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Rififi poster

Movies that feel likeRififi (1955)

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.

If you loved Rififi, the closest films we have are Le Cercle Rouge (1970), The Killing (1956) and Caliber 9 (1972). All three share Rififi'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 Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Jules Dassingrittytensecontemplativeplayful
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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See it on the Mood Map

If Rififi hit the spot, these will too

Le Cercle Rouge poster
Le Cercle Rouge
1970 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Melville
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: heist

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.

The Killing poster
The Killing
1956 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9crime Β· thriller Β· dramaPrime Video

One thread runs through both: heist

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

Caliber 9 poster
Caliber 9
1972 Β· dir. Fernando Di Leo
β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller

Gritty and tense in the same breath

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Rififi

Just out of prison, ex-con Ugo Piazza meets his former employer, a psychopathic gangster Rocco who enjoys sick violence and torture. Both the gangsters and the police believe Ugo has hidden $300,000 that should have gone to an American drug syndicate boss.

The Roaring Twenties poster
The Roaring Twenties
1939 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.9crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Contemplative crime in both cases

After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.

White Heat poster
White Heat
1949 Β· dir. Raoul Walsh
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.1crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Thriller with a pulse of play, in both cases

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.

Sabotage poster
Sabotage
1936 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7drama Β· thriller Β· crimeMax

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

Karl Anton Verloc and his wife own a small cinema in a quiet London suburb where they live seemingly happily. But Mrs. Verloc does not know that her husband has a secret that will affect their relationship and threaten her teenage brother's life.

The Naked City poster
The Naked City
1948 Β· dir. Jules Dassin
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.5crime Β· mystery Β· thrillerMax

Jules Dassin directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into mystery than Rififi does

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

Odds Against Tomorrow poster
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Β· dir. Robert Wise
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both lean on grit more than on drama

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle poster
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 Β· dir. Peter Yates
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Crime built on tension, twice over

An aging hood is about to go back to prison. Hoping to escape his fate, he supplies information on stolen guns to the feds, while simultaneously supplying arms to his bank robbing chums.

A Streetcar Named Desire poster
A Streetcar Named Desire
1951 Β· dir. Elia Kazan
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama Β· thrillerMax

Common ground: black and white

A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace β€” but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.

Across 110th Street poster
Across 110th Street
1972 Β· dir. Barry Shear
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7crime Β· drama Β· thrillerPrime Video

Contemplative thriller, and it commits to that

In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?

Blackmail poster
Blackmail
1929 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.9drama Β· thriller Β· crimePrime Video

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Made in the 1920s, in a different era of the craft

London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.

In the mood for more gritty?

all gritty movies β†’

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