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In the Heat of the Night poster

Movies that feel likeIn the Heat of the Night (1967)

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.

If you loved In the Heat of the Night, the closest films we have are Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and And Then There Were None (1945). All three share In the Heat of the Night'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… 96% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Norman Jewisongrittycontemplativetwisty
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· MGM Plus

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If In the Heat of the Night hit the spot, these will too

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

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

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.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: murder

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

The same preoccupation in both: whodunit

The difference: Made in the 1940s, in a different era of the craft

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.

High Plains Drifter poster
High Plains Drifter
1973 Β· dir. Clint Eastwood
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.4western Β· drama Β· mystery

Twisty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into western than In the Heat of the Night does

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.

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

One thread runs through both: racism

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.

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

Crime built on grit, twice over

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

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

Mystery with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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

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

Both are built on the same subject: murder

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

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

Common ground: small town life

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

Both lean on twists more than on crime

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

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

Gritty drama 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.

The Imposter poster
The Imposter
2012 Β· dir. Bart Layton
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.4documentary Β· mystery Β· crimePrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on mystery

In 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later, he is found alive in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems.

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The best-reviewed films that share In the Heat of the Night’s defining feeling.