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Pusher poster

Movies that feel likePusher (1996)

A drug pusher grows increasingly desperate after a botched deal leaves him with a large debt to a ruthless drug lord.

If you loved Pusher, the closest films we have are Animal Kingdom (2010), A Colt is My Passport (1967) and Deep Cover (1992). All three share Pusher's gritty and atmospheric feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Force of Evil (1950).

🍅 83% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Nicolas Winding Refnkineticgrittycontemplativeatmospheric
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Pusher hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Pusher II (2004) · Pusher 3 (2005)

Animal Kingdom poster
Animal Kingdom
2010 · dir. David Michôd
🍅 94%★ 7.2crime · drama

Common ground: drug dealer

The difference: Easier on the momentum than Pusher

Joshua “J” is taken in by his extended family after his mother dies of an overdose. The clan, ruled by J’s scheming grandmother, is heavily involved in criminal activities, and J is soon indoctrinated into their way of life. But J is given a chance to take another path when a cop seeks to help him.

A Colt is My Passport poster
A Colt is My Passport
1967 · dir. Takashi Nomura
★ 7.4action · crime · drama

The same mix in both: momentum, then grit

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

A gang lord hires Kamimura, a hit man, to take out a rival boss who's gotten greedy.

Deep Cover poster
Deep Cover
1992 · dir. Bill Duke
🍅 87%★ 7action · thriller · crime

Both are built on the same subject: drugs

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Pusher does

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

SPL: Kill Zone poster
SPL: Kill Zone
2005 · dir. Wilson Yip
🍅 80%★ 6.9action · crime · dramaPrime Video

Contemplative where it counts, atmospheric underneath

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Pusher does

Chan, an articulate senior detective nearing the end of his career, is taking care of the daughter of a witness killed by ruthless crime lord Po. Martial arts expert Ma is set to take over as head of the crime unit, replacing Chan who wants an early retirement.

The Grifters poster
The Grifters
1990 · dir. Stephen Frears
🍅 92%★ 6.8crime · drama

Both lean on grit more than on crime

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.

One False Move poster
One False Move
1992 · dir. Carl Franklin
🍅 93%★ 7.1crime · drama · thriller

Contemplative drama in both cases

Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.

Polar poster
Polar
2019 · dir. Jonas Åkerlund
🍅 20%★ 6.3action · crime · dramaNetflix

Action built on momentum, twice over

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

When a retiring assassin realizes that he is the target of a hit, he winds up back in the game going head to head with a gang of younger, ruthless killers.

High Sierra poster
High Sierra
1941 · dir. Raoul Walsh
🍅 92%★ 7.5crime · drama · action

Atmospheric action, and it commits to that

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

Scarface poster
Scarface
1932 · dir. Howard Hawks
🍅 98%★ 7.7crime · action · drama

Crime with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

The Big Combo poster
The Big Combo
1955 · dir. Joseph H. Lewis
🍅 93%★ 7.3drama · crime

Gritty drama in both cases

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.

Force of Evil poster
Force of Evil
1950 · dir. Abraham Polonsky
🍅 100%★ 7.2crime · drama

Crime with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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 Long Good Friday poster
The Long Good Friday
1980 · dir. John Mackenzie
🍅 97%★ 7.5crime · thriller · dramaMax

Both lean on atmosphere more than on drama

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

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