feelsalike.comSign in
High Sierra poster

Movies that feel likeHigh Sierra (1941)

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

If you loved High Sierra, the closest films we have are White Heat (1949), Odd Man Out (1947) and Scarface (1932). All three share High Sierra'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 Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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 High Sierra hit the spot, these will too

White Heat poster
White Heat
1949 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same hand behind both of them: Raoul Walsh

The difference: Trades the momentum of High Sierra for an angle of its own

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.

Odd Man Out poster
Odd Man Out
1947 Β· dir. Carol Reed
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thrillerMax

One thread runs through both: film noir

The difference: Takes it somewhere less kinetic than High Sierra does

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

Scarface poster
Scarface
1932 Β· dir. Howard Hawks
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.7crime Β· action Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: film noir

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Blast of Silence poster
Blast of Silence
1961 Β· dir. Allen Baron
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both land grit and stillness at once

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1960s show

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past and a fat gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.

Criss Cross poster
Criss Cross
1949 Β· dir. Robert Siodmak
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

Tense and atmospheric in the same breath

An armored-car guard must join a robbery after being caught with his ex-wife by her gangster husband.

Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Common ground: robbery

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

The Big Clock poster
The Big Clock
1948 Β· dir. John Farrow
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

George Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.

Killer's Kiss poster
Killer's Kiss
1955 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.5thriller Β· crime Β· dramaPrime Video

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

The Night of the Hunter poster
The Night of the Hunter
1955 Β· dir. Charles Laughton
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: prison

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

The Narrow Margin poster
The Narrow Margin
1952 Β· dir. Richard Fleischer
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· crime

Thriller built on tension, twice over

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

The Asphalt Jungle poster
The Asphalt Jungle
1950 Β· dir. John Huston
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: life on the run

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

The Woman in the Window poster
The Woman in the Window
1944 Β· dir. Fritz Lang
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thrillerPrime Video

Action with a pulse of atmosphere, in both cases

A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

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