Best movies like Felon
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: brutal, realistic, tense, emotional, serious, sincere, social, grindhouse, cerebral, rough
Best tv shows and movies like Felon (2008):
Similar in 76%
Force of Execution (2013)
Plot Summary:
Seagal stars as mob kingpin Mr. Alexander, an old-school boss who rules his criminal empire with both nobility and brutality. For a simple prison hit, he sends his best enforcer and protégé Roman Hurst (Foster). When the hit goes wrong, Hurst is forced to pay the price of his failure: banishment in the city that he almost once ruled. But a war is brewing for the soul of the city between Alexander, a cold-blooded gangster known as 'The Iceman" (Rhames) and a merciless Mexican cartel. Hurst, with the help of an ex-con restaurant owner (Trejo) who has a few hidden moves of his own, will rediscover his own will to survive the coming conflict and to wreak vengeance on those who have wronged him.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense, independent film
Similar in 81%
Today You Die (2005)
Plot Summary:
A former thief who is trying to go straight seeks vengeance on those who framed him.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, suspense, fast
Similar in 75%
Death Warrant (1990)
Plot Summary:
The Canadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate in some murders of prisoners and jailors. When in jail, Lois, using his outstandings martial arts is able to save his life and make himself respected in that violent world. At least, helped by two another prisoners, he succeded in finding the truth about the dreadful crimes.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: detective, exciting, rough, suspenseful, suspense, action packed, tense, captivating, perverse, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Civil Brand (2002)
Plot Summary:
Forced to work under slave-like conditions in a "prison for profit" program, the inmates of a mostly-African-American female prison, Whitehead Correctional, try to take over the institution. At the core of the story is Frances, who finds herself in prison after being falsely convicted of murder, and who is told that her baby has been murdered, sparking her to lead her fellow inmates in the protest.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 790
Genere: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, bleak, disturbing, thought provoking, serious, realistic, suspenseful, hood, independent film
Similar in 86%
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
Plot Summary:
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, rough, captivating, realistic, cerebral, sincere
Similar in 86%
Get the Gringo (2012)
Plot Summary:
A career criminal (Gibson) nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 111000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: intense, clever, brutal, entertaining, exciting, rough, suspenseful, witty, action packed, humorous
Similar in 88%
City of Industry (1997)
Plot Summary:
A retired thief swears revenge on the lunatic who murdered his brother and partner, while going on the run with the loot they stole.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspenseful, hood, perverse, independent film, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Undisputed (2002)
Plot Summary:
Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. WHen these two giants collide in the same prison, they fight against each other disputing who is the real champion.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Germany, Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, talky, stylized, intense, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Cell 211 (2009)
Plot Summary:
The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, France
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, psychological, intense, tricky, rough, bleak, clever, dramatic, realistic
Similar in 78%
In Hell (2003)
Plot Summary:
A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the warden's entertainment.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: harsh, brutal, emotional, stylized, intense, serious, realistic, exciting, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Starred Up (2013)
Plot Summary:
19-year-old Eric, arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father. As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past breaking point — Eric is approached by a volunteer psychotherapist, who runs an anger management group for prisoners. Torn between gang politics, prison corruption, and a glimmer of something better, Eric finds himself in a fight for his own life, unsure if his own father is there to protect him or join in punishing him.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, depressing, suspenseful, harsh, intense, captivating, rough, brutal
Similar in 88%
A Prophet (2009)
Plot Summary:
Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: harsh, tense, bleak, rough, atmospheric, political, dramatic, psychological, breathtaking, realistic
Similar in 90%
Empire (2002)
Plot Summary:
A big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top Victor soon finds out that he has been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: intense, suspense, melancholic, stylized, rough, serious, suspenseful, hood, tense, realistic
Similar in 77%
Street Fighters (1982)
Plot Summary:
New York City factory worker Eddie Marino (Robert Forster, Oscar nominee for JACKIE BROWN) is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. But when a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, Eddie goes berserk and vows revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: cult classic, grindhouse, psychotronic, hood, grim, action adventure, independent film, rough, bleak, serious
Similar in 87%
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
Plot Summary:
After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police, a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, tense, rough, psychological, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crime thriller
Similar in 88%
Lock Up (1989)
Plot Summary:
Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Drumgoole was assigned to a hell-hole prison after his administration was publicly humiliated by Leone, and has now arrived on the scene to ensure that Leone never sees the light of day.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 46000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, exciting, brutal, clever, cult classic
Similar in 76%
Oz (1997)
Plot Summary:
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorizes their mutual enemies.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, serious, talky, dramatic, controversial
Similar in 83%
King of New York (1990)
Plot Summary:
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, hood, tense, suspense, intense, serious, captivating, realistic, dark
Similar in 84%
The Raid 2 (2014)
Plot Summary:
After fighting his way through an apartment building populated by an army of dangerous criminals and escaping with his life, SWAT team member Rama goes undercover, joining a powerful Indonesian crime syndicate to protect his family and uncover corrupt members of his own force.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 130000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Indonesia, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: brutal, stylized, bloody, suspense, grindhouse, rough, exciting, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking
Similar in 90%
The Equalizer (2014)
Plot Summary:
In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 407000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, suspense, brutal, tense, stylized, suspenseful, captivating, action packed, action thriller
Similar in 90%
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 84%
Brubaker (1980)
Plot Summary:
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, factual, harsh, serious, captivating, political, tense, psychological, edutainment
Similar in 81%
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Plot Summary:
A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: stylized, neo noir, dark comedy, suspense, talky, non-linear, brutal, cult classic, tense, independent film
Similar in 84%
Shot Caller (2017)
Plot Summary:
A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: clever, suspense, harsh, twist ending, crime thriller, hood, crime drama, tense, inspirational, sincere
Similar in 76%
The Untouchables (1987)
Plot Summary:
Young Treasury Agent Elliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is determined to take down Al Capone, but it's not going to be easy because Capone has the police in his pocket. Ness meets Jimmy Malone, a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one on the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone, but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 326000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, stylized, clever, exciting, tense, serious, captivating, rough, neo noir
Similar in 83%
Cape Fear (1991)
Plot Summary:
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? Fourteen years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey, bibliophile Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 212000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, tense, neo noir, suspense, psychological thriller, disturbing, scary, intense, creepy
Similar in 82%
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Plot Summary:
Escape from Alcatraz tells the story of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years, the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary, which housed Al Capone and "Birdman" Robert Stroud, was only broken once - by three men never heard of again.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 145000
Genere: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, realistic, exciting, motivational, inspirational, neo noir, non fiction, crime drama
Similar in 85%
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Plot Summary:
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 314000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: twist ending, suspense, psychological, surprise ending, clever, tense, serious, exciting, brutal, rough
Similar in 89%
American History X (1998)
Plot Summary:
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: emotional, dramatic, serious, rough, cerebral, psychological, tense, disturbing, black and white, political
Similar in 83%
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Plot Summary:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
IMDB Rating: 9.3
IMDB Votes: 28000000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: clever, inspirational, touching, twist ending, sentimental, uplifting, emotional, philosophical, suspense, serious