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The Baader Meinhof Complex poster

Movies that feel likeThe Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)

When German police viciously quell a protest against the shah of Iran, popular journalist Ulrike Meinhof rebels against her dishonest marriage, walks away from her children and joins radical anarchist Andreas Baader. Together with Baader's girlfriend, Gudrun Ensslin, they form the violent Red Faction Army, and together perpetrate a slew of terrorist attacks as a way of disrupting the fabric of what they see as an increasingly fascist state.

If you loved The Baader Meinhof Complex, the closest films we have are The Negotiator (1998), Snowden (2016) and Public Enemies (2009). All three share The Baader Meinhof Complex'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 The Lincoln Lawyer (2011).

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If The Baader Meinhof Complex hit the spot, these will too

The Negotiator poster
The Negotiator
1998 · dir. F. Gary Gray
★ 7.3action · crime · drama

Both are built on the same subject: hostage-taking

The difference: Goes its own way on the scale

The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.

Snowden poster
Snowden
2016 · dir. Oliver Stone
🍅 61%★ 7.3drama · history · crimeNetflixStarz

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

Public Enemies poster
Public Enemies
2009 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 68%★ 6.9crime · history · drama

The same preoccupation in both: prison escape

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

The Lincoln Lawyer poster
The Lincoln Lawyer
2011 · dir. Brad Furman
🍅 83%★ 7.3crime · drama · thriller

Tense where it counts, paranoid underneath

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.

Donnie Brasco poster
Donnie Brasco
1997 · dir. Mike Newell
🍅 88%★ 7.7crime · drama · thrillerNetflix

Gritty crime in both cases

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.

Shooter poster
Shooter
2007 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 47%★ 7.2drama · action · thrillerParamount+Starz

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit poster
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
2014 · dir. Kenneth Branagh
🍅 55%★ 6.2action · drama · thrillerParamount+Starz

One thread runs through both: terrorism

Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.

Exterritorial poster
Exterritorial
2025 · dir. Christian Zübert
★ 5.8thriller · actionNetflix

Both lean on momentum more than on thriller

When her son vanishes inside a US consulate, ex-special forces soldier Sara does everything in her power to find him — and uncovers a dark conspiracy.

White House Down poster
White House Down
2013 · dir. Roland Emmerich
🍅 52%★ 6.3action · drama · thrillerNetflixStarz

Both keep coming back to the same thing: terrorist plot

Capitol Policeman John Cale has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service protecting President James Sawyer. Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

The Legend of Zorro poster
The Legend of Zorro
2005 · dir. Martin Campbell
🍅 27%★ 6action · adventure · western

Epic drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans further into adventure

Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.

The Little Things poster
The Little Things
2021 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 44%★ 6.3drama · crime · thrillerRent or buy

History built on stillness, twice over

Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

Green Zone poster
Green Zone
2010 · dir. Paul Greengrass
🍅 53%★ 6.8war · action · adventure

Epic action in both cases

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Baader Meinhof Complex’s defining feeling.