Movies like El Mariachi (1993)
The best movies like El Mariachi (1993) are Desperado (1995), Misdirection (2026) and Facing El Chapo (2026). If El Mariachi hooked you with its action and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFacing El Chapo (2026)8.7/10 from 987 votes
- NewestFacing El Chapo (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishFacing El Chapo (2026)Also in Spanish
Desperado (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 thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMisdirection (2026)
A desperate couple have pulled off a string of high-end break-ins to pay off a mob debt. When they attempt to rob their latest victim, they find themselves caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The tables are turned and the hunters become the hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFacing El Chapo (2026)
Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHellhound (2024)
Ready to leave his profession behind, Loreno, an assassin, lends help to an old friend, Cetan, and taking one last job in Thailand seeking out a local kingpin. A lapse in judgment means Loreno crosses paths with old colleague Paul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThieves Highway (2025)
After discovering a plot to haul stolen cattle in the middle of nowhere, a desperate and isolated lawman becomes the only thing standing between a group of dangerous rustlers and a clear run to the border.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Virtuoso (2021)
Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies 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 System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Matador (2005)
The life of Danny Wright, a salesman forever on the road, veers into dangerous and surreal territory when he wanders into a Mexican bar and meets a mysterious stranger, Julian, who's very likely a hit man. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will change their lives forever, as Wright is suddenly thrust into a far-from-mundane existence that he takes to surprisingly well … once he gets acclimated to it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrap House (2025)
An undercover DEA agent and his partner embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious, and surprising group of thieves – their own rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their parents' tactics and top-secret intel to do it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Sands (1992)
A small southwestern town sheriff finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Last Days of American Crime (2020)
In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to crime and terrorism, the U.S. government plans to broadcast a signal that will make it impossible for anyone to knowingly break the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShade (2003)
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Too Deep (1999)
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe International (2009)
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTouch of Evil (1958)
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCounterattack (2025)
When a hostage rescue mission creates a new enemy, Capt. Guerrero and his elite soldiers must face an ambush by a criminal group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWho Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisHis Kind of Woman (1951)
Career gambler Dan Milner agrees to a $50,000 deal to leave the USA for Mexico, only to find himself entangled with fellow guests at a luxurious resort and suspecting that the man who hired him may be the deported crime boss Nick Ferraro aiming to re-enter to the USA.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashback (1990)
A hippie radical, Huey Walker has been a fugitive for decades, accused of a crime that he may not have committed. Finally apprehended, Walker is escorted to trial by uptight 20-something FBI agent John Buckner. While the two seem to be polar opposites, it turns out that Buckner may have more in common with Walker than is initially apparent, a point that is driven home when the pair faces off against a sinister small-town sheriff.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Assignment (1997)
Jack Shaw has experienced the terror first-hand. He's a top CIA agent who's tracked international killer-for-hire Carlos "The Jackal" Sanchez for over twenty years and barely survived Carlos' devastating bombing of a Parisian cafe. Now, he finally gets a break when he discovers Carlos' dead ringer: American naval officer and dedicated family man Annibal Ramirez.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVictim (1961)
In early 1960s London, barrister Melville Farr is on the path to success. With his practice winning cases and a loving marriage to his wife, Laura, Farr's professional and personal life are nearly idyllic. However, when blackmailers link Farr to a young gay man, everything Farr's worked for is threatened.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOdd Man Out (1947)
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like this6ixtynin9 (1999)
A woman, fired from a financial corporation during the Asia crisis, returns home with no money. However, she finds a box with a fortune in front of her door, and decides to keep it. However, the people that left it there soon want it back.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFair Game (1986)
A young woman running a wildlife sanctuary in the Australian outback is in for trouble when she is confronted by three kangaroo hunters. Bored with killing kangaroos, they decide to kill the animals in the sanctuary, and when they see how attractive the owner is, they decide to have a little "fun" with her, too. Turns out that they may get a bit more "fun" than they bargained for.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisJawbreaker (1999)
When an exclusive clique of teenage socialites accidentally murder their best friend on the morning of her birthday, the three girls responsible conspire to hide the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwin Dragons (1992)
Identical twins are separated at birth, one becoming a streetwise mechanic, and the other an acclaimed classical concert conductor. Finally meeting in adulthood, they're mistaken for the other and entangled in each other's worlds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Company (2002)
When a Harvard-educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the secret agency recruits his twin brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Theta Girl (2017)
Gayce, a take-no-shit young woman, deals a hallucinogenic drug called "theta," facilitating an audience for her friends' all-girl rock band. When Gayce's friends are brutally murdered, she must solve the mystery behind the murders and protect herself from the killer. She discovers the connections between theta and the murders - and learns a terrifying truth. That the world -- indeed her whole reality -- is not as it seems.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
The Girl from Rio (1969)
Sumuru, the beautiful leader of the all-female kingdom of Femina, plans to use her women to take over the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Mariachi?
The closest matches to El Mariachi are Desperado (1995), Misdirection (2026) and Facing El Chapo (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Mariachi?
Start with Desperado (1995), the closest match to El Mariachi.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Mariachi?
Facing El Chapo (2026), rated 8.7/10 by 987 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Mariachi?
Facing El Chapo (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like El Mariachi?
Yes: Facing El Chapo (2026) and Counterattack (2025).
How are movies similar to El Mariachi chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Mariachi, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.