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Mildred Pierce poster

Movies that feel likeMildred Pierce (1945)

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

If you loved Mildred Pierce, the closest films we have are Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Scarlet Street (1945) and The Set-Up (1949). All three share Mildred Pierce'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 Blast of Silence (1961).

πŸ… 88% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Michael Curtizgrittycontemplativeatmospheric
7 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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See it on the Mood Map

If Mildred Pierce hit the spot, these will too

Angels with Dirty Faces poster
Angels with Dirty Faces
1938 Β· dir. Michael Curtiz
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8crime Β· drama

Michael Curtiz working the same nerve twice

Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.

Scarlet Street poster
Scarlet Street
1945 Β· dir. Fritz Lang
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7drama Β· crimePrime Video

The same two preoccupations: film noir, and murder

Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.

The Set-Up poster
The Set-Up
1949 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.8drama Β· crime

Both are built on the same subject: film noir

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

Force of Evil poster
Force of Evil
1950 Β· dir. Abraham Polonsky
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama

Gritty and contemplative in the same breath

Lawyer Joe Morse wants to consolidate all the small-time numbers racket operators into one big powerful operation. But his elder brother Leo is one of these small-time operators who wants to stay that way, preferring not to deal with the gangsters who dominate the big-time.

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

Common ground: black and white

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 Big Combo poster
The Big Combo
1955 Β· dir. Joseph H. Lewis
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3drama Β· crime

Atmospheric crime, and it commits to that

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.

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

Both keep coming back to the same thing: black and white

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Mildred Pierce does

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

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

One thread runs through both: murder

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.

The Big Risk poster
The Big Risk
1960 Β· dir. Claude Sautet
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.5crime

Drama built on grit, twice over

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Mildred Pierce does

Two men pull off a daring daylight payroll heist in Milan, making a fast getaway. One is returning to France after years in hiding, needing money to start fresh with his family.

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

Crime with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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.

Shoot the Piano Player poster
Shoot the Piano Player
1960 Β· dir. FranΓ§ois Truffaut
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller Β· crimeMax

Both lean on atmosphere more than on drama

Charlie is a former classical pianist who has changed his name and now plays jazz in a grimy Paris bar. When Charlie's brothers, Richard and Chico, surface and ask for Charlie's help while on the run from gangsters they have scammed, he aids their escape. Soon Charlie and Lena, a waitress at the same bar, face trouble when the gangsters arrive, looking for his brothers.

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.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Mildred Pierce’s defining feeling.