feelsalike.comSign in
A Time to Kill poster

Movies that feel likeA Time to Kill (1996)

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

If you loved A Time to Kill, the closest films we have are Phone Booth (2003), Falling Down (1993) and Primal Fear (1996). All three share A Time to Kill's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Silence (2010).

🍅 66% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.5 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Joel Schumachergrittycontemplativetense
4 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the Mood Map

If A Time to Kill hit the spot, these will too

Phone Booth poster
Phone Booth
2003 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 72%★ 7.1thriller · crimePrime Video

The same hand behind both of them: Joel Schumacher

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than A Time to Kill does

A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.

Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 77%★ 7.5crime · drama · thriller

Joel Schumacher working the same nerve twice

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

Primal Fear poster
Primal Fear
1996 · dir. Gregory Hoblit
🍅 77%★ 7.7crime · drama · thrillerParamount+

The same two preoccupations: court, and lawyer

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

Red Rock West poster
Red Rock West
1993 · dir. John Dahl
🍅 95%★ 7crime · thriller

Common ground: murder

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize 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.

Sleepers poster
Sleepers
1996 · dir. Barry Levinson
🍅 76%★ 7.5crime · drama · thriller

Both are built on the same subject: court

Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.

Irreversible poster
Irreversible
2002 · dir. Gaspar Noé
🍅 60%★ 7.3drama · thriller · crime

One thread runs through both: rape

A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.

The Silence poster
The Silence
2010 · dir. Baran bo Odar
🍅 87%★ 6.9crime · thriller · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: rape

13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past.

Traffic poster
Traffic
2000 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 93%★ 7.5thriller · drama · crime

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

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.

Caliber 9 poster
Caliber 9
1972 · dir. Fernando Di Leo
★ 7.4crime · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: blackmail

The difference: 24 years apart, and the 1970s show

Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.

Layer Cake poster
Layer Cake
2004 · dir. Matthew Vaughn
🍅 81%★ 7.2drama · thriller · crime

The same preoccupation in both: murder

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

The Experiment poster
The Experiment
2001 · dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
🍅 72%★ 7.7drama · thriller

Drama built on tension, twice over

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.

Memories of Murder poster
Memories of Murder
2003 · dir. Bong Joon Ho
★ 8.1crime · drama · thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share A Time to Kill’s defining feeling.