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My Name Ain't Johnny poster

Movies that feel likeMy Name Ain't Johnny (2008)

The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

If you loved My Name Ain't Johnny, the closest films we have are R (2010), Frozen River (2008) and Black Souls (2014). All three share My Name Ain't Johnny'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 Straight Time (1978).

6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Kino Film Collection

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See it on the Mood Map

If My Name Ain't Johnny hit the spot, these will too

R poster
R
2010 · dir. Tobias Lindholm
🍅 91%★ 7.1crime · drama

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

Imprisoned for violent assault, Rune is placed in the hardcore ward, where his survival depends on quickly learning the prison's parallel world of rules, honor, and obligations.

Frozen River poster
Frozen River
2008 · dir. Courtney Hunt
🍅 88%★ 7.1drama · crime

Both lean on grit more than on crime

A financially strapped mother joins a Mohawk woman to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States.

Black Souls poster
Black Souls
2014 · dir. Francesco Munzi
🍅 89%★ 6.8crime · drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

A former narcotics smuggler, now living peaceably in the Calabrian hills, is drawn back into his family’s drug-trade dynasty by his impetuous teenage son.

A Touch of Sin poster
A Touch of Sin
2013 · dir. Jia Zhangke
🍅 95%★ 7.1crime · drama

Crime built on grit, twice over

Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.

Green Fish poster
Green Fish
1997 · dir. Lee Chang-dong
★ 7drama · crime

Contemplative drama in both cases

Returning home and finding his town drastically changed, a former soldier falls in with gangsters.

Into the Abyss poster
Into the Abyss
2011 · dir. Werner Herzog
🍅 92%★ 7.3documentary · crime

Cut from the same crime cloth

The difference: Sits closer to documentary than My Name Ain't Johnny does

We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.

7 Prisoners poster
7 Prisoners
2021 · dir. Alexandre Moratto
🍅 98%★ 7.1drama · crimeNetflix

Both know what they want from drama

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.

TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay - Away from Keyboard poster
★ 7.4documentary · crimeRent or buy

Both working the same crime territory

TPB AFK is a documentary about three computer addicts who redefined the world of media distribution with their hobby homepage The Pirate Bay. How did Tiamo, a beer crazy hardware fanatic, Brokep a tree hugging eco activist and Anakata – a paranoid hacker libertarian – get the White House to threaten the Swedish government with trade sanctions? TPB AFK explores what Hollywood’s most hated pirates go through on a personal level.

The Fool poster
The Fool
2014 · dir. Yury Bykov
🍅 93%★ 7.9drama

Both play drama straight

The Fool is a movie about a simple plumber. An honest man, he is up against an entire system of corrupted bureaucrats. At stake are the lives of 800 inhabitants of an old dorm that is at risk of collapsing within the span of the night.

Evil poster
Evil
2003 · dir. Mikael Håfström
🍅 68%★ 7.7drama

The drama is handled with the same confidence

Stockholm, in the 1950s. Erik is expelled from the local school for getting into one brawl too many. To protect Erik from his violent stepfather’s reaction to his expulsion, Erik's mother arranges for Erik to spend a year at Stjärnsberg Boarding School, the only school willing to accept him. This is Erik's last chance to graduate to Upper School and he promises his mother, for his and her sake, to do all he can to stay out of trouble.

Gomorrah poster
Gomorrah
2008 · dir. Matteo Garrone
🍅 90%★ 7drama · crimePrime Video

Crime approached the same way

An inside look at Italy's modern-day crime families, the Camorra in Naples and Caserta. Based on a book by Roberto Saviano. Power, money and blood: these are the "values" that the residents of the Province of Naples and Caserta have to face every day. They hardly ever have a choice and are forced to obey the rules of the Camorra. Only a lucky few can even think of leading a normal life.

Straight Time poster
Straight Time
1978 · dir. Ulu Grosbard
🍅 82%★ 7.4crime · drama

Crime in the same key

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.

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The best-reviewed films that share My Name Ain't Johnny’s defining feeling.