Best tv shows like Traffik
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Traffik is a 1989 British television serial about the illegal drugs trade. Its three stories are interwoven, with arcs told from the perspectives of Afghan and Pakistani growers and manufacturers, German dealers, and British users. It was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, winning three. It also won an International Emmy Award for best drama. The 2000 crime drama film Traffic, directed by Steven Soderbergh, was based on this television serial. In turn, the 2004 American television miniseries Traffic was based on both versions.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 315 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, thought provoking, disturbing, rough, bleak, political, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Traffik (1989):
Similar in 85%
Blue Murder (1995)
Plot Summary:
Detective Sergeant Roger "The Dodger" Rogerson got fame because he knew how to take care of most dangerous and violent criminals. His success was, however, also due to the sinister alliance with violent underworld figures like Neddy Smith who got police protection in exchange for tips and money.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Australia
Duration: 198 min
Plot tags: slasher, detective, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Terry (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of 2009, Charlie Ruez made a documentary. 6 months later the footage was seized for evidence by the Metropolitan Police Department. In 2010, the footage was released.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, disturbing, mockumentary, realistic, fake documentary
Similar in 81%
Underworld Trilogy: The Prisoner (2010)
Plot Summary:
Computer whizz-kid VESA LEVOLA is a decent young man with a promising career who unexpectedly ends up in prison after becoming involved in a street fight. In prison Vesa ends up working for the kingpin of the criminal world, who runs a drug-trafficking organization from behind bars.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 181
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 292 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 79%
L.627 (1992)
Plot Summary:
Lulu is a tough streetwise narcotics cop who, like a Frank Serpico or a Dirty Harry Callahan, doesn't play by the rules or kowtow to his weak and/or corrupt superiors. Lulu thrives in this violent world, where sheer guts can overcome his squad's deficiencies of money and equipment. Despite the ruthless environment that he lives and works in every day, he still manages somehow to maintain his humanity.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: anthology, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense
Similar in 75%
The Bill (1984)
Plot Summary:
The Bill is a police procedural television series that was broadcast on the ITV network from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, entitled Woodentop, which was broadcast in August 1983. In its final year on air, The Bill was broadcast once a week, usually on Tuesdays or Thursdays, in a one-hour format. The programme focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. At the time of the series' conclusion, The Bill was the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom, and was among the longest-running of any British television series. The series was produced by Thames Television. The series name originated from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police. This was also Geoff McQueen's original title idea for the series, before he eventually decided on "The Bill". Although highly acclaimed amongst fans and critics alike, the series attracted controversy on several occasions. An episode broadcast in 2008 was criticised for featuring fictional treatment for multiple sclerosis, and another episode in the same year resulted in litigation, submitted by MP George Galloway for defamation. The series has also faced more general criticism, concerning the levels of violence it portrays, particularly prior to 2009, when it occupied a pre-watershed slot. During its time on air, The Bill won several awards, including BAFTAs, a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award and the title of "best drama" at the Inside Soap Awards in 2009, the latter being the series' fourth consecutive win. Throughout its twenty-seven-year run, the programme was always broadcast on the main ITV network. In later years, episodes of the show were repeated on ITV3 on their week of broadcast. The series has also been repeated on other digital stations, including UKTV Gold, Alibi, Watch and UKTV G2. In March 2010, executives at ITV announced that the network did not intend to recommission The Bill, and that filming on the series would cease on 14 June 2010. The last ever episode of the series was aired on 31 August 2010.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: captivating, serious, sincere, detective, crime drama, realistic
Similar in 82%
Edge of Darkness (1985)
Plot Summary:
The mysterious murder of an environmental activist leads her straight-laced father, an Inspector of the local police force, through a haunting revelation of the murkiness of the British Nuclear Policy of the eighties.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 307 min
Plot tags: detective, political, political thriller, cult classic, tense, mind bending, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 78%
Criminal Justice (2008)
Plot Summary:
The worst thing Ben has ever done is, tonight, he takes his Dad's black cab out without his permission. But that's not why Ben ends the evening in a police cell. What looked to be a spontaneous evening of fun with a sexy stranger, Melanie, has culminated in a dead girl and Ben covered in her blood, holding the murder weapon. All the evidence points to Ben. There are no other leads. But he didn t do it. He can t remember all the events of the night, but he s sure he didn t. Ben is about to see what the criminal justice system does to someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 584 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, captivating, suspense, atmospheric, crime drama, rough, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
White Heat (2012)
Plot Summary:
A story about a group of seven London-based students from 1965 to the present day.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 709
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, family saga, saga
Similar in 86%
Traffic (2004)
Plot Summary:
A three-part miniseries that offers a look into the world of trafficking, where drugs, weapons, and even people are traded all over the world. Here, the lives of three Seattle-based men become intertwined...until they're all in over their heads.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 920
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 260 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, realistic, serious, tense, psychological, exciting, rough, crime drama
Similar in 75%
Stolen (2011)
Plot Summary:
A fast-paced thriller about a vital and terrifying subject - the trafficking of children - with the heart-stopping vibrancy, compassion and energy that only the fate of children inspires. This is a story that touches all our lives. And it's happening now.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 329
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, thought provoking, realistic, bleak, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Sex Traffic (2004)
Plot Summary:
Boston based Kernwell Industries is an American defense contractor. One of those contracts is to deploy 3,000 peacekeepers to the International Peacekeeping Coalition's work in the Balkans. Because of the near epidemic problem of sex trafficking of young Balkan women, Kernwell has decided to support the charity, Worldwide Federation Against Forced Migration. Kernwell's head of charities is Madeleine Harlsburg, the wife of the company's CEO, Tom Harlsburg. Although it does not have a pristine reputation as a good social corporate citizen, Kernwell hits a bigger public relations problem when it is learned that one of those 3,000 peacekeepers was caught trying to buy the services of a teen-aged prostitute in Sarajevo. Although not named to the media, that person is Sergeant Callum Tate, who swears he was trying to save that woman. In reality, Tate has evidence of a larger conspiracy of sex trafficking.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 189 min
Plot tags: bleak, thought provoking, realistic, disturbing, rough, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
Five Daughters (2010)
Plot Summary:
Factually-based drama telling the stories of five young women who were tragically murdered in Ipswich in 2006.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 593
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, bleak, captivating, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Octopus (1984)
Plot Summary:
Corrado Cattani is a police inspector whose life is devoted to fighting the Italian mafia (known here as "La Piovra" or "The Octopus").
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Italy, Austria, France, UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden
Duration: 402 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, bleak, suspenseful, realistic, bad ending, rough, detective, bloody, poliziottesco
Similar in 78%
The Interceptor (2015)
Plot Summary:
A gripping eight-part series about a state-of-the-art law enforcement team whose unswerving mission is to hunt down some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals. The Interceptor delves into the adventures of a dedicated surveillance team known as the UNIT. Keeping their quarries under ultra-tight surveillance, they take us into the real world inhabited by the criminals of today. And it’s easy to recognize because it’s the same world the rest of us inhabit.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious
Similar in 89%
Between the Lines (1992)
Plot Summary:
Between the Lines was a television police drama series created by J. C. Wilsher and produced by World Productions for the BBC. It was first shown on BBC1 between 1992 and 1994, running for three series. The show centred on the eventful life of Detective Superintendent Tony Clark, played by Neil Pearson. Clark was an ambitious member of the Complaints Investigation Bureau, an internal organisation that investigates claims of corruption inside the police in England and Wales. Along the way Clark had to overcome strong influence from his superiors and problems in his private life, most notably the break-up of his marriage following an affair with WPC Jenny Dean. Throughout the series Clark was assisted by sidekicks Harry Naylor and Mo Connell. Clark's work as a lead officer in CIB was the focus of the first two series. In the first series his boss was Deakin, a tough Irish policeman. At the end of the first series Deakin was revealed to be a corrupt officer himself. He left the force but remained a recurring character working freelance for the security services and others, sometimes in conflict with Clark and sometimes assisting him. At the start of the third series Clark, Naylor and Connell leave the police force and work in the murky world of private security, far right politics and espionage. The third series ends with the betrayal of Clark and Naylor who had been masquerading as mercenaries. The betrayal is made by Connell in league with Deakin, their former boss and nemesis. It is unclear whether Clark and Naylor have died as the show ended on a cliffhanger. Rumours of a remake did circulate for some years, but Pearson confirmed in 'Watching the Detectives' that he had wanted a 'final' ending at the time and would never return to the role.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 611
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Life of Crime (2013)
Plot Summary:
A female cop becomes obsessed with tracking down the killer of a 15-year-old girl, and hunts him over the course of her 28 year career in the force.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 730
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, detective, period piece, rough, serious
Similar in 88%
Spotless (2015)
Plot Summary:
Set in London, SPOTLESS is the story of a troubled crime scene cleaner, Jean, whose tidy life is turned upside down when his outlaw brother Martin crash lands into his world, entangling them in the deadly dynamics of organized crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
The Body Farm (2011)
Plot Summary:
Dr Eve Lockhart is one of Britain's leading forensic pathologists and runs a state-of-the-art forensic research facility called The Body Farm with her business partner Mike Phillips. Theirs is the only facility in the country using real human body-donors to examine the complex and fascinating journey the body goes through as it decays and returns to the earth.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 842
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, realistic, tense, captivating, detective, psychological, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
Low Winter Sun (2013)
Plot Summary:
Low Winter Sun is an American television drama series developed by Chris Mundy, starring Mark Strong and Lennie James. The series premiered on August 11, 2013, on AMC, with the first season consisting of ten episodes. It is based upon the 2006 British two-part miniseries of the same name.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, suspenseful, detective, spooky, realistic, independent film
Similar in 78%
Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud (2011)
Plot Summary:
Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud is a six-part New Zealand television mini-series. The series originally aired from 17 August 2011 to 21 September 2011. It was the first Underbelly series to be created outside of Australia, and depicts events prior to and concurrent with Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
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 83%
Traffic (2000)
Plot Summary:
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine within their comfortable suburban home. In Mexico, a flawed, but noble policeman agrees to testify against a powerful general in league with a cartel, and in San Diego, a drug kingpin's sheltered trophy wife must learn her husband's ruthless business after he is arrested, endangering her luxurious lifestyle.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 217000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: suspense, bleak, political, realistic, dramatic, anthology, neo noir, tense, thought provoking, clever
Similar in 82%
Silent Witness (1996)
Plot Summary:
Silent Witness is a British crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: detective, rough, bleak, realistic, serious, crime drama, bloody, suspense, tense, brutal
Similar in 79%
The Shadow Line (2011)
Plot Summary:
A noir thriller with diverse individuals whose worlds become interwoven after the murder of drug baron Harvey Wratten. From the cop with a bullet in his brain, whose amnesia leaves him doubtful of his own moral compass; to the drug-lord driven by a profound personal tragedy, risking it all on one last deal; to the brilliantly lethal puppet-master who gradually emerges from the shadows to bring the story to its shocking climax The Shadow Line explores the morality of these characters as they negotiate the repercussions of Wratten's death and attempt to navigate the fine line between right and wrong. As the thread around Wratten's operation begins to unravel, the web of intrigue becomes more complex and the question of which side of the line they stand on becomes increasingly blurred. An intelligent and gripping conspiracy thriller that delves to the heart of human morality, The Shadow Line will have audiences enthralled over six taut and thrilling episodes. Faced with similar dilemmas, on which side of the line would you stand?.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, detective, rough, suspenseful, stylized, tense, captivating, realistic, crime drama
Similar in 75%
Snowfall (2017)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles. 1983. A storm is coming and it's name is crack. Set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it, the story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: sexy, dark drama, realistic, rough, cynical, bleak, hispanic
Similar in 87%
Narcos (2015)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 458000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Colombia
Duration: 49 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, rough, bleak, political, erotic, exciting, retro, intellectual, epic
Similar in 78%
The Corner (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough, his mother Fran Boyd, and his father Gary McCullough, as well as other addicts and low-level drug dealers caught up in the twin-engine economy of heroin and cocaine.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 376 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, sitcom, hood, crime drama, bleak, realistic
Similar in 83%
Top Boy (2011)
Plot Summary:
A thrilling and raw crime drama following a gang of drug dealers in Hackney, London - an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, suspenseful, rough, crime drama, dramatic, anime, hood, tense, bleak
Similar in 90%
Power Book II: Ghost (2020)
Plot Summary:
Picking up just days after the “Power” finale, this sequel series follows Tariq navigating his new life, in which his desire to shed his father’s legacy comes up against the mounting pressure to save his family.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Power (2014)
Plot Summary:
James “Ghost” St. Patrick has it all: a beautiful wife, a gorgeous Manhattan penthouse, and the hottest, up-and-coming new nightclub in New York. His club, Truth, caters to the elite: the famous and infamous boldface names that run the city that never sleeps. As its success grows, so do Ghost’s plans to build an empire. However, Truth hides an ugly reality. It’s a front for Ghost’s criminal underworld; a lucrative drug network, serving only the wealthy and powerful. As Ghost is seduced by the prospect of a legitimate life, everything precious to him becomes unknowingly threatened. Once you're in, can you ever get out?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, captivating, erotic, entertaining, anime, crime drama, sensual, independent film