Best movies like Killer Joe
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A cop (Matthew McConaughey) who moonlights as a hit man agrees to kill the hated mother of a desperate drug dealer (Emile Hirsch) in exchange for a tumble with the young man's virginal sister (Juno Temple).
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: neo noir, disturbing, dark comedy, suspense, surreal, black comedy, tense, sexy, controversial, erotic
Best tv shows and movies like Killer Joe (2011):
Similar in 85%
The Paperboy (2012)
Plot Summary:
As investigative reporter Ward Jansen and his partner Yardley Acheman chase a sensational, career-making story with the help of Ward's younger brother Jack and sultry death-row groupie Charlotte Bless, the pair tries to prove violent swamp-dweller Hillary Van Wetter was framed for the murder of a corrupt local sheriff.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sexy, atmospheric, surreal, tense, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, southern gothic, erotic
Similar in 77%
Targets (1968)
Plot Summary:
A Vietnam veteran quietly plans to go on a mass shooting spree. At the same time, an elderly horror film star prepares to make a public appearance at a drive-in theater.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, grindhouse, independent film, scary, tense, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, neo noir
Similar in 75%
U Turn (1997)
Plot Summary:
When Bobby's car breaks down in the desert while on the run from some of the bookies who have already taken two of his fingers, he becomes trapped in the nearby small town where the people are stranger than anyone he's encountered. After becoming involved with a young married woman, her husband hires Bobby to kill her. Later, she hires Bobby to kill the husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: neo noir, dark comedy, disturbing, road movie, intense, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, sexy, suspense
Similar in 77%
Jade (1995)
Plot Summary:
Someone does a nasty hatchet job on a San Fransisco big noise and the Assistant D.A. takes charge of the investigation. Through a web of blackmail and prostitution involving the Governor, an old lover of the law man emerges as a prime suspect and he has to deal with his personal feelings as well as the case.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: erotic, suspense, sexy, suspenseful, rough, psychosexual thriller, neo noir, psychological, noir, sensual
Similar in 76%
Freeway (1996)
Plot Summary:
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: disturbing, dark comedy, suspenseful, bloody, black comedy, road movie, cult classic, teen, clever, controversial
Similar in 83%
Alpha Dog (2006)
Plot Summary:
Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the Mazursky family, as Johnny and his 'gang' kidnap Jake's 15 year old brother and holds him hostage. Problem now is what to do with 'stolen boy?'.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: disturbing, serious, rough, teen, harsh, hood, realistic, dark, sad, erotic
Similar in 85%
Uncut Gems (2019)
Plot Summary:
Howard Ratner, a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score, makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 309000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, suspense, independent film, dark comedy, uplifting, black comedy, crime thriller, tragic ending, psychological thriller
Similar in 83%
White Boy Rick (2018)
Plot Summary:
The story of teenager, Richard Wershe Jr., who became an undercover informant for the police during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspense, hood, disturbing, retro, rough, neo noir, sad, independent film, non fiction, anamorphic
Similar in 79%
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Plot Summary:
Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas town, patient and apparently thoughtful. Some people think he is a little slow and maybe boring, but that is the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his "sickness": He is a brilliant, but disturbed sociopathic sadist.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Sweden, Canada, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, neo noir, disturbing, surreal, bleak, rough, tense, controversial, detective, sexual
Similar in 90%
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Plot Summary:
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: neo noir, cult classic, independent film, disturbing, detective, bleak, sexy, depressing, controversial, surreal
Similar in 78%
Blue Velvet (1986)
Plot Summary:
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of criminals who have kidnapped her child.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 212000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: neo noir, surreal, dark, detective, cerebral, disturbing, postmodern, controversial, erotic, atmospheric
Similar in 82%
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 77%
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 89%
Out of the Furnace (2013)
Plot Summary:
Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in prison. His brother is then lured into one of the most violent crime rings in the Northeast.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, tense, realistic, neo noir, atmospheric, harsh, serious, rough, dark
Similar in 82%
Kalifornia (1993)
Plot Summary:
A journalist duo go on a tour of serial killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: neo noir, bleak, road movie, tense, psychological thriller, sexy, suspense, cult classic, rough, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Frailty (2001)
Plot Summary:
A man confesses to an FBI agent his family's story of how his religious fanatic father's visions lead to a series of murders to destroy supposed "demons.".
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, scary, suspenseful, tense, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, mindfuck, mind bending
Similar in 85%
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 89%
Blue Ruin (2013)
Plot Summary:
The quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news. He sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance but proves an inept assassin and finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, atmospheric, tense, bleak, suspenseful, suspense, psychological, brutal, melancholic
Similar in 82%
Wild at Heart (1990)
Plot Summary:
Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 99000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: surreal, road movie, black comedy, avant garde, dark comedy, sexy, atmospheric, erotic, art house, mindfuck
Similar in 85%
Dogtooth (2009)
Plot Summary:
Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the uber-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Greece
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: disturbing, art house, psychological, black comedy, atmospheric, surreal, thought provoking, controversial, sexy, bleak
Similar in 75%
Red Rock West (1993)
Plot Summary:
When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialise in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspenseful, sexy, atmospheric, road movie, suspense, rough, independent film, black comedy, clever
Similar in 75%
Derailed (2005)
Plot Summary:
When two married business executives having an affair are blackmailed by a violent criminal, they are forced to turn the tables on him to save their families.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, surprise ending, serious, suspense, rough, twist ending, tense, neo noir, psychological, psychological thriller
Similar in 85%
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
Plot Summary:
When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, realistic, disturbing, psychological, depressing, bleak, non-linear, emotional, serious
Similar in 86%
Gold (2016)
Plot Summary:
Kenny Wells, a modern-day prospector, hustler, and dreamer, is desperate for a lucky break. Left with few options, Wells teams up with an equally luckless geologist to execute a grandiose, last-ditch effort: to find gold deep in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: tense, inspirational, suspense, intellectual, suspenseful, psychological thriller, social, stylized, anamorphic, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Eastern Promises (2007)
Plot Summary:
A Russian teenager, living in London, dies during childbirth but leaves clues to a midwife in her journal, that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 257000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, disturbing, serious, tense, suspenseful, intense, stylized, bleak, psychological
Similar in 87%
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 83%
We Own the Night (2007)
Plot Summary:
A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, stylized, rough, serious, captivating, tense, realistic, suspenseful, dark
Similar in 82%
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)
Plot Summary:
A mafia film in Tarantino style with a star-studded cast. Jimmy’s “The Saint” gangster career has finally ended. Yet now he finds him self doing favors for a wise godfather known as “The Man with the Plan.”.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, psychological, tense, serious, realistic, independent film, witty, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 80%
8MM (1999)
Plot Summary:
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 141000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, suspense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, rough, grim, detective, enigmatic, captivating
Similar in 87%
A History of Violence (2005)
Plot Summary:
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 250000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, UK, Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: neo noir, harsh, disturbing, tense, psychological, realistic, serious, suspense, sexy, intense