Best movies like I Hired a Contract Killer
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After fifteen years' service, Henri Boulanger is made redundant from his job. Shocked, he attempts suicide, but can't go through with it, so he hires a contract killer in a seedy bar to murder him at some unspecified time in the future. But almost immediately he meets and falls in love with Margaret, a flower-seller, which makes Henri realise that his life has some meaning after all. But when he goes back to the bar to cancel the contract, he finds it has been demolished - and there's no way he can get in touch with the killer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, UK
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, neo noir, surreal, humorous, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, independent film, cult film
Best tv shows and movies like I Hired a Contract Killer (1990):
Similar in 89%
Shadows in Paradise (1986)
Plot Summary:
An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a co-worker, an affair and much more.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: art house, dark comedy, contemplative, sentimental, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana (1994)
Plot Summary:
Lugubrious Finns Valto and Reino take to the road in search of coffee and vodka, without which their lives are not worth living. But their reveries are interrupted by the arrival of garrulous Russian Klaudia and Estonian Tatiana - who are clearly interested in the two men, despite the language barrier. But what are the chances of getting a response from men who prefer staring at vodka bottles to talking?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Romance
Country: Finland, Germany
Duration: 62 min
Plot tags: road movie, black and white, offbeat, humorous, realistic, stylized, semi serious, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
Ariel (1988)
Plot Summary:
Taisto Kasurinen is a Finnish coal miner whose father has just committed suicide and who is framed for a crime he did not commit. In jail, he starts to dream about leaving the country and starting a new life. He escapes from prison but things don't go as planned.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, art house, road movie, humorous, witty, stylized, black comedy, clever, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 86%
Leon the Pig Farmer (1992)
Plot Summary:
An irreverent comedy is set in motion when Leon Geller, a sensitive Jewish boy from London, accidentally learns that his is the product of artificial insemination.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 570
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 87%
Detective (1985)
Plot Summary:
Emile Chenal and his wife, Françoise, leaned on boxing manager Jim Fox Warner to cough up the considerable sum of money that he owes them, with both the police and the mob circling the situation. In the same hotel, Inspector Neveu looks into a murder that took place years before, and his storyline overlaps with the arc of the Chenals.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: France, Switzerland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, psychological, tense, clever, serious, realistic, contemplative, talky, gloomy
Similar in 78%
The Man Without a Past (2002)
Plot Summary:
The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy, the film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: bleak, satirical, black comedy, touching, humorous, semi serious, dark comedy, clever, contemplative, art house
Similar in 86%
Night Bus (2007)
Plot Summary:
Valerio Mastandrea is Franz, a night bus driver on the airport route who owes a lot of money from poker debts. He's stumbled upon by the variously named Leila, a thief who has accidentally become wrapped up in a secretive blackmail deal involving the President. As the film unfolds, a secret war between factions of the Security Services, a series of confusions among the various criminal fraternities whose activites have been touched upon by the deal, and Leila's past all complicate the situation.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 761
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Italy, Poland
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, neo noir, exciting, sentimental, non-linear, fast, surprise ending, black comedy
Similar in 80%
Faithful (1996)
Plot Summary:
A depressed housewife whose husband is having an affair contemplates suicide, but changes her mind when she faces death by a killer hired to do her in.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: talky, melancholic, semi serious, black comedy, clever, dark comedy, hilarious, independent film, humorous, realistic
Similar in 90%
Drifting Clouds (1996)
Plot Summary:
Tram driver Lauri looses his job. Shortly later, the restaurant where his wife Ilona works as a headwaitress is closed. Too proud, to receive money from the social welfare system, they hardly try to find new jobs. But they are completely unlucky and clumsy, one disaster is followed by the next. Finally, their courage, confidence, and their unbreakable love triumph over the fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, touching, realistic, inspirational, uplifting, clever, humorous, semi serious, sexy, thought provoking
Similar in 82%
You Really Got Me (2001)
Plot Summary:
Jan's fastfood-business is going bankrupt, his girlfriend has left him, and he is being exploited by his live-in father. Therefore, he has nothing to loose when he gets mixed up in the kidnapping of famous rock star Iver Mo. But Jan has never been able to do anything right his whole life, and there are others who want to get their hands on the ransom money.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 559
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Norway
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, cynical, semi serious, dark comedy, dark, clever, realistic, cult film
Similar in 78%
Panic (2000)
Plot Summary:
Alex is going through a midlife crisis and it has become a very difficult time for him. His marriage is struggling, he's worried about his son, and his job of killing people for his family has become the most stressful part of his life. He seeks the help of a therapist and meets a woman in the waiting room that he connects with.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, psychological, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, captivating, neo noir, dark, stylized, black comedy
Similar in 81%
Angel's Dance (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young hitman is asked to prove himself by killing an innocent woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, humorous, semi serious, surprise ending, tense, captivating, black comedy, dark comedy, independent film, cult film
Similar in 81%
Lights in the Dusk (2006)
Plot Summary:
Koistenin is a sad sack, a man without affect or friends. He's a night-watchman in Helsinki with ideas of starting his own business, but nothing to go with those intentions. He sometimes talks a bit with a woman who runs a snack trailer near his work. Out of the blue, a young sophisticated blonde woman attaches herself to Koistenin. He thinks of her as his girlfriend, he takes her on her rounds.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: bleak, melancholic, enigmatic, sincere, psychological, atmospheric, dark comedy, touching, neo noir, contemplative
Similar in 88%
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Plot Summary:
Iris (Kati Outinen) has a soul-deadening job as a quality-control worker watching boxes of matches go by on an assembly line all day. At night, she eats silently with her dour mother (Elina Salo) and stepfather (Esko Nikkari). One weekend, wearing her new red dress at a local dance, she ends up going home with Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), whom she mistakenly believes is her new boyfriend. When she discovers that she's pregnant, years of pent-up rage explode in a shocking outburst.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Finland, Sweden
Duration: 69 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, art house, disturbing, atmospheric, harsh, psychological, depressing, dark comedy, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Wild Target (1993)
Plot Summary:
Into the solitary life of middle-aged hitman, Victor Meynard, come two people: Antoine, a youth who becomes Victor's apprentice, and Renée, a bold thief Victor's been hired to kill because she cheated a mobster. When circumstances prevent Victor from killing her, the gangster sends two more teams to do it (and to dispatch Victor and Antoine). Victor decides to help Renée, and the unlikely trio ends up at his house with his temperamental mother; there, as they hide out, Victor's attraction to Renée grows, she discovers his vocation and fears he's going to kill her, and an ultimate showdown with their hunters is inevitable.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 872
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Crime, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sex comedy, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 87%
Jerry and Tom (1998)
Plot Summary:
Tom and Jerry are two hit men, they work by day at a third-rate second-hand car dealership. Tom is a veteran and Jerry is a novice in their business, and their attitude toward their profession differs a lot. It shows when Tom is required to kill his old friend Karl.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: clever, humorous, witty, talky, non-linear, black comedy, neo noir, offbeat, realistic, cynical
Similar in 76%
My Best Friend's Girl (1983)
Plot Summary:
Isabelle Huppert plays an attractive Parisienne out looking for some fun during her vacation on the ski slopes of Courchevel in the Alps when she starts up a relationship with a great-looking sportswear salesman, but at the same time she is entranced by a little chubby disk jockey in a night club.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sex comedy, sexy, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, biting, sexual
Similar in 77%
The Bohemian Life (1992)
Plot Summary:
Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with no publisher, and Schaunard, a post-modernist composer of execrable noise.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, France, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: black and white, dark comedy, spiritual, art house, cerebral, sincere, atmospheric, touching, humorous, captivating
Similar in 89%
Prizzi's Honor (1985)
Plot Summary:
A professional hit man and hit woman fall in love, only to discover that they have each been hired to kill the other.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, neo noir, clever, humorous, cynical, funny, epic, cult classic, atmospheric
Similar in 84%
Rancid Aluminum (2000)
Plot Summary:
Pete Thompson thinks he has it all. However, following the death of his father his close friend and accountant reveals the company he has been left is bust and the only way out is to do business with the Russian mafia. His life and heart are on the line when he leave to restore the fortunes of the family firm.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, tense, sad, offbeat, realistic, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
The Medicine Show (2001)
Plot Summary:
A cynical young man, diagnosed with cancer, meets a brash young leukemia patient in the hospital who more than matches his distaste for IV drips and weepy sentimentality.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 312
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: semi serious, humorous, realistic, witty, independent film, clever, offbeat, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 84%
The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1995)
Plot Summary:
A sinister tale of genius gone wrong, The Young Poisoner's Handbook chronicles a young man's descent into madness against the absurd backdrop of suburban English life. Hugh O'Conor plays Graham Young, a schoolboy from the London suburbs whose deadly obsession with toxic substances causes him to dabble in experimental murder.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, disturbing, offbeat, humorous, witty, black comedy, depressing, horror comedy, clever, realistic
Similar in 84%
Trust (1990)
Plot Summary:
After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: independent film, dark comedy, surreal, cult classic, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, retro
Similar in 88%
Nurse Betty (2000)
Plot Summary:
What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, light, sentimental, humorous, realistic, semi serious, dark, clever, road movie
Similar in 89%
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002)
Plot Summary:
The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Denmark, UK, Sweden, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, black comedy, dark comedy, independent film, offbeat, clever, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Run for Your Wife (2012)
Plot Summary:
John Smith has been happily involved in a bigamous marriage for five years. He lives with Stephanie in Finsbury and Michelle in Stockwell. Fortunately, for John, he's a taxi driver which involves varying shift work! Simple? Well, when John unwittingly becomes a have-a-go hero and the Finsbury and Stockwell police forces discover something suspicious in their paperwork, John's happy bubble is about to be burst. The action of the movie takes place during the next hectic 24 hours as John, with the assistance of his gullible neighbor Gary, rush between North and South London attempting to thwart the police and prevent the two loving wives coming face to face!.
IMDB Rating: 2.7
IMDB Votes: 864
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, realistic, not serious, sex comedy, crime drama, adult comedy, bizarre
Similar in 83%
Au Revoir Taipei (2010)
Plot Summary:
Kai (Jack Yao), who works at his parent's noodle shop by day and spends his nights in a bookstore to learn French, decides to go to Paris after his girlfriend, who recently left for Paris, dumps him by phone. Then the local neighborhood mafia boss offers Kai a free plane ticket to Paris if he takes a mysterious package with him.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan, USA, Germany
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: feel good, realistic, humorous, semi serious, light hearted
Similar in 75%
The 92 Minutes of Mr. Baum (1997)
Plot Summary:
Balding advertising executive Mr. Baum spends more time on a new ad campaign for purple sunglasses than he does with his own family. But suddenly he is forced to reexamine his life after a doctor tells him that he has an 'aggressive' brain tumor and will die in 90 minutes.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 183
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, thought provoking, clever, humorous, tragicomedy, realistic, surreal, contemplative, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 86%
Fallen Angels (1995)
Plot Summary:
In this bifurcated crime narrative, a disillusioned hitman attempts to escape from his violent lifestyle against the wishes of his partner, who is infatuated with him, and an eccentric mute repeatedly encounters, then subsequently falls for, a depressed woman looking for the prostitute who supposedly stole her ex-boyfriend's affections.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, visual, neo noir, art house, meditative, mysterious, serious, visually stunning, offbeat
Similar in 78%
My Son the Fanatic (1997)
Plot Summary:
Pakistani taxi-driver Parvez and prostitute Bettina find themselves trapped in the middle when Islamic fundamentalists decide to clean up their local town.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: talky, multicultural, independent film, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, light, thought provoking, enigmatic