Best movies like Once a Thief
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A young ex-con trying to go straight gets caught up in another criminal scheme.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: neo noir, retro, noir, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, suspense, detective
Best tv shows and movies like Once a Thief (1965):
Similar in 88%
Any Number Can Win (1963)
Plot Summary:
Charles, a sixty-something career criminal, fresh out of jail, rejects his wife's plan for a quiet life of bourgeois respectability. He enlists a former cell mate, Francis, to assist him in pulling off one final score, a carefully planned assault on the vault of a Cannes casino.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: noir, neo noir, crime drama, tense, atmospheric, clever, serious, realistic, suspenseful, witty
Similar in 76%
Action Man (1967)
Plot Summary:
An American (Robert Stack) talks a retired French crook (Jean Gabin) into robbing a bank, but kidnappers demand the loot as ransom.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 724
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cynical, nostalgic
Similar in 75%
If... Dog... Rabbit (1999)
Plot Summary:
Johnnie Cooper served time for an armed robbery that also his father and brother participated in. When he's released from jail he's determined to live a normal life and gets work at a gas station. But soon his brother pays a visit.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 602
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: independent film, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
The Finger Man (1962)
Plot Summary:
A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: neo noir, bleak, suspenseful, rough, serious, realistic, stylized, noir, cynical, black and white
Similar in 77%
A Cop (1972)
Plot Summary:
Commissaire Edouard Coleman is a Paris police chief whose life investigating violent crimes has left him despondent. After beginning an affair with a beautiful but cold woman named Cathy, he befriends her boyfriend, Simon, a local nightclub owner. Unbeknownst to Edouard, however, Simon is also a ruthless bank robber and drug smuggler who is planning one final heist. Edouard is forced to pursue Simon after learning his true identity.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: neo noir, noir, visually appealing, hood, suspense, atmospheric, rough, clever, bleak, serious
Similar in 90%
The Sicilian Clan (1969)
Plot Summary:
Roger Santet is a convicted murderer sprung from prison by the Sicilian clan headed by the aging Vittorio Manalese. They conspire to steal a large cache of jewels from an exhibit in Rome. As they are preparing for the heist, the mobster's American friend Tony Nicosia suggests that a better way to get the rocks would be to hijack the transport plane while it is en route to New York. The dogged inspector Le Goff is using all the available resources to thwart their plans. Though the heist itself is successful, Santet finds himself trapped by the mob because of his fling with Manalese's daughter-in-law.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: noir, neo noir, crime drama, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, poliziottesco, french noir
Similar in 89%
Hickey & Boggs (1972)
Plot Summary:
Two veteran private eyes trigger a criminal reign of terror with their search for a missing girl.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, black cinema, cult film
Similar in 78%
The Gang (1977)
Plot Summary:
In 1945, as World War Two comes to a close, five small time crooks unite to form a gang. After several bold robberies they become notorious as "the front-wheel drive gang". The police attempt to stop their crime spree with little success, but how long will their luck last?.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 728
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast
Similar in 75%
Johnny Handsome (1989)
Plot Summary:
A career criminal who has been deformed since birth is given a new face by a kindly doctor and paroled from prison. It appears that he has gone straight, but he is really planning his revenge on the man who killed his mentor and sent him to prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: intense, suspense, harsh, neo noir, serious, tense, rough, realistic, suspenseful, erotic
Similar in 82%
No Good Deed (2002)
Plot Summary:
While doing a friend a favor and searching for a runaway teenager, a police detective stumbles upon a bizarre band of criminals about to pull off a bank robbery.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, neo noir, suspense, talky, stylized, realistic, suspenseful, serious, psychological, intense
Similar in 80%
The Fighter (1983)
Plot Summary:
Jacques Darnay has served 8 years for robbing a jeweller. Now he is out of prison and looking for his loot worth 6 million francs.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: neo noir, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, poliziottesco, suspense
Similar in 89%
Flic Story (1975)
Plot Summary:
The film story depicts Emile Buisson, following the death of his wife and child, escaping from a psychiatric institution in 1947 and returning to Paris. Buisson, who three years later would become France's public enemy number one, begins a murderous rampage through the French capital.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, neo noir, suspense, cult classic, period piece, detective, tense, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Rise (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young man recently released from prison recruits his three best friends to rob the local drug kingpin who is responsible for his incarceration.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, serious, bleak, realistic
Similar in 83%
Ready 2 Die (2014)
Plot Summary:
After a violent bank robbery, the trio of hoods make their way across East L.A. carrying a blood-soaked bag of money. When word gets out, they must fend off gangs and crooked cops alike as they strive to keep the loot and stay alive.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 851
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, exciting, realistic, crime drama, independent film
Similar in 88%
The Real McCoy (1993)
Plot Summary:
Karen McCoy is released from prison with nothing but the clothes on her back. Before being incarcerated Karen was the bank robber of her time, but now she wishes for nothing more than to settle down and start a new life. Unfortunately between a dirty parole officer, old business partners, and an idiot ex-husband she will have to do the unthinkable in order to save her son.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: suspense, entertaining, suspenseful, exciting, retro, realistic, stylized, semi serious, romantic, sexy
Similar in 76%
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Plot Summary:
Eddie's friends are numerous, but the term friends is suspect. As a small time hood Eddie is about to go back to jail. In order to escape this fate he deals information on stolen guns to the feds. Simultaneously he is supplying arms to his bank robbing/kidnapping hoodlum chums. But who else is dealing with the feds? Who gets the blame for snitching on the bank robbers?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: neo noir, cynical, noir, tense, retro, heartbreaking, hood, crime drama, crime thriller, atmospheric
Similar in 82%
The Red Circle (1970)
Plot Summary:
Master thief Corey is fresh out of prison. But instead of toeing the line of law-abiding freedom, he finds his steps leading back to the shadowy world of crime, crossing those of a notorious escapee and alcoholic ex-cop. As the unlikely trio plots a heist against impossible odds, their trail is pursued by a relentless inspector, and fate seals their destinies.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, stylized, suspense, noir, cerebral, visual, detective, atmospheric, clever
Similar in 79%
Charlie Valentine (2009)
Plot Summary:
The film chronicles the exploits of the title character, Charlie, played by Raymond J. Barry (Training Day) a career criminal intent on scoring one last big pay day. When his "perfect crime" goes bad, Charlie flees to Los Angeles to hide out with his estranged son, Danny, played by Michael Weatherly. What ensues reveals the true nature of some of the most unsavory of characters.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 691
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 76%
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Plot Summary:
Harry Mitchell is a successful Los Angeles manufacturer whose wife is running for city council. His life is turned upside down when three blackmailers confront him with a video tape of him with his young mistress and demand $100,000. Fearing that the story will hurt his wife's political campaign if he goes to the police, Harry pretends that he will pay the men, but does not follow through.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: neo noir, grindhouse, suspenseful, erotic, serious, realistic, tense, noir, sexy, clever
Similar in 77%
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 79%
Underworld U.S.A. (1961)
Plot Summary:
A bitter young man sets out to get back at the gangsters who murdered his father.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, neo noir, retro, expressionism, hood, cult classic, visually stunning
Similar in 76%
Kiss of Death (1995)
Plot Summary:
Jimmy Kilmartin is an ex-con living in Astoria in the New York City borough of Queens, trying to stay clean and raising a family with his wife Bev. But when his cousin Ronnie causes him to take a fall for driving an illegal transport of stolen cars, a police officer named Calvin Hart is injured and Jimmy lands back in prison. In exchange for an early release, he is asked to help bring down a local crime boss named Little Junior Brown. Jimmy remarries and attempts to renew a relationship with his child. But he is sent undercover by Detective Hart to work with Junior and infiltrate his operations. As soon as Little Junior kills an undercover federal agent with Jimmy watching, the unscrupulous district attorney and the feds further complicate his life. He must take down Junior or face the consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, surreal, intense, rough, suspenseful, tense, serious, brutal, hood
Similar in 77%
The Outfit (1973)
Plot Summary:
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: neo noir, serious, realistic, exciting, suspense, retro, grindhouse, hood, cult classic, crime thriller
Similar in 89%
Le Samurai (1967)
Plot Summary:
Hitman Jef Costello is a perfectionist who always carefully plans his murders and who never gets caught.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, tense, suspenseful, bleak, suspense, visual, meditative, witty, art house
Similar in 84%
Brighton Rock (2010)
Plot Summary:
Charts the headlong fall of Pinkie, a razor-wielding disadvantaged teenager with a religious death wish.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, serious, rough, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, noir, neo noir, hood
Similar in 79%
Caught Up (1998)
Plot Summary:
Daryl gets out of jail after 5 years. His mother has died, his girlfriend is married, and he can't find a job. His new girlfriend Vanessa, whom he meets when a gunman opens fire on them, gets him a job as a car driver. Hitmen are still after them, and Vanessa tells Daryl that this is her former lover Ahmad who wants revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: hood, rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, neo noir, independent film, fast, cult film
Similar in 82%
Point Blank (1967)
Plot Summary:
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: neo noir, surreal, tense, brutal, rough, suspenseful, ambiguous ending, exciting, noir, art house
Similar in 85%
Thief (1981)
Plot Summary:
Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: neo noir, atmospheric, cerebral, cult classic, retro, tense, realistic, stylized, crime drama, suspense
Similar in 90%
The Town (2010)
Plot Summary:
Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 410000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, captivating, serious, crime thriller, clever, neo noir, rough, stylized, action packed
Similar in 89%
Takers (2010)
Plot Summary:
A seasoned team of bank robbers, including Gordon Jennings (Idris Elba), John Rahway (Paul Walker), A.J. (Hayden Christensen), and brothers Jake (Michael Ealy) and Jesse Attica (Chris Brown) successfully complete their latest heist and lead a life of luxury while planning their next job. When Ghost (Tip T.I. Harris), a former member of their team, is released from prison he convinces the group to strike an armored car carrying $20 million. As the "Takers" carefully plot out their strategy and draw nearer to exacting the grand heist, a reckless police officer (Matt Dillon) inches closer to apprehending the criminals.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspense, intense, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, neo noir, crime drama, action thriller