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High Plains Drifter poster

Movies that feel likeHigh Plains Drifter (1973)

A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.

If you loved High Plains Drifter, the closest films we have are Changeling (2008), In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Anatomy of a Murder (1959). All three share High Plains Drifter's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is After Dark, My Sweet (1990).

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Clint Eastwoodgrittycontemplativetwisty
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· History Vault

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See it on the Mood Map

If High Plains Drifter hit the spot, these will too

Changeling poster
Changeling
2008 Β· dir. Clint Eastwood
πŸ… 61%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Clint Eastwood working the same nerve twice

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, her quest for truth exposes a world of corruption.

In the Heat of the Night poster
In the Heat of the Night
1967 Β· dir. Norman Jewison
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Both land grit and stillness at once

The difference: Leans harder into crime than High Plains Drifter does

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

Anatomy of a Murder poster
Anatomy of a Murder
1959 Β· dir. Otto Preminger
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8crime Β· drama Β· mysteryPrime Video

Drama with a pulse of twists, in both cases

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

After Dark, My Sweet poster
After Dark, My Sweet
1990 Β· dir. James Foley
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.5crime Β· drama Β· mysteryStarz

Mystery built on grit, twice over

Three desperados try to kidnap a wealthy child in hope of turning their lives around.

Witness for the Prosecution poster
Witness for the Prosecution
1957 Β· dir. Billy Wilder
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.4drama Β· mystery Β· crimePrime Video

Contemplative western, and it commits to that

An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

And Then There Were None poster
And Then There Were None
1945 Β· dir. RenΓ© Clair
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.3crime Β· drama Β· mysteryPrime Video

Both lean on twists more than on drama

The difference: 28 years apart, and the 1940s show

Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island and while they are waiting for the mysterious host to appear, a recording levels serious accusations at each of the guests. Soon they start being murdered, one by one. As the survivors try to keep their wits, they reach a disturbing conclusion: one of them must be the killer.

12 poster
12
2007 Β· dir. Nikita Mikhalkov
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Gritty mystery in both cases

A loose remake of β€œ12 Angry Men”, β€œ12” is set in contemporary Moscow where 12 very different men must unanimously decide the fate of a young Chechen accused of murdering his step-father, a Russian army officer. Consigned to a makeshift jury room in a school gymnasium, one by one each man takes center stage to confront, connect, and confess while the accused awaits a verdict and revisits his heartbreaking journey through war in flashbacks.

The White Ribbon poster
The White Ribbon
2009 Β· dir. Michael Haneke
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.8drama Β· mystery

Contemplative western in both cases

An aged tailor recalls his life as the schoolteacher of a small village in Northern Germany that was struck by a series of strange events in the year leading up to WWI.

Brick poster
Brick
2006 Β· dir. Rian Johnson
πŸ… 79%β˜… 7.1drama Β· mystery Β· crime

Twisty drama, and it commits to that

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

Rashomon poster
Rashomon
1950 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· mysteryMax

Both working the same mystery territory

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Mother poster
Mother
2009 Β· dir. Bong Joon Ho
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.7crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Both are drama through and through

A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.

The Third Murder poster
The Third Murder
2017 Β· dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
πŸ… 87%β˜… 6.7drama Β· mystery Β· crime

Mystery in the same key

A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share High Plains Drifter’s defining feeling.