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The Roaring Twenties poster

Movies that feel likeThe Roaring Twenties (1939)

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.

If you loved The Roaring Twenties, the closest films we have are White Heat (1949), Caliber 9 (1972) and High Sierra (1941). All three share The Roaring Twenties' gritty and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Across 110th Street (1972).

🍅 100% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Raoul Walshgrittycontemplativetense
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Roaring Twenties hit the spot, these will too

White Heat poster
White Heat
1949 · dir. Raoul Walsh
🍅 94%★ 8.1crime · drama · thriller

Raoul Walsh working the same nerve twice

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.

Caliber 9 poster
Caliber 9
1972 · dir. Fernando Di Leo
★ 7.4crime · thriller

The same preoccupation in both: gangster

The difference: Easier on the stillness than The Roaring Twenties

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.

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

Raoul Walsh directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into action than The Roaring Twenties does

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

Sabotage poster
Sabotage
1936 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 91%★ 7drama · thriller · crimeMax

Gritty where it counts, contemplative underneath

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.

Blackmail poster
Blackmail
1929 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 88%★ 6.9drama · thriller · crimePrime Video

Both lean on tension more than on crime

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.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle poster
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 · dir. Peter Yates
🍅 98%★ 7.4crime · drama · thriller

Common ground: gangster

The difference: Made in the 1970s, in a different era of the craft

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.

The Hit poster
The Hit
1984 · dir. Stephen Frears
🍅 89%★ 7drama · thriller · crimePrime Video

Drama with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Ten years after ratting on his old mobster friends in exchange for personal immunity, two hit men drive a hardened criminal to Paris for his execution. However, while on the way, whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.

Across 110th Street poster
Across 110th Street
1972 · dir. Barry Shear
🍅 85%★ 7crime · drama · thrillerPrime Video

Contemplative thriller in both cases

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?

The Unjust poster
The Unjust
2010 · dir. Ryoo Seung-wan
★ 6.5crime · thrillerNetflix

Tense crime, and it commits to that

An honest cop has to compromise with his principles when he is told to find a scapegoat for a high-profile serial killer case in exchange for a big promotion.

Elize: Shadows of a Woman poster
Elize: Shadows of a Woman
2026 · dir. Vellas
★ 7.4thriller · crime · dramaNetflix

Drama built on grit, twice over

In this retelling of a real case, a former escort discovers her wealthy husband's infidelity and struggles to cope as betrayal poisons their marriage.

Neighboring Sounds poster
Neighboring Sounds
2012 · dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
🍅 91%★ 7.1thriller · drama · crime

Thriller built on stillness, twice over

An independent private security firm arrives at a middle-class neighborhood in Recife, Brazil.

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

Crime built on tension, twice over

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Roaring Twenties’ defining feeling.