Best movies like The Drug King
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, tense, suspense
Best tv shows and movies like The Drug King (2018):
Similar in 78%
Skinning (2010)
Plot Summary:
Novica is a mathematics champion in a Belgrade high school. In an attempt to overcome the ‘geek’ status at school, Novica becomes attracted to the world of skinheads by his school friend Relja. Novica is exposed to violence, hooliganism and racism; embracing the ideology and climbing up the ladder in the gang hierarchy.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Serbia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, hood
Similar in 88%
Inside Men (2015)
Plot Summary:
LEE Kang-hee, an editorialist of the influential conservative newspaper puts a congressman, JANG Pil-woo to the position of a leading candidate for President using the power of the press. Behind this, there was his secret deal with the paper’s biggest sponsor. AHN Sang-goo, a political henchman who supported LEE and JANG gets his hand cut as the price when he gets caught pocketing the record on the sponsor’s slush fund. WOO Jang-hoon, an ambitious prosecutor starts to investigate the relationship with JANG and the sponsor believing it is the only chance he can make it to the top. While getting down to the grass roots on the case, WOO meets AHN who has been deliberately planning his revenge. Now the war among the one blind for power, the one hell bent for vengeance, and the one eager for success starts.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, serious, captivating, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, noir, crime thriller
Similar in 82%
A Better Tomorrow (2010)
Plot Summary:
A Korean remake of the John Woo Classic. One brother is a criminal. One brother is a cop. Both will fight to the death.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, serious, suspense, heroic, crime drama, neo noir, fast
Similar in 87%
Tango One (2018)
Plot Summary:
Three officers are assigned to go undercover and join a mission to capture Den Donovan.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 385
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, tense, suspense
Similar in 82%
Chiko (2008)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of Isa, who grows up in a Hamburg suburb. It might be one of the world's richest cities but every beast has its belly and here, in the very underbelly, Chiko lives in a world where violence, staking and keeping a claim, and drug taking are the norm. Where down is not an option, Chiko is determined to rise to the top, whatever and whomever it costs.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Germany, Italy
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, rough, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Women of Mafia (2018)
Plot Summary:
A former police officer goes under cover in the mafia.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspense, realistic, talky
Similar in 82%
Smokers (2008)
Plot Summary:
Aaaron, a Kansas transplant is alone in New York City and just wants to buy a bag of weed.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Action, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: cynical, neo noir, tense, psychological, captivating, suspense, humorous, realistic, semi serious, cult film
Similar in 75%
Speed Kills (2018)
Plot Summary:
Speedboat racing champion and multimillionaire Ben Aronoff leads a double life that lands him in trouble with the law and drug lords.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Puerto Rico, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: captivating, tense, suspense, cynical
Similar in 88%
Narco Soldiers (2019)
Plot Summary:
Narco Soldiers is a timely, action-packed crime thriller that explores the resurgence of the Caribbean drug routes and one couple's violent, Bonnie and Clyde-style rise to power.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 212
Genere: Action, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 78%
Dossier K. (2009)
Plot Summary:
Vincke and Verstuyft are detectives of the Antwerp police department. This time they have to deal with the Albanian mob and some problems in their own police division.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, detective, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Dark Figure of Crime (2018)
Plot Summary:
Hyeong-min, a prominent police detective, and Tae-oh, a killer who has confessed to multiple murders, maintain a fierce psychological confrontation.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, suspense, crime drama, twisted, detective
Similar in 86%
The Preppie Connection (2015)
Plot Summary:
A student at a private school uses his connections to establish a drug trafficking network.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Puerto Rico, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense
Similar in 81%
A Dirty Carnival (2006)
Plot Summary:
Byung-du is a 29-year-old career criminal, working for the middle-rank enforcer Sang-chul. Burdened with a terminally ill mother and taking care of younger siblings, Byung-du is feeling financial pressure as a substitute patriarch. When the big boss President Hwang is cornered by a corrupt prosecutor, Byung-du volunteers for a whack job and wins the big man's trust.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, tense, bleak, realistic, neo noir, sincere, suspense
Similar in 83%
West 32nd (2007)
Plot Summary:
When John Kim, an ambitious young lawyer, takes on a pro bono case to exonerate a fourteen-year-old boy from a first degree murder charge, he finds a world he never knew existed in the underbelly of Manhattan - the Korean underworld.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 534
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea, USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, captivating, psychological, suspense, crime drama, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Cocaine Godmother (2017)
Plot Summary:
At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: factual, tense, captivating, suspense, emotional, independent film
Similar in 76%
Fatal Blade (2000)
Plot Summary:
East meets West as the Japanese Yakuza battle drug lords and the LAPD in the streets of Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 280
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, exciting, captivating, suspense, crime drama
Similar in 85%
Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time (2012)
Plot Summary:
A corrupted customs officer, Choi Ik-hyeon, faces losing his job. Then, his life turns around as he meets ganster Choi Hyeong-bae who has connection with the Yakuza. They quickly form a partnetship; Hyeong-bae helps Ik-hyeon set up a business with the money from drug trafficking while Ik-hyeon lobbies for his partner Hyeong-bae. As the government declares war on crime, however, their partnership begins to crack.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, rough, realistic, crime drama, captivating, suspense, noir, neo noir
Similar in 77%
Outrage Coda (2017)
Plot Summary:
Ôtomo gets involved with new Yakuza battles after he comes back the Yakuza society.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, neo noir, hood
Similar in 76%
Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (2013)
Plot Summary:
JW now lives in exile and is more than ever determined to find out what happened to his missing sister Camilla. Every trace leads him to the world of organized crime in Stockholm. Jorge is about to do his last score - the largest robbery in Swedish history. But during the complicated preparations he meets a woman from his past - Nadja. Martin Hägerström is chosen to go undercover into the Serbian mafia, in order to get its notorious boss Radovan Krajnic behind bars. When an assassination attempt is made on Radovan, his daughter Natalie is pulled into the power struggle within the Serbian mafia.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Sweden
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, non-linear
Similar in 79%
Powder and Gold (2015)
Plot Summary:
The real-life story of a drug cartel leader set to Macbeth.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 68
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Dominican Republic
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 78%
Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins (2021)
Plot Summary:
A brutal account of how real-life, hard-as-nails Falklands War veteran Tony Tucker came to be involved in one of the most notorious gangland murders in British history.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing, dark
Similar in 81%
Boone: The Bounty Hunter (2017)
Plot Summary:
When fame-seeking reality show bounty hunter, Boone, attempts to bring down a drug lord and his empire, he uncovers more than he bargains for and learns that justice means more than ratings.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Hot Blooded (2022)
Plot Summary:
Kuam is a shabby port town in the shadow of stunning port city of Busan. Hee-su is a third-rate gangster who has been acting like a hotel manager under Don Son for 20 years. Seemingly out of nowhere, Yong-kang, who fled the country as a murder suspect, returns home and begins causing trouble all over town, which only adds pressure to Hee-su.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 326
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Baseline (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Baseline is the centre of the East London grime club scene and the queue regularly stretches around the block. Danny works on the door - breaking up fights and managing drunk kids. However, when he rescues Terry, the club owner and local gang leader, from a hitman, Danny is suddenly plunged deep into an underworld he had tried so hard to avoid. Danny is promoted to manager, but only on the condition that he turns a blind eye to the shady goings on both on and off the dance-floor. Danny and his girlfriend Jessica dream of setting up their own club, but Danny is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice when he has to choose between loyalty, morality and his own dreams of escape.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 647
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, captivating, exciting, tense, rough, realistic
Similar in 80%
El Padrino II: Border Intrusion (2011)
Plot Summary:
No overview yet.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 85
Genere: Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Impure (2018)
Plot Summary:
Rio de Janeiro, during the 90's. Evandro dreams about becoming a great businessman, but ends up entering the world of crime and making an empire out of his criminal organization. His business skills and leadership abilities draw the attention of Morello, a federal police officer with a self-destructive behavior who sees in Evandro a worthy enemy. Two strategists that share the love for danger. The hunt down begins.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 772
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, exciting, disturbing
Similar in 76%
The Snitch Cartel: Origins (2021)
Plot Summary:
In Cali during the '60s and '70s, two brothers juggle family, romance and the joint pursuit of a burning ambition: to rule Colombia's drug industry.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 244
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Colombia
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 84%
The Man from Nowhere (2010)
Plot Summary:
His only friend called him 'the man from nowhere'... Taesik, a former special agent becomes a loner after losing his wife in a miserable accident and lives a bitter life running a pawnshop. He only has a few customers and a friend named Somi, a little girl next door. As Taesik spends more and more time with Somi, he gets attached to her. Then Somi is kidnapped by a gang, and as Taesik tries to save Somi by becoming deeply associated with the gang his mysterious past is revealed.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, brutal, exciting, touching, emotional, neo noir, bleak, suspense, harsh
Similar in 76%
Villain (2020)
Plot Summary:
After 10 years, Eddie Franks is out of prison and trying to stay on the straight and narrow, but his drug-mule brother, Sean has other ideas. Rival gangster brothers demand Sean repay his debt to them, causing Eddie to get tangled in the crossfire, and he ends up using his life savings to calling in favours with mobster friends to try and help.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, tense, captivating, disturbing, social, hood
Similar in 84%
The Classified File (2015)
Plot Summary:
Busan in 1978. Gil-young, a veteran detective got the special request from the parents of a missing child, Eun-joo to investigate her case. As the clever kidnapper eludes the police, the case becomes more and more of a mystery. When Joong-san, the fortune-teller foretells Eun-joo’s whereabouts, people get to listen to what he says as the situation goes more despair with no remark on Eun-joo. He also tells that Gil-young is the only one who can save her. With no one to trust, Gil-yong and Joong-san come closing in around the kidnapper using any means possible. This movie is the record of 33 days of two men going through hell to find a missing girl and bring her back home alive.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, psychological, crime drama, detective, action thriller