
Movies that feel likeThe Departed (2006)
If you loved The Departed, the closest films we have are GoodFellas (1990), Infernal Affairs (2002) and The Town (2010). All three share The Departed's contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Caliber 9 (1972).
Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.
If The Departed hit the spot, these will too

Scorsese's underworld pull — charm, paranoia and the bill coming due
The difference: A true story's long arc — decades of rise and rot, no moles

One thread runs through both: undercover

Boston crime with loyalty and neighborhood pressing in on everyone
The difference: A straighter heist thriller with a romance at its center, less paranoia

Loyalty games inside an Irish mob where every angle is played
The difference: Mannered Coen cool — chess moves over adrenaline

Police work that grinds down the men doing it until nothing is clean
The difference: Slower and sadder, driven by failure rather than tightening suspense

Buried history dictating what grown men are willing to do to each other
The difference: Courtroom revenge with a sentimental streak, far less coiled

Cops, criminals and politicians tangled in one corrupt web
The difference: Italian sprawl — systemic rot, no undercover tightrope

Two friends on opposite tracks of the same criminal machine
The difference: Vegas epic pacing — narration and glitz, little tension

Common ground in both: police and gangster
The difference: Trades the stillness of The Departed for an angle of its own

A long night with an ordinary man trapped beside a professional killer
The difference: Cool and contained: one night, not a whole institution rotting

A smart operator discovering the ladder above him is rigged
The difference: Sleek British caper — clever, but the dread stays light

Both keep coming back to the same thing: gangster
The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair
In the mood for more contemplative?
all contemplative movies →The best-reviewed films that share The Departed’s defining feeling.









