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Nightcrawler poster

Movies that feel likeNightcrawler (2014)

When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

If you loved Nightcrawler, the closest films we have are Panic Room (2002), The Chaser (2008) and Hannibal (2001). All three share Nightcrawler's gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Compliance (2012).

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Dan Gilroygrittycontemplativetenseunsettling
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Nightcrawler hit the spot, these will too

Panic Room poster
Panic Room
2002 · dir. David Fincher
🍅 76%★ 6.8crime · drama · thriller

Precision-built night-time tension where every move is calculated

The difference: Confined home-invasion suspense with clear victims to root for

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

The Chaser poster
The Chaser
2008 · dir. Na Hong-jin
🍅 82%★ 7.8crime · thriller · action

A morally filthy hustler racing a predator through the night city

The difference: Korean-blunt violence and despair — no satire to cushion it

Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.

Hannibal poster
Hannibal
2001 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 39%★ 6.8crime · drama · thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Watching a charming monster operate with total self-possession

The difference: Lurid gothic sequel where the horror is explicit, not everyday

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

Joker poster
Joker
2019 · dir. Todd Phillips
🍅 68%★ 8.3crime · thriller · dramaMax

An outsider curdling into something monstrous while the city rewards it

The difference: Sympathy-seeking and operatic, not a cold satire of an industry

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

American Psycho poster
American Psycho
2000 · dir. Mary Harron
🍅 69%★ 7.6thriller · drama · crimePrime VideoHulu

A hollow careerist narrating his own success while doing awful things

The difference: Broader satire of eighties excess, funnier and more surreal

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Compliance poster
Compliance
2012 · dir. Craig Zobel
🍅 89%★ 6.4drama · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: psychological thriller

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Nightcrawler does

On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food restaurant, manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee has stolen money from a customer.

The Call poster
The Call
2013 · dir. Brad Anderson
🍅 43%★ 6.7crime · thrillerStarz

The dark churn behind emergency headlines, felt in real time

The difference: A straight abduction thriller — its third act goes lurid and silly

Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.

Killing Them Softly poster
Killing Them Softly
2012 · dir. Andrew Dominik
🍅 74%★ 6.2crime · thriller

Both are working the same pair: cynicism, murder

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.

Dog Day Afternoon poster
Dog Day Afternoon
1975 · dir. Sidney Lumet
🍅 94%★ 8crime · drama · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: psychological thriller

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

Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.

The Guilty poster
The Guilty
2021 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 73%★ 6.3drama · thrillerNetflix

The same mix in both: stillness, then tension

A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.

Emily the Criminal poster
Emily the Criminal
2022 · dir. John Patton Ford
🍅 93%★ 6.7crime · drama · thriller

A desperate L.A. job hunt that curdles into confident criminality

The difference: Smaller and more sympathetic — survival, not sociopathy

Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.

The House That Jack Built poster
The House That Jack Built
2018 · dir. Lars von Trier
🍅 59%★ 6.8drama · horror · crimeRent or buy

A sociopath narrating his own ascent as if it were an artist's portfolio

The difference: Explicit and punishing — von Trier dares you to walk out

Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.

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