Best movies like Only the River Flows
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
1990s, Banpo Town, rural China. A woman’s body is found by the river. Ma Zhe, Chief of the Criminal Police, heads up the murder investigation that leads to an obvious arrest. His superiors hurry to congratulate him, but several clues push Ma Zhe to delve deeper into the hidden behaviour of his fellow citizens.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense
Best tv shows and movies like Only the River Flows (2023):
Similar in 80%
Gracie (2018)
Plot Summary:
2am. As 29 year old suicidal Gracie tries to get up the guts to jump off Waterloo Bridge,17 year old Ellie runs up begging for help, in fear for her life from a Man who's chasing her. Shocked out of her misery, Gracie drags the Ellie to what she believes is the safety of the back streets... But when those after Ellie snatch them both, a dark night begins which changes their lives forever, because, love and light do always conquer, and sometimes in the most surprising way, but come morning will it be enough to survive?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, allegory, fable
Similar in 79%
An Obsession (1997)
Plot Summary:
An Obsession is Aoyama's remake for the 1990s of Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog ("Nora inu," 1949). The basic plot situation is the same: a cop, after losing his gun to a killer, sets out on a search for the criminal who in the end is all too disturbingly similar to the hero. Under Kurosawa's humanistic world view, Stray Dog presented the fundamentally shared nature of Japanese suffering amidst the Occupation and postwar poverty. An Obsession, however, is different.The film begins with a fin-de-siecle, apocalyptic sense of insanity which Kurosawa's humanism could never tolerate.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, detective, cult film
Similar in 79%
A Singular Crime (2022)
Plot Summary:
Rosario in the 80s. The disappearance of a man during the military dictatorship. Two young people from the court must do everything possible to solve the case while facing police corruption and various dangers that put their lives at risk.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 563
Genere: Crime, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense
Similar in 76%
The Preacher (2007)
Plot Summary:
A boy finds a dead woman. When police move the corpse they find the skeletons of two women who disappeared in the seventies.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 239
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Sweden
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Cadaver (2022)
Plot Summary:
A pathologist and a police commissioner try to solve a series of murders involving a prisoner. Their journey leads to shocking revelations!.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: India
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, dramatic, bleak, serious, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Lost in the Stars (2022)
Plot Summary:
He Fei's wife, Li Muzi, disappears during their anniversary trip. When she reappears, he insists that she is not his wife. As Chen Mai, a top lawyer gets involved in this bizarre case, more mysteries start to emerge.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: China
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: suspense
Similar in 84%
Free Country (2019)
Plot Summary:
Two cops investigate the disappearance of two teen sisters in a remote town, where it seems like everyone has something to hide - including the bodies.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, psychological, tense, captivating
Similar in 75%
Misconduct (2016)
Plot Summary:
An ambitious lawyer finds himself caught in a power struggle between a corrupt pharmaceutical executive and his firm’s senior partner. When the case takes a deadly turn, he must race to uncover the truth before he loses everything.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological thriller, surprise ending, neo noir
Similar in 79%
D Company (2013)
Plot Summary:
D Company is a 2013 Indian Malayalam action portmanteau film. It is an anthology of three independently shot action films directed by M. Padmakumar, Vinod Vijayan and Diphan. Its cast includes Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, Unni Mukundan, Fahad Fazil and Asif Ali. The film is produced by Vinod Vijayan, Seven Arts Mohan and Faisal Latheef under the banner of D Cutz Film Company. (From Wikipedia).
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 151
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: India
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: anthology, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Life is an Art (2010)
Plot Summary:
You need to suffer, to understand.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 49
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, detective
Similar in 81%
Mafia (1968)
Plot Summary:
A Police Officer faces difficulties when investigating a Mafia murder in a small Sicilian town. A businessman is murdered for refusing to join a Mafia-controlled group and although he suspects the Mafia are involved he can find no witnesses or evidence, only hostile obstruction by the corrupt local authorities who all deny the existence of the Mafia.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, poliziottesco
Similar in 84%
The Second Wind (2007)
Plot Summary:
Gu, a famous gangster, has just escaped from jail. All french police is after him. Before leaving the country with Manouche, the woman he loves, Gu needs a final job to get some money. The job works, but a police's scheming makes Gu appear as a traitor to his own accomplices. Gu will do whatever it takes to clean his honor.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, sexy, neo noir, crime drama
Similar in 77%
Black Friday (2007)
Plot Summary:
Amy Carlson is the woman in charge of a bank's security system. Two dirty cops (played by the slightly washed-up duo of Judd Nelson and Thomas Ian Griffith) kidnap her daughter and a friend to force her to open the safety deposit box of one of her bank's clients and give to them its content.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Man from Reno (2014)
Plot Summary:
A stranger in the increasingly strange city of San Francisco, Japanese crime novelist Aki is unsure of precisely what role she has to play in a real-life murder mystery involving ambiguous MacGuffins and amorphous identities. Unfolding in lonely places such as bookshops and hotel bars, Dave Boyle's moody thriller uncovers exhilarating new takes on genre conventions. Consequently, it's an alluring l'homme fatal who supplies Aki with the breadcrumb trail of clues that entices her into a labyrinthine plot of sinister dealings. In turn, the aging sheriff (veteran character actor Pepe Serna, fantastic in a rare leading role), who should rightfully be riding to her rescue, proves to be equally out of his depth. The game is afoot, the chase is exhilarating and the stakes are perilously high in this inspired neo-noir.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: neo noir, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, suspense, noir, crime drama, realistic, stylized
Similar in 85%
Tik Tok (2016)
Plot Summary:
When a bombing occurs during a soccer match between China and South Korea, the two countries are embroiled in a fierce cat-and-mouse chase.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 682
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
The Jingoist (2020)
Plot Summary:
In the wake of September 11th, two brothers believe they have stopped a mass terrorist attack in New York. Now they must face the consequences of taking justice into their own hands.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 45
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: neo noir, tense, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, talky
Similar in 78%
A Life Not to Follow (2015)
Plot Summary:
A Neo-Noir film told in three interlacing chapters: Eric is a dead man and he knows it. Death is imminent and he must make amends for his past sins, by killing those who wronged him, no matter the price: A wiseguy willing to do anything to move up in the world must now make the ultimate sacrifice. He must kill his best friend or in turn be killed: An F.B.I.agent turned P.I. is on the trail of a missing girl. In his long search for her he comes face to face with a host of unsavory characters who will lead him to perdition or salvation.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 318
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: neo noir, dark, suspense, tense, captivating, suspenseful, independent film, detective, cult film
Similar in 81%
Cut Bank (2014)
Plot Summary:
25 year-old Dwayne McLaren, a former athlete turned auto mechanic, dreams of getting out of tiny Cut Bank, Montana the coldest town in America. But his effort to do so sets in moton a deadly series of events that change his life and the life of the town forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, semi serious, suspense, teen, twisted, clever, offbeat
Similar in 79%
City Hall (1996)
Plot Summary:
The accidental shooting of a boy in New York leads to an investigation by the Deputy Mayor, and unexpectedly far-reaching consequences.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspense, thought provoking, realistic, talky, neo noir, inspirational, cult classic, serious
Similar in 80%
Mulholland Falls (1996)
Plot Summary:
In 1950s Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, tense, detective, serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, hood, thrilling
Similar in 86%
Recurrence (2022)
Plot Summary:
Years after moving to a remote town, ex-cop Pipa is pulled back into the dark world she thought she'd left behind when a corpse appears on her property.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing, dark
Similar in 83%
Grudge (2021)
Plot Summary:
Ahead of a promotion, a police chief becomes entangled in a deadly incident and uncovers an intrigue fueled by grudge that threatens his colleagues.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Turkey
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspense, disturbing, psychological, tense, confusing, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Awakening the Zodiac (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story follows a down-on-their-luck couple who discovers a serial killer's film reels. They decide to take the law into their own hands, risking everything for the chance at a $100,000 reward. It isn't long until they find themselves in the killer's lethal cross-hairs.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, exciting, tense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological thriller, suspense
Similar in 80%
The Informant (2008)
Plot Summary:
McInnes plays a suburban dad who works as a police informant for a federal investigative agency. The character’s background is shrouded in mystery, with intelligence officers seeking to uncover the truth about his past by working with him.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 60
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
One False Move (1991)
Plot Summary:
Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, tense, suspenseful, independent film, atmospheric, disturbing, intense, rough, serious
Similar in 88%
The Negotiator (1998)
Plot Summary:
The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 153000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, serious, intense, talky, psychological, clever, entertaining, detective, exciting
Similar in 88%
White Orchid (2018)
Plot Summary:
Shy and reserved, Claire Decker, 30ish, is a part-time investigator for Social Services. Typically, she solves cases where senior citizens have died alone, leaving no indication of who must handle their estate. This time however, Claire is reluctantly drawn into a puzzling murder case. The local police have been unable to solve the horrific crime, or even decipher the victim's true identity. A beautiful and enigmatic young blond, known only as "The White Orchid," has been brutally murdered. As Claire is drawn deeper and more intimately into the dead woman's life, she finds herself taking dangerous chances and pushing personal and professional boundaries. As she gets closer to the truth, Claire must effectively become the charismatic "White Orchid" in order to solve the mysterious crime.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: neo noir, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, tense
Similar in 80%
Twilight (1998)
Plot Summary:
A retired ex-cop and private detective gets mixed up in murder when he is asked to deliver blackmail money and walks into a 20 year old case involving the mysterious disappearance of an actress' former husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, clever, talky, detective, serious, realistic, witty, smart, cynical
Similar in 80%
Blink (1993)
Plot Summary:
Emma is an attractive girl in her 20s who has been blind for 20 years. A new type of eye operation partially restores her sight, but she is having problems: sometimes she doesn't "remember" what she's seen until later. One night she is awakened by a commotion upstairs. Peering out of her door, she sees a shadowy figure descending the stairs. Convinced that her neighbour has been murdered she approaches the police, only to find that she is unsure if it was just her new eyes playing tricks on her.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, psychological, exciting, suspense, neo noir, enigmatic, erotic, psychological thriller, gloomy
Similar in 87%
The Thunder (2019)
Plot Summary:
A father and son represent two generations of policemen as they risk their lives in the war against drugs.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 101
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing