feelsalike.comSign in
Mean Streets poster

Movies that feel likeMean Streets (1973)

A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.

If you loved Mean Streets, the closest films we have are Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Casino (1995) and Pierrot le Fou (1965). All three share Mean Streets' contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is As Tears Go By (1988).

🍅 92% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Martin Scorsesecontemplativegrittyromantic
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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 Mean Streets hit the spot, these will too

Once Upon a Time in America poster
Once Upon a Time in America
1984 · dir. Sergio Leone
🍅 86%★ 8.3drama · crimePrime Video

One thread runs through both: gangster

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Casino poster
Casino
1995 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 79%★ 8.2crime · dramaPrime Video

Martin Scorsese working the same nerve twice

The difference: Takes it somewhere less romantic than Mean Streets does

In Las Vegas, two best friends-a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.

Pierrot le Fou poster
Pierrot le Fou
1965 · dir. Jean-Luc Godard
🍅 88%★ 7.4drama · romance · crimeMax

The same preoccupation in both: money

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Mean Streets does

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

Badlands poster
Badlands
1973 · dir. Terrence Malick
🍅 97%★ 7.7drama · romance · crime

Contemplative where it counts, gritty underneath

An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

As Tears Go By poster
As Tears Go By
1988 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 85%★ 7drama · crime · romanceMax

Both are built on the same subject: gangster

Mid-level gangster Wah falls in love with his beautiful cousin, but must also continue to protect his volatile partner-in-crime and friend, Fly.

Carlito's Way poster
Carlito's Way
1993 · dir. Brian De Palma
🍅 84%★ 7.9crime · drama · thrillerPrime VideoStarz

Romantic drama in both cases

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1990s show

Free after years in prison, Carlito Brigante intends to give up his criminal ways, but it's not long before the ex-con is sucked back into the New York City underworld.

West Side Story poster
West Side Story
1961 · dir. Jerome Robbins
🍅 92%★ 7.6crime · drama · romance

Both lean on stillness more than on crime

In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.

GoodFellas poster
GoodFellas
1990 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 93%★ 8.7drama · crime

Martin Scorsese directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

Dial M for Murder poster
Dial M for Murder
1954 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 90%★ 8.1thriller · crime · drama

Drama built on grit, twice over

When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.

How I Fell in Love with a Gangster poster
How I Fell in Love with a Gangster
2022 · dir. Maciej Kawulski
🍅 60%★ 6.1crime · action · dramaNetflix

Romantic crime, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A mysterious woman recounts the rise and fall of Nikodem "Nikoś" Skotarczak, one of the biggest gangsters in Poland's history. Inspired by a true story.

True Romance poster
True Romance
1993 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 93%★ 7.9action · crime · romanceNetflix

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.

Days of Being Wild poster
Days of Being Wild
1990 · dir. Wong Kar-Wai
🍅 91%★ 7.4crime · drama · romanceMax

Contemplative drama in both cases

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Mean Streets’ defining feeling.