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Reservoir Dogs poster

Movies that feel likeReservoir Dogs (1992)

A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White, newcomer Mr. Orange, psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde, bickering weasel Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie -- unravel.

If you loved Reservoir Dogs, the closest films we have are The Butterfly Effect (2004), Jackie Brown (1997) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). All three share Reservoir Dogs' gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Liquid Sky (1982).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Quentin Tarantinogrittytensecerebralplayful
9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Night Flight Plus

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If Reservoir Dogs hit the spot, these will too

The Butterfly Effect poster
The Butterfly Effect
2004 · dir. J. Mackye Gruber
🍅 34%★ 7.6science fiction · thriller

Gritty where it counts, tense underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.

Jackie Brown poster
Jackie Brown
1997 · dir. Quentin Tarantino
🍅 88%★ 7.5crime · drama · thriller

Tarantino letting scenes breathe until someone's nerve breaks

The difference: Patient and adult — a character study, not a pressure cooker

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.

Ocean's Eleven poster
Ocean's Eleven
2001 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 83%★ 7.7thriller · crimeMaxStarz

A crew assembled by a boss, each with a job and an angle

The difference: Smooth and consequence-free — nobody is really in danger here

Less than 24 hours into his parole, charismatic thief Danny Ocean is already rolling out his next plan: In one night, Danny's hand-picked crew of specialists will attempt to steal more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos. But to score the cash, Danny risks his chances of reconciling with ex-wife, Tess.

Le Cercle Rouge poster
Le Cercle Rouge
1970 · dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
🍅 96%★ 7.9crime · drama · thriller

Professional thieves, exacting codes and a job fate won't allow

The difference: Ice-cold and near-silent — ritual where yours has chatter

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

Trance poster
Trance
2013 · dir. Danny Boyle
🍅 69%★ 6.9thriller · crime · mystery

Common ground: heist

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Reservoir Dogs does

A violent gang enlists the help of a hypnotherapist in an attempt to locate a painting which somehow vanished in the middle of a heist.

Liquid Sky poster
Liquid Sky
1982 · dir. Slava Tsukerman
🍅 93%★ 6science fiction · thriller · drama

Cerebral thriller, and it commits to that

The difference: Takes it somewhere less playful than Reservoir Dogs does

An alien creature invades New York's punk subculture in its search for an opiate released by the brain during an orgasm.

The Usual Suspects poster
The Usual Suspects
1995 · dir. Bryan Singer
🍅 87%★ 8.5drama · crime · thrillerMax

Criminals in a room reconstructing a job that went badly wrong

The difference: Built around a mystery — the pleasure is the puzzle, not the pressure

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

A Clockwork Orange poster
A Clockwork Orange
1971 · dir. Stanley Kubrick
🍅 86%★ 8.2science fiction · crimeMax

Both are built on the same subject: psychopath

The difference: Easier on the tension than Reservoir Dogs

In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?

Red Rock West poster
Red Rock West
1993 · dir. John Dahl
🍅 95%★ 7crime · thriller

Gritty crime in both cases

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

Inside Man poster
Inside Man
2006 · dir. Spike Lee
🍅 86%★ 7.6crime · drama · thriller

A standoff where nobody's stated motive is the real one

The difference: Procedural and controlled — negotiation, not blood on the floor

When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.

Phone Booth poster
Phone Booth
2003 · dir. Joel Schumacher
🍅 72%★ 7.1thriller · crimePrime Video

One location, mounting panic, and a man running out of options

The difference: A single-gimmick thriller — no crew dynamic, no banter to enjoy

A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.

Now You See Me 2 poster
Now You See Me 2
2016 · dir. Jon M. Chu
🍅 33%★ 6.4crime · thrillerPrime VideoStarz

Coerced into a heist while someone unseen calls the shots

The difference: Slick and family-friendly — trickery instead of real menace

One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface only to find themselves face to face with a new enemy who enlists them to pull off their most dangerous heist yet.

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The best-reviewed films that share Reservoir Dogs’ defining feeling.