Best movies like Devil's Knot
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: bleak, factual, intense, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film, rough, gothic, dark
Best tv shows and movies like Devil's Knot (2013):
Similar in 84%
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
Plot Summary:
A visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, whom he befriends.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, southern gothic, suspense, enigmatic, intense, serious, realistic, gothic, suspenseful, crime thriller
Similar in 81%
Carolina Skeletons (1991)
Plot Summary:
After a long time in the army, an Afro-American soldier returns to his hometown, where, years ago, his brother was executed for the rape and murder of two white girls. The commando believes his brother to have been innocent and seeks a proof for that, but there are some people in the town who will stop at nothing to hide the secrets of their past.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 457
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Interrogation of Michael Crowe (2002)
Plot Summary:
The lives of Escondido, California residents Cheryl and Stephen Crowe change one morning when they find their twelve year old daughter Stephanie Crowe stabbed to death in her bedroom. As procedure dictates, the police take each member of the household away individually to be questioned, and the remaining children - fourteen year old Michael Crowe and adolescent Shannon Crowe - are taken into protective custody until Cheryl and Stephen can be cleared. The police end up placing much of their focus on the sullen Michael, who they question without counsel and without discussion with his parents. The tone of the police questioning is that they believe Michael did kill his sister, the police lying, harassing and coercing in the process. Under the barrage of questioning, Michael eventually confesses, as do two of his friends, both questioned under the same threatening tone. Cheryl and Stephen, who are finally made aware of the questioning and the confessions.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, rough, serious, sincere, thought provoking, emotional, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Criminal Law (1988)
Plot Summary:
A rising young attorney successfully defends a man accused of murder, only to have the same type of murder then happen again. Right away the previously defended man hires the attorney again, and although the attorney is quite certain that he is the killer, he agrees to again defend him... much to the consternation of his friends. However, he explains that by being his attorney he will be better able to catch the man in a mistake... and on this the rest of the film develops, with the killer playing a cat and mouse game with the attorney until, at last, they both must recognize that they are not all that different.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, neo noir, suspense, tense, bleak, serious, realistic, crying, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Executioner's Song (1982)
Plot Summary:
In this fact-based film, Gary Gilmore, an Indiana man who just finished serving a lengthy stay in prison, tries to start anew by moving to Utah. Before long, Gary begins an ill-advised romance with the troubled Nicole Baker, a teenage single mother. As their relationship quickly deteriorates, Gary goes on a murderous rampage, leaving two dead. During his trial, he demands capital punishment; a media circus ensues and outsiders look to profit from his story.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
Similar in 78%
Under Suspicion (2000)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes", they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is away from his speech become longer and longer.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, suspense, talky, tense, detective, enigmatic, twist ending, bleak, serious
Similar in 90%
High Crimes (2002)
Plot Summary:
A female attorney learns that her husband is really a marine officer awol for fifteen years and accused of murdering fifteen civilians in El Salvador. Believing her husband when he tells her that he's being framed as part of a U.S. Military cover-up, the attorney defends him in a military court.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: clever, suspenseful, suspense, twist ending, serious, surprise ending, tense, realistic, detective, psychological
Similar in 81%
The Chamber (1996)
Plot Summary:
Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi prison which has held him since the crime. The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, thought provoking, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, talky, anamorphic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
The Onion Field (1979)
Plot Summary:
Greg Powell, a disturbed ex-con, recruits Jimmy Youngblood (Smith) a petty thief, as partner in crime. Powell panics when they two of are pulled over by two cops for tail lights. Powell decides to kidnap the cops and Smith goes along with his crazy scheme. They drive out to a deserted onion field in Bakersfield, where one cop is killed and the other escapes. The film explores the consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, psychological, realistic, rough, serious, disturbing, detective, bleak, emotional
Similar in 86%
When They See Us (2019)
Plot Summary:
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.
IMDB Rating: 8.9
IMDB Votes: 134000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 296 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, detective, atmospheric, intellectual, epic, political, social, educational, anthology
Similar in 79%
The Hunt for the BTK Killer (2005)
Plot Summary:
After 31 years at-large, detectives in Wichita, Kansas hone in on the serial killer known as BTK.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, detective, suspense, creepy
Similar in 78%
Rampage (1987)
Plot Summary:
Rampage delves into the subject of legal insanity, so often the default defense in modern-time gruesome crime trials. Alex McArthur plays an outwardly normal guy who goes on incredible killing and mutilating sprees until (and even after, when he escapes for a short time) he's captured. When he comes to trial, the liberal DA (Michael Biehn) is torn between his own leftist leanings and the reality of the heinous crimes for which the accused is being tried. He must argue for the death penalty.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: christmas horror, cult classic, action thriller, independent film, psychological, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
No One Killed Jessica (2011)
Plot Summary:
A reporter teams up with the sister of a murdered model in order to bring her case justice.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: India
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, suspenseful, serious, psychological thriller, motivational, entertaining, dark, suspense thriller, social message
Similar in 80%
To Catch a Killer (1992)
Plot Summary:
"To Catch a Killer" tells the true gruesome story of John Wayne Gacy - a good friend and helpful neighbour, a great child entertainer, a respectful businessman, and a violent serial killer who raped and murdered over 30 young boys.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 182 min
Plot tags: scary, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 88%
Changeling (2008)
Plot Summary:
Christine Collins is overjoyed when her kidnapped son is brought back home. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, the police captain has her committed to an asylum.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 263000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: psychological, heartbreaking, sentimental, tense, bleak, disturbing, touching, suspense, detective, emotional
Similar in 77%
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 251000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, captivating, suspense, psychological, tense, suspenseful, enigmatic, twisted, entertaining
Similar in 85%
Red Corner (1997)
Plot Summary:
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, political, intense, psychological, thought provoking, serious, disturbing, rough, talky
Similar in 76%
Suspect (1987)
Plot Summary:
When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide and his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson (Liam Neeson), a homeless veteran who's deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley (Cher) is assigned to his case, she begins to believe that Anderson may actually be innocent. Juror Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid), a Washington lobbyist, agrees, and together the pair begins their own investigation of events.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, tense, psychological, intense, talky, clever, exciting, enigmatic, surprise ending
Similar in 75%
A Time to Kill (1996)
Plot Summary:
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, sincere, suspense, serious, political, realistic, tense, brutal, intense, emotional
Similar in 75%
...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 89%
A Cry in the Dark (1988)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain: During a camping trip to Ayers Rock in outback Australia, she claims she witnessed a dingo taking her baby daughter, Azaria, from the family tent. Azaria's body is never found. After investigations and two public inquests, she is charged with murder. The case attracts a lot of attention, turning it into a media sideshow.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Australia, UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, disturbing, tense, emotional, suspense, thought provoking, serious, sincere, sad, compassionate
Similar in 75%
Just Mercy (2019)
Plot Summary:
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, touching, inspirational, enigmatic, motivational, emotional, educational
Similar in 90%
Conviction (2010)
Plot Summary:
When Betty Anne Waters' older brother Kenny is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice, Betty Anne pores through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor, meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny's arrest. Belief in her brother - and her quest for the truth - pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Switzerland, UK, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, inspirational, sad, thought provoking, disturbing, intense, motivational, entertaining
Similar in 78%
The Riverman (2004)
Plot Summary:
A series of interviews are conducted with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in hopes of gaining insight into the Green River Killer who is terrorizing Seattle.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, mystical, detective, realistic, suspense
Similar in 81%
The Frozen Ground (2013)
Plot Summary:
An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, disturbing, suspenseful, factual, atmospheric, detective, intense, serious, enigmatic
Similar in 88%
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, rough, bleak, suspenseful, psychological thriller, brutal, dark, crime drama, action thriller
Similar in 87%
The Gray Man (2007)
Plot Summary:
Early 20th century. Albert Fish, a seemingly benevolent father and grandfather who reared his family by himself after his wife deserted them, turns out to be a serial child molester and murderer. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Zodiac (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the investigation of the "Zodiac Killer", a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 584000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: suspense, atmospheric, tense, neo noir, stylized, twist ending, suspenseful, psychological, rough, detective
Similar in 81%
Primal Fear (1996)
Plot Summary:
An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a 3rd person in the room. The intensity builds when a surprise twist alters everyone's perception of the crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 241000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, neo noir, suspense, tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, clever, atmospheric
Similar in 81%
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Plot Summary:
When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they are about to solve the case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 285000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: twist ending, detective, thought provoking, neo noir, surprise ending, suspense, disturbing, psychological, suspenseful, tense