FBI hires her to go undercover at a college sorority, Molly Morris must transform herself from a tough, streetwise private investigator to a refined, sophisticated university girl to help protect the daughter of a one-time Mobster. With several suspects on her list, Molly unexpectedly discovers that not everyone is who they appear to be, including herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArmageddon Time (2022)
In 1980, Queens, New York, a young Jewish boy befriends a rebellious African-American classmate to the disapproval of his privileged family and begins to reckon with growing up in a world of inequality and prejudice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather Hood (1993)
Deadbeat dad kidnaps his kids from the bus to an abusive foster home and they go on a run. The cops are after them, they bicker constantly and his idea of a way out is grim, yet this dangerous ride might just turn them into a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBoomerang! (1947)
When a kindly priest is murdered while waiting at a street corner in a quiet Connecticut town, the citizens are horrified and demand action from the police. All of the witnesses identify John Waldron, a nervous out-of-towner, as the killer. District Attorney Henry Harvey is then put on the case and faces political opposition in his attempt to prove Waldron's innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPremium Rush (2012)
In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Social Reckoning (2026)
Frances Haugen, a young Facebook engineer, enlists the help of Jeff Horwitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to go on a dangerous journey that ends up blowing the whistle on the social network's most guarded secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity Hall (1996)
The accidental shooting of a boy in New York City leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO (2001)
Even though he's the only black student at the elite Palmetto Grove Academy, star basketball player Odin James has the adoration of all, including the team's coach and the Dean's beautiful daughter Desi. Odin's troubled friend Hugo, the coach's son, deeply resentful of his father's preference of Odin on and off the court, plots a diabolical scheme to sow the seed of mistrust between O and Desi, setting in motion a disturbing chain of events which erupts into a firestorm of breathtaking intensity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisProblem Child (1990)
Ben Healy and his social climbing wife Flo adopt fun-loving seven year old Junior. But they soon discover he's a little monster as he turns a camping trip, a birthday party and even a baseball game into comic nightmares.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Next Karate Kid (1994)
Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSave the Green Planet! (2003)
A young man believes that his country's leaders are actually toxic reptilian aliens sent down to launch a takeover of his beloved Earth. So he decides to abduct them and force the truth out on camera in his basement that doubles as a film studio and torture chamber.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNever Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPiggy (2022)
A bullied overweight teenager sees a glimpse of hope when her tormentors are brutally abducted by a mesmerizing stranger.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
A demonic force has chosen Freddy Krueger as its portal to the real world. Can Heather Langenkamp play the part of Nancy one last time and trap the evil trying to enter our world?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuzhou River (2000)
After getting out of prison, small-time crook Mardar stumbles upon a woman who looks exactly like his long-lost lover, who he attempted to kidnap 3 years ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Caught in the Act?
The closest matches to Caught in the Act are Better Luck Tomorrow (2003), The Perfect Score (2004) and Prince of the City (1981). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Caught in the Act?
Start with Better Luck Tomorrow (2003), the closest match to Caught in the Act.
What is the highest-rated movie like Caught in the Act?
A Perfect World (1993), rated 7.5/10 by 1,976 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Caught in the Act?
The Social Reckoning (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Caught in the Act chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Caught in the Act, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.