Best movies like Charlie
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Set in Post World War II Britain, chronicles the rise and fall of real life British crime lord Charlie Richardson.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 755
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, disturbing, bleak, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Charlie (2004):
Similar in 87%
Ring of Death (2008)
Plot Summary:
On the inside, there are no rules. See what happens when Prison Officials Profit from Illegal fights.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 81%
Two Coyotes (2001)
Plot Summary:
A drug runner takes over a lucrative drug business only to find his new found empire crumble when a deal goes bad.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 64
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crime drama, surprise ending, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Big I Am (2010)
Plot Summary:
A cruel twist of fate catapults small time crook Mickey Skinner into the big league, as head of a brutal London gang poised on the brink of a lucrative human-trafficking deal.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, neo noir
Similar in 83%
Shooters (2002)
Plot Summary:
Gilly comes out of prison after serving a six year stretch and decides that he will now turn his life around and go straight. But when he returns to his South London home and visits his old colleague J, in hope of obtaining his share of the proceeds from the job that landed him inside, J soon talks him into getting involved in one last scam.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Netherlands, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, tense, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 84%
L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve (2001)
Plot Summary:
LA's finest have crossed the line between Cop and Criminal.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 531
Genere: Crime, Drama, Action
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, suspenseful, serious, realistic, fast
Similar in 85%
Dillinger and Capone (1995)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, J. Edgar Hoover and the boys made headlines for mowing down John Dillinger in a hail of bullets outside Chicago's Biograph theater. But in fact, according to this Jon Purdy gangster thriller, the Feds iced Dillinger's brother. Fast-forward five years, when mobster kingpin Al Capone (F. Murray Abraham) gives the real Dillinger (Martin Sheen) an offer he can't refuse: rob millions from a secluded vault or watch his wife and child get whacked.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 680
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 90%
Con Games (2001)
Plot Summary:
A decorated Army veteran goes undercover as a prison inmate to investigate the death of a Senator's grandson, who was killed while behind bars. Once under lock and key, he finds himself at the mercy of an all-powerful guard whose deadly influence reaches far beyond the prison walls. His only chance for freedom now is to escape ... or die.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 388
Genere: Action
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspense, tense
Similar in 90%
Animal 2 (2008)
Plot Summary:
Now serving a life sentence for murder, James "Animal" Allen returns to fighting for cash in order to help his troubled son on the outside. However, with his newfound fame as a fighter, Animal uncovers a jailhouse conspiracy that threatens to cause racial tensions to explode.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, hood, crime drama
Similar in 83%
Extreme Honor (2001)
Plot Summary:
A highly decorated Navy Seal is forced out of retirement in order to save his son's life and bring justice to the man who destroyed his career.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 237
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 86%
Doing Hard Time (2004)
Plot Summary:
A father's eight year old son is murdered in a gangland shooting. The father (Boris Kodjoe) gets himself thrown into prison to avenge his son's death.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, hood, crime drama
Similar in 78%
The Wee Man (2013)
Plot Summary:
The true life story of the rise to power of Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough, bleak, captivating, cult film
Similar in 79%
Inside (1996)
Plot Summary:
An emotional and thrilling tale of life and death behind the walls of a maximum security prison. From the acclaimed director of 'Bonnie and Clyde', and featuring a powerful international cast.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 81%
Face (1997)
Plot Summary:
Ray is an aging ex-socialist who has become a bankrobber after seeing the demise of socialism in 1980s Britain. Teaming up with a gang of other has-beenish crims, he commits one bank job too many. The gang dissolves in a murderous flurry of recriminations.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: political, independent film, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
Citizen Verdict (2003)
Plot Summary:
Marty Rockman, the notorious producer of the hit reality-TV show "So Sue Me", has a brand new concept: "Citizen Verdict". Each week a real criminal case will be tried before the American people, but this time they're also the jury. If the defendant is voted guilty in a death penalty case, Rockman will televise the execution. When an escalation in violent crime and terrorism hits the state of Florida, Governor Tyler, desperate to be seen as a tough-on-crime Republican leader in the upcoming Presidential race, decides to give Rockman his chance and "Citizen Verdict" goes into production in Tampa. Selected by phone-in vote, the show's first contestant is Ricky Carr -- a man accused of the rape and murder of popular celebrity-chef Dolly Hamilton. The case is a surefire ratings winner. But when an investigation begins, it becomes apparent that Ricky may be innocent of murder.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, clever, cynical, biting, suspense
Similar in 75%
Mafioso: The Father The Son (2001)
Plot Summary:
When the head of a mafia clan is perceived to be weakening, his family suffers a series of attacks. It is up to his son, Frankie, to figure out who’s behind the plot before they are all wiped out.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 270
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense
Similar in 78%
McVicar (1980)
Plot Summary:
John McVicar was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, independent film, cult film
Similar in 82%
Consignment (2007)
Plot Summary:
Consignment is the authentic and brutal story of an East Coast drug dealer forced to flee to California only to realize state lines don't erase past sins.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 90%
The Crew (2008)
Plot Summary:
Hoping to raise enough capital to finance a legitimate business and leave behind his life of crime, Liverpool underworld boss Ged Brennan sends his brother Ratter and a crew to pull a daring final heist. But when Ratter kills a drug kingpin during the job, Brennan must turn to rival crook Franner to avert an all-out gangland war.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, crime drama
Similar in 77%
Bonded by Blood (2010)
Plot Summary:
In 1995, drug suppliers and career criminals Tony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe were blasted to death by a shot gun whilst waiting in a Range Rover in Rettendon, Essex. The film charts their rise to become the most prolific dealers and feared criminals in the south of England, maintaining the hold on their empire with fear and violence until their untimely death.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 87%
Witness to the Mob (1998)
Plot Summary:
Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano was mafiosi. He started out as a soldier, but his talent for murder, including the slayings of his best friends, his wife's brother and his own boss, Paul Castellano, saw him rise to under-boss in the Gambino crime family. However, betrayals within the family saw him break the code of silence and became the highest ranking member of the mob to turn into a rat - 'a rat in a suit,- assisting the government to finally put away the Teflon Don, John Gotti.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: cult classic, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Hell's Kitchen (1998)
Plot Summary:
When a robbery goes awry, the bandits all end up in a puddle of blood and only one lives and goes to jail for five years. Upon his release, the girlfriend wants her new boyfriend to kill him. Only trouble is the boyfriend knows that the fault was not the ex-con's and can't bring himself to do the task. Meanwhile, the ex-con tries to turn his life around by becoming a boxer and training under a former heavyweight contender.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, disturbing, independent film, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Winner Takes All (1998)
Plot Summary:
Two rapper childhood friends turn to the quick and easy life of crime to support their needy parents. But after a foiled robbery, one of them is jailed while the other flees, changes his name, joins the military, and grows up to become a narcotics agent.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Snitch'd (2003)
Plot Summary:
When the South Side Gang and the Cut Throat Mafia start a drug war at a local high school in Santa Ana, CA, detective McClure goes undercover to investigate the brutal murder of a young Latina student. The gang members are the key suspects but nobody is talking. And as McClure continues to dig for answers, it becomes clear that the two gangs are fighting for territory - and nobody is getting in their way.
IMDB Rating: 2.1
IMDB Votes: 205
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, bleak
Similar in 77%
State Property (2002)
Plot Summary:
Frustrated with being broke, Beans decides that the only way to grasp the American Dream is to take it.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Crime, Action
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic
Similar in 81%
Hot Boyz (2000)
Plot Summary:
Injustice begets a criminal. Kool is an artist without prospects, a black belt in karate, and in love with LaShawna, poised and college bound. One night she witnesses a stabbing and discovers the victim is a cop as he dies in her arms. She's jailed for murder by the infamous Ramparts Division of the LAPD. Kool wants to prove her innocence, and Tully, the cynical detective in charge, ignores LaShawna's case but uses Kool to break up an incipient crime operation. She's in danger because the guilty parties fear that the officer talked before he died. While in jail awaiting a hearing and legal help, she's beaten to death by a rogue cop. Kool vows revenge: the Hot Boyz are born.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: hood, realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious, crime drama, independent film, bleak
Similar in 80%
State Property: Blood on the Streets (2005)
Plot Summary:
Three gangsters vie for control of the streets of Philadelphia.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Musical, Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: hood, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, rough
Similar in 82%
Baseline (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Baseline is the centre of the East London grime club scene and the queue regularly stretches around the block. Danny works on the door - breaking up fights and managing drunk kids. However, when he rescues Terry, the club owner and local gang leader, from a hitman, Danny is suddenly plunged deep into an underworld he had tried so hard to avoid. Danny is promoted to manager, but only on the condition that he turns a blind eye to the shady goings on both on and off the dance-floor. Danny and his girlfriend Jessica dream of setting up their own club, but Danny is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice when he has to choose between loyalty, morality and his own dreams of escape.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 647
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, captivating, exciting, tense, rough, realistic
Similar in 78%
Adulthood (2008)
Plot Summary:
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, serious, realistic, cult classic, gloomy, bleak
Similar in 85%
The Escapist (2002)
Plot Summary:
Denis Hopkins, a pilot, lives with his pregnant wife Valerie and has a comfortable lifestyle. When a gang of criminals led by the sadistic Ricky Barnes breaks into his home, he offers whatever the criminals want to protect his wife and unborn child, but the evil Ricky kills Valerie anyway. Their baby is saved, and later Barnes is arrested and sentenced to life in the maximum security prison, Sullen Voe. Denis fakes his own suicide, then assaults a police car in order to get himself arrested and sent to prison with the intention of tracking down and killing Ricky Barnes. He does not reveal his true name and is called John "What" by the prisoners and guards. Denis escapes from successive prisons, forcing his eventual transfer to Sullen Voe. When he reaches his objective, Ricky Barnes schedules a confrontation, but things do not quite turn out the way Denis had expected.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, rough
Similar in 85%
Purgatory (1988)
Plot Summary:
Two Peace Corps volunteers in Africa are framed and put into an oppressive women's prison.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 363
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychotronic, grindhouse