Best movies like Serpico
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop against a corrupt system.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 132000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, realistic, neo noir, psychological, rough, clever, political, detective, grim
Best tv shows and movies like Serpico (1973):
Similar in 80%
The Yards (2000)
Plot Summary:
In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, bleak, neo noir, emotional, talky, intense, rough, realistic, atmospheric, psychological
Similar in 81%
Pride and Glory (2008)
Plot Summary:
A saga centered on a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney, investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, intense, detective, serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, dark, psychological
Similar in 79%
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspenseful, thought provoking, clever, captivating, disturbing, spiritual, neo noir, emotional
Similar in 89%
Prince of the City (1981)
Plot Summary:
New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice help 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.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 167 min
Plot tags: tense, neo noir, detective, bleak, realistic, epic, political, crime drama, grim, sincere
Similar in 84%
The French Connection (1971)
Plot Summary:
Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 133000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: detective, neo noir, atmospheric, tense, realistic, breathtaking, cerebral, grim, crime drama, exciting
Similar in 83%
City Hall (1996)
Plot Summary:
The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspense, thought provoking, realistic, talky, neo noir, inspirational, cult classic, serious
Similar in 79%
Q & A (1990)
Plot Summary:
A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuse to help him.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: talky, intense, neo noir, rough, suspenseful, tense, serious, realistic, detective, retro
Similar in 79%
The Iceman (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, brutal, stylized, suspense, intense, realistic, rough, serious, factual
Similar in 82%
Dark Blue (2002)
Plot Summary:
Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Germany
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, detective, harsh, intense, stylized, serious, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
Plot Summary:
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, suspense, neo noir, hood, depressing, stylized, detective, bleak, rough
Similar in 80%
Cop Land (1997)
Plot Summary:
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 104000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, neo noir, talky, intense, realistic, serious, suspense, crime thriller, detective, sexy
Similar in 81%
Internal Affairs (1990)
Plot Summary:
Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck is involved in any number of dubious or downright criminal activities. He is also devious, a womaniser, and a clever manipulator, and he starts to turn his attention on Avila.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, neo noir, suspenseful, erotic, atmospheric, intense, clever, brutal, rough
Similar in 86%
The Infiltrator (2016)
Plot Summary:
A U.S Customs official uncovers a massive money laundering scheme involving Pablo Escobar.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, realistic, dramatic, factual, clever, political, detective, novela, action adventure
Similar in 80%
Night Falls on Manhattan (1996)
Plot Summary:
A newly elected District attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: suspense, talky, serious, realistic, neo noir, suspense thriller, tense, bleak, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 81%
...and justice for all. (1979)
Plot Summary:
An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is asked to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial. But if he doesn't do it, the judge will have him disbarred.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, disturbing, clever, offbeat, humorous, witty, cynical, captivating, inspirational
Similar in 79%
Veronica Guerin (2003)
Plot Summary:
In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin decides to take on and expose those responsible. Beginning at the bottom with addicts, Guerin then gets in touch with John Traynor, a paranoid informant. Not without some prodding, Traynor leads her to John Gilligan, the ruthless head of the operation, who does not take kindly to Guerin's nosing.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Ireland, UK, USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, tense, rough, thought provoking, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, serious, political
Similar in 84%
Midnight Express (1978)
Plot Summary:
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish 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".
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, suspense, depressing, psychological, serious, tense, controversial, grim, bleak
Similar in 83%
Hoffa (1992)
Plot Summary:
Jack Nicholson's portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro (Danny DeVito). The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt all the way to a conclusion that negates the theory that he disappeared in 1975.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, factual, intense, serious, suspenseful, atmospheric, realistic, political, sad
Similar in 85%
Training Day (2001)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 463000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, realistic, harsh, suspense, hood, detective, crime thriller, psychological, clever
Similar in 80%
Carlito's Way (1993)
Plot Summary:
A Puerto-Rican ex-con, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of NYC.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 229000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, melancholic, intense, rough, bleak, serious
Similar in 86%
Black Mass (2015)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 190000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, factual, brutal, intense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, serious, independent film, stylized
Similar in 83%
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Plot Summary:
An FBI undercover agent infilitrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 326000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, realistic, clever, suspense, serious, suspenseful, rough, talky, atmospheric
Similar in 89%
Goodfellas (1990)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: rough, suspense, realistic, epic, brutal, cult classic, hood, suspenseful, neo noir, fast paced
Similar in 88%
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Plot Summary:
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 607000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: neo noir, captivating, tense, noir, suspense, atmospheric, clever, suspenseful, detective, serious
Similar in 78%
Scarface (1983)
Plot Summary:
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 896000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 170 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, rough, cult classic, suspense, brutal, harsh, psychological, suspenseful, hood
Similar in 86%
American Gangster (2007)
Plot Summary:
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 446000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, realistic, suspense, harsh, hood, clever, detective, suspenseful, entertaining
Similar in 80%
The Wire (2002)
Plot Summary:
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
IMDB Rating: 9.3
IMDB Votes: 367000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 59 min
Plot tags: clever, tense, cynical, detective, serious, rough, captivating, dramatic, suspenseful, exciting
Similar in 75%
The Irishman (2019)
Plot Summary:
A mob hit man recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 421000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 209 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, tense, inspirational, crime drama, thought provoking, retro, intellectual, suspense, sad
Similar in 88%
The Departed (2006)
Plot Summary:
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Hong Kong
Duration: 151 min
Plot tags: twist ending, suspense, surprise ending, clever, tense, captivating, serious, neo noir, psychological, mind bending
Similar in 89%
The Godfather (1972)
Plot Summary:
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
IMDB Rating: 9.2
IMDB Votes: 20000000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: serious, epic, atmospheric, dramatic, captivating, rough, realistic, family saga, entertaining, breathtaking