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20 Best Biopic Movies of All Time

Hollywood and other film industries have always been fascinated with the lives of famous people. That’s why we have so many biopics made right since the beginning of cinema. Not all of them are great, but we certainly have seen a fair share of really good biopic movies. From Gandhi to Zuckerberg, Hollywood has tried its hand on making biopics on people from all strata of life. Now, let’s look at the list of top biopic movies of all time. You can watch several of these best biopic movies on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

20. Nixon (1995)

Hopkins had quite a run after he won the Academy Awards for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991), but the boldest work of his career was as President Richard Nixon in this outstanding bio from Oliver Stone . As one of the most polarizing figures of the seventies, Nixon was a true statesman, but a flawed and paranoid man, doomed as a world leader. He captures the wounded soul of the disgraced President in every way. Looking nothing like him, he instead captures his essence and speech pattern and becomes Nixon before our very eyes.

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19. Bugsy (1991)

Warren Beatty was always an interesting actor, but with his work here as murderous gangster Benjamin Siegel, he proved he was a great one. With movie star good looks, Siegel landed in Hollywood and quickly took over all gangland related activities and when visiting the desert, he had a vision of what became Las Vegas. Obsessed with his Flamingo Hotel in the desert, he failed to see his girlfriend was stealing from the mob, which brought Siegel down. Beatty is terrifying in his rages, deluded in his belief he can kill Mussolini, yet gentle and kind with his family and friend Meyer Lansky.

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18. Chaplin (1992)

A brilliant actor ready for the performance of his lifetime, stuck with a weak script, a cowardly director not willing to show his subject warts and all, Robert Downey Jr. still gave one of the great performances of all time, beautifully capturing Chaplin and his artistry. Sadly neither the director nor script took advantage of Downey being so far into character; the actor was gone, Chaplin remained. With an edgy actor such as Downey, why explore the more controversial aspects of his life? They had an actor ready to cut loose and they failed him.

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17. Downfall (2005)

Is it possible to humanize Hitler, possibly the most hated and evil man to ever exist? Bruno Ganz did that very thing in the superb German film ‘Downfall’, which explores the last days Hitler was alive in his bunker, the Soviets not far from the heart of the city. Hands shaking, frail, obviously drugged heavily, he knows the end is near and what is coming; he knows what the reaction will be to his Death Camps. Often gentle and kind with those around him, other time he flies into a rage when his orders are not followed. In the end, the monster was all too human, just a man. An astounding, brave performance.

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16. Lincoln (2012)

The moment we laid eyes on him in the opening moments of the film, and he spoke in that surprising high reedy voice, audiences felt they were encountering Abraham Lincoln, possibly the greatest American who ever lived. Daniel Day-Lewis poured over books, found descriptions of his voice, his gait, the manner in which he spoke and the deep melancholy he carried with him and brought it with him to his performance. His co-stars claimed they never met Day-Lewis until the film’s premiere; they knew only President Lincoln. This profoundly fine performance won the actor his third Academy Awards for Best Actor.

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15. The Aviator (2004)

As the young Howard Hughes during his Hollywood years, before the madness set in, Leonardo DiCaprio is truly outstanding. Blessed with a brilliant, inquisitive mind, he is always looking to the skies, even in his first film, ‘Hells Angels’ (1930), which he re-shot after the advent of sound. Fascinated with aviation, he built planes, making them bigger and faster, crashing one of them in downtown LA, forever damaging himself. It is a bold, outstanding performance that beautifully explores a troubled mind. The genuine fear in his eyes when he has one of his spells is truly frightening because he is never really sure if he can snap out of it.

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14. The Last King of Scotland (2006)

In portraying the purely evil yet charismatic Idi Amin Dada, actor Forest Whitaker gave a performance for the ages, winning every single award available to him that year. As self appointed President, actually dictator of Uganda, he takes a young Scottish doctor under his wing and it is through that man’s eyes we see the monster appear. Whitaker is brilliant, seething with anger and contempt for those who defy him, believing himself to be a God. Terrifying.

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13. Patton (1970)

As one of the greatest warriors in the history of the United States military, General George S. Patton did as he pleased often defying his superiors’ orders. George C. Scott is magnificent as Patton, one of the screen’s greatest performances and refused the Oscar he won for Best Actor. That iconic image that opens the film — Scott dwarfed by a massive flag — once seen can never be forgotten.

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12. My Left Foot (1989)

On the rise as an actor when he made this lovely, gritty film about Irish artist/writer Cristy Brown, afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth, Day-Lewis won the Academy Award and several other awards in announcing himself as a major new acting force. His eyes ablaze with intellect and purpose; his body betraying him with constant shaking, twitching, everything out of control except his left foot. The actor brings us the fierce mind that was trapped in that wretched body. Despite his affliction, he was gifted, horny and a heavy drinker. Day-Lewis is a miracle in the film.

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11. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

As stock swindler Jordan Belfort, who became obscenely wealthy before the FBI brought him down, Leonardo DiCaprio gives a brilliant performance – the best of his career. The young actor brings a furious energy to the performance and brash confidence, moving through the film like a young rock star. Whether stoned on drugs , smashed out of his mind, or arguing with his gorgeous wife, the actor is a revelation and force of nature. He is electrifying from beginning to end, always in motion, scheming, descending slowly into his own hell.

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10. The Social Network

Made at a time when Facebook had reached meteoric height’s, ‘The Social Network’ works as a powerful commentary on modern times and feels utterly fresh, even after six years. It deserves a place on every such list because of the treatment by David Fincher . Led by powerful performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield , it is a deeply personal tale which works on so many levels, and is a study on the nature of friendship , ambition and power.

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Helmed by Bennett Miller (who also directed ‘Foxcatcher’), ‘Capote’ chronicles the life of Truman Capote during the period when he was writing his non-fiction novel, ‘In Cold Blood’. Superbly constructed, the film feels bleak and sublime at the same time, as it tries to convey the horrors of the killings. But the movie stands out chiefly because of the honest and riveting performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman , which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. It is sad that we’ve lost a truly great artist.

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8. Malcolm X

At a run time of 200 minutes, ‘Malcolm X’ is a long movie. But it never seems long, thanks to a phenomenal performance by Denzel Washington , and nuanced direction by Spike Lee . The film dramatizes chief events of the life of African American activist Malcolm X. The film received much skepticism and criticism even before it actually hit the screen, mainly because of the sensitive nature of the subject. But it received overwhelming critical acclaim upon release. Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his standout performance, but lost out to Al Pacino , which many think was unfair on the Academy’s part.

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7. The Pianist

Roman Polanski is a director known for his technical prowess, edgy direction and excellence in handling the noir genre of cinema. But in ‘The Pianist’ , the visionary director takes his skills and gives us a devastating biographical drama. ‘The Pianist’ is the moving life-story of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish pianist and composer, portrayed by Adrien Brody , who loses his family during the Holocaust. Polanski paints a bleak, harrowing landscape – drawing from his own experiences of the war – and gives us a terrifying, yet human tale of hope and survival .

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Richard Attenborough’s enduring masterpiece ‘Gandhi’ is still fresh in the hearts of the millions of Indians who watched it at the time when it was released. Made on a very large-scale and featuring actors from both Hollywood and Bollywood, this biographical drama feels fiercely authentic. The direction is quite traditional, and is exactly what a biopic of this scale needed; after all, it was about an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. Sir Ben Kingsley’s commanding presence as Mahatma Gandhi is one of the pioneering examples of biopic performances.

5. The Elephant Man

David Lynch is a master of his craft, and is a tough director to watch. His body of work – original and largely cerebral – proves that beyond a shadow of doubt. But in ‘The Elephant Man’, the visionary director outdoes himself and shows us an intensely moving tale about a disfigured man trying to find his place in society. It is based on the life of Joseph Marrick, a man suffering from severe deformity. The film depicts his life in a Victorian freak show and his relation with Dr. Frederick Treves, who tends to him later, and provides him shelter. Technically brilliant, and at times quite bleak – considering the nature of the subject – the film is especially noted for the make-up done on John Hurt for him to look the part. It is historically quite significant because the Academy was criticized for failing to recognize the efforts gone in the make-up process, and only after this film was the category for Best Make-up introduced.

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4. Raging Bull

There are boxing movies and then there is ‘Raging Bull’ . This Martin Scorsese gem is the biographical account of the boxer Jake LaMotta, his rise to fame and his personal struggles. Scorcese pours his heart out in this picture, which is so perfectly crafted that it works both as a sports movie , and as a tragic drama. Robert De Niro gave an explosive and riveting performance as Jake LaMotta, rightfully taking home the Best Actor Oscar for this role. Shot entirely in Black and White , the movie came out in the same year as ‘The Elephant Man’, competing for the Best Picture award. Unfortunately, neither of the two won the award, which went to ‘Ordinary People’.

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3. Goodfellas

Hailed by many as the second best gangster movie ever, (first being ‘The Godfather’ ) ‘Goodfellas’ is a riveting crime drama based on a non fictional book Wiseguy, chronicling the rise and fall Henry Hill, a crime family associate. Plumbing the obscene depths of crime, ‘Goodfellas’ is an enduring tale about loyalty, betrayal and the corrupting nature of power. Martin Scorsese delivers perfection in this ageless film, which boasts of marvelous performances by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, and the swashbuckling Joe Pesci (who took home the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for his performance.)

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2. Schindler’s List

I won’t say much about ‘Schindler’s List’ here. Widely regarded as one of the best pictures in the history of cinema, ‘Schindler’s List’ is Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, and is truly a work of art. With the Second World war as the backdrop, with the Nazi terror achieving terrible heights, ‘Schindler’s List’ is a moving tale about one man’s change of heart, and how he becomes a messiah. But, oh, it still doesn’t occupy the top spot on this list. Wonder why? Well, scroll down to find out which film holds that honor.

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1. Lawrence of Arabia

A film so grand and epic in scope that it commands multiple viewings. Really, get a Blu-ray and watch it on a big screen TV. Made in 1962, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is David Lean’s magnum opus. It is a riveting saga about the life of British archaeologist T.E Lawrence and the role he played during the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Everything about this movie is beautiful in a terrific, haunting way, crafted by a film-maker at the peak of his powers. The melodious score by Maurice Jarre, the authentic, breathtaking cinematography by F.A Young (the desert never looked so mesmerizing ), and a powerful performance by the-then newcomer Peter O’ Toole , make this movie one of the greatest films of all time . Its influence can still be felt in modern biopics.

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23 Best Serial Killer Movies Based on or Inspired by True Stories

From charming strangler Ted Bundy to 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez, iconic films have been made about the most unscrupulous murderers to ever exist.

Few feelings quite compare to the spine-chilling, heart-dropping rush of watching a great thriller movie . Whether a horror fanatic or not, waiting in anticipation before a serial killer pops out from behind the door has the power to scare the living daylights out of just about anyone.

An even scarier thought that movies can convey is the consideration that some of these incidents and occurrences, however vile or morally corrupt they may be, have happened in real life. As ignorantly blissful as it would be to call it all make-believe, the most monstrous movie villains ever to hit the silver screens are modeled after real-life people and events. Here's a list of some of the best serial killer movies based on true stories.

Updated on August 26th, 2023 by Anushree Banerjee: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.

23 Wolf Creek (2005)

Inspired by the backpacker murders that were committed by Ivan Milat in Australia from 1989 to 1993, the engrossing horror film Wolf Creek focuses on three backpackers in the Australian outback who are targeted by a sadistic serial killer after offering to help the trio when they become stranded at Wolf Creek crater. The slasher's antagonist, Mick Taylor, is directly based off Milat, who over a four-year period murdered seven young tourists and disposed of their bodies in the Belanglo State Forest; he was convicted of the murders in 1996 and was given seven consecutive life sentences for his brutal crimes.

Wolf Creek writer and director Greg McLean began writing the screenplay for the film shortly after Miltat's sentencing in 1997, later stating that , "The movie was really about, 'What would it be like to be stuck in this incredibly isolated place with the most evil character you can possibly imagine, who is also distinctly Australian?'" The horror flick has been praised for its grindhouse look and honest depiction of the grisly murders, while also landing on Esquire's list of the 50 scariest films of all time.

22 The Night Stalker (2016)

Lou Diamond Phillips delivers a downright chilling performance as notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez in The Night Stalker , which centers on the efforts of a fictional lawyer to get Ramirez to confess to a murder another man has been convicted and sentenced to death for. The drama serves as an overview of the killer's heinous and violent crime spree that occurred in 1980s California, which caused widespread panic and hysteria throughout the state and its inhabitants over the course of a year.

By the time Ramirez was apprehended in 1985, he had allegedly murdered more than 15 people and was ultimately convicted of killing thirteen and sexually assaulting eleven victims. The gripping film successfully depicts the terror Ramirez sowed within the country and its intense aftermath, and Phillips is phenomenal as the violent and disturbed serial killer; Bob Calhoun of Roger Ebert's website lauded the actor in their review, writing, "It's Phillips' brooding intensity that draws you into the film, and will have you locking your back windows when it's over."

21 Next Time I'll Aim For The Heart (2014)

Next Time I'll Aim for the Heart is a hidden gem in this list. Hidden, mostly because of its lack of availability to the global audience. Cedric Anger's take on Alain Lamare and his crimes portrays a shocking picture of just how often people get away with their wrongdoings in plain sight just because nobody stops to take a second look at things. Lamare, or Neuhardt in the movie, a police officer in France, went the extra mile during his patrols to kill young women between 1978 and 1979, and got away with it for a long time.

Simply because as a high ranking rule following police official, nobody suspected his blatantly psychopathic behavior, especially in a force comprised of individuals too busy trying to one-up each other to actually try to solve the case. With almost everyone in his surrounding ignoring his alarming and never-subtle actions, the movie makes the audience frustrated. Especially as it shows how such genuinely disturbing and disturbed individuals in positions of power can easily get away with those things and what it could mean for our society.

20 Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile (2019)

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile follow Liz Kendall (Lily Collins), a single mother who believes she has found the man of her dreams. Her whole world is turned upside-down when he's put on trial for a series of grisly murders. Adamant that he is innocent, Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) defends himself in America's first nationally televised trial. At the same time, Liz struggles to come to terms with the truth.

Zac Efron's mental health was reportedly put to the test for the gripping, controversial Netflix effort that chronicles the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years. Along with Efron, the film also stars Lily Collins, John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Jeffrey Donovan, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney, and Haley Joel Osment. The "shockingly evil" subject matter is based on the book The Phantom Prince; My Life with Ted Bundy by Elizabeth Kendall. Efron owns the role, despite the backlash that the film seems to glamorize the real-life serial killer.

19 The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

Inspired by the life and crimes of Dennis Rader, the Kansas serial killer who deemed himself BTK (for "bind, torture, kill"), the coming-of-age thriller The Clovehitch Killer focuses on a 16-year-old boy who makes the chilling realization that his seemingly picture-perfect family may not be all it seems when he suspects his father is a violent killer. Dylan McDermott is phenomenal as Don Burnside, the devout Christian patriarch who harbors a gruesome, secret identity in which he stalked and strangled 10 females a decade earlier before going dormant.

The film draws direct parallels to Radner's story, as he was also a family man, a member of the church council and even a Cub Scout Leader; he was convicted of killing 10 people between 1974 and 1991 before being arrested in 2005. His daughter Kerri struggled with the devastating realization that her father was a horrific killer, expressing how her childhood was ordinary and that they were a "normal American family." The Clovehitch Killer earned acclaim upon its release, with Paste Magazine declaring it "a devilish movie that does beautifully what horror films are meant to—vex us with fear—through the most deceptively simple of means."

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18 No Man of God (2021)

Speaking of Ted Bundy, No Man of God also centers on the killer who, in 1980, was sentenced to death by electrocution. In the following years, he agreed to share the details of his crimes, but only with one man, Bill Hagmaier (Elijah Wood). The movie is based on the true story of the bizarre and complex relationship that formed between an FBI agent and an incarcerated Ted Bundy (Bill Kirby) in the years leading to his execution. The standout performances alone make this one a can't-miss, especially for fans of the dark subgenre.

Hagmaier recorded over 200 hours with Bundy. At the time, he was one of the five members of the original Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). As Bundy's execution neared, and he had exhausted all his appeals, he began confessing details of his crimes, from methods, motivations, and acts committed after the murders in a bid to avoid the electric chair.

17 The Strangers (2008)

Although it started off as low-rated and critically ignored when it was first released in theaters, Bryan Bertino's The Strangers has since become a significant cult classic in the true crime genre. What makes this movie so unique is that it is based on two different heinous activities that shook people. One of them being the Manson family murders and the other one coming from Bertino's personal experiences of having his neighborhood raided by invaders in his childhood. As a result, the impact of those events is evident not only in the material but also in the way the story is presented.

In a unique spin, unlike many other movies based on serial killers and such tragic events, Bertino refuses to take a deeper dive into the mind of the killers or explain the motivation behind such heinous crimes. In doing so, he presents the cases as they are, a cold look at the brutality committed by said killers without trying to sympathize with them. Which is quite fair, because when you are faced with a stranger, you can never predict their actions or know the motivations behind the same, and especially if they turn out to be muderers, to the victim, their action would be a random act of violence against them without ever finding out why they had to face such a crule fate. This is what makes The Strangers all the more brutal, bleak, and more of a realistic account of such tragic events, which, deservedly puts it up to its cult classic postion.

16 The Frozen Ground (2013)

The Frozen Ground is a thriller based on real-life serial killer Robert Hansen, a.k.a. the Butcher Baker. Hansen abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered 17 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, between 1971 and 1983. Hansen would turn his victims loose in the secluded Alaskan wilderness and hunt them down with a Ruger Mini-14 and a knife. He mainly targeted sex workers. The idea behind this was that he chose women he saw as inferior as a form of revenge for being rejected by women his entire life.

In the film, Hansen is portrayed by John Cusack . Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) is the Alaskan State Trooper trying to end Hansen's reign of terror. He had become aware of the large number of women going missing in the area and decided to investigate. With the help of a criminal profiler, he was able to narrow down suspects, eventually finding his way to Hansen. If you like creepy movies, this is one for you, as the premise of being hunted for sport is spine-chilling.

15 Scream (1996)

Wes Craven's iconic '90s slasher Scream completely took the world by storm when audiences watched in horror as Hollywood It-Girl Drew Barrymore was brutally murdered by the terrifying Ghostface in the opening scene of the cult classic. In the highly-influential film, teenager Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her fellow friends and high school students are terrorized by a deranged, masked killer in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California. Writer/creator Kevin Williamson drew inspiration for the premise of Scream from Danny Rolling, A.K.A. the Gainesville Ripper, a notorious Florida serial killer who murdered five students in 1990.

Rolling would mutilate his victims' bodies and pose them in sexually provocative positions, targeting petite white brunettes with brown eyes. In the Wes Craven masterpiece , Ghostface often calls and taunts his victims before attacking them, focusing mainly on young females who are alone and vulnerable (much like Rolling did). Scream is credited with revitalizing the horror/slasher genre and helped launch a lucrative and enduring film franchise.

14 10 Rillington Place (1971)

Based on the story of John Christie, a British serial killer who has murdered eight people, this film focuses on how he lured women and strangled them to death at his flat, 10 Rillington Place. Richard Fleischer ensures that the reality of Christie's crimes is reflected through the film. An important factor in this particular film is that it also focuses on the way in which Timothy Evans was wrongly executed via the death penalty for Christie's crimes.

Therefore, it looks at the law and justice of the time, which is not something many serial killer films focus on. In his review of the film, Adam Scovell of BBC calls it "the ultimate in British true crime drama," because 10 Rillington Place focuses more on fact as opposed to fiction.

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13 From Hell (2001)

From Hell is a 2001 psychological thriller directed by Albert and Allen Hughes. The plot follows Frederick Abberline, a Chief Inspector played by Johnny Depp , in his hunt for the renowned real-life supervillain everyone refers to as "Jack the Ripper."

Dawning in 1888, Jack the Ripper was the name given to a mysterious culprit who killed and tortured five, and likely even more women, all found within a mile radius of each other. Knowing the person responsible for such heinous crimes was never found, caught, or identified at all is perhaps even more haunting than the startlingly mutilated state these victims were found in. Based on a book rooted in conspiracy, From Hell is very entertaining and befitting to what happened in history, but it is not entirely, wholeheartedly accurate.

12 The Tenderness of Wolves (1973)

The Tenderness of Wolves shows a bleak, monstrous reality of how far humans can go when presented with the opportunity of getting away with our actions. Based on the crimes of Fritz Haarman, the killer who inspired Fritz Lang to make the formative 1931 serial killer movie M , the movie shows a bleak reality of a world when people are way too invested in surviving a crumbling society and utter lawlessness that comes with it to ever question the people around them.

As was the case with the first World War ravaged Germany when the crimes took place. As a result, someone as blatantly creepy as Haarman got away with constantly dumping huge bundles into rivers, or trading a seemingly never ending supply of boys' clothes or dubious cuts of meat to the local shops sourced from his 24 victims. With every frame saturated with despair, The Tenderness of Wolves paints a frustratingly chilling picture of what could befall a society in collapse and the people punished with the task to survive it through the microscopic lense of "The Vampire of Hanover" as Haarman was nicknamed in regard to his habit of drinking the blood of his victims. Although not as popular as some of the others on this list, this movie holds a special place among the fans of arthouse and horror movies who can connect with its extremely hopeless outlook on life.

11 The Boston Strangler (1968)

Loosely hinged on a true story from the early 60s, The Boston Strangler centers around a man named Albert Desalvo, played by Mauro Lannini, who was convicted for murdering 13 women and sentenced to life in prison on the account. After suffering a traumatic upbringing, Desalvo would go on to lead a lecherous and diabolical life. This epic espionage, directed by Richard Fleisher, does a great job both educating and entertaining audiences on the wicked inner workings of an evil mind.

Pirates of the Caribbean 's Kiera Knightly stars in a newly released film about the killer, titled Boston Strangler , in which she will play Loretta McLaughlin, the reporter who first broke the story of the Strangler and challenged sexism in the 1960s to report on Boston's most notorious killer.

10 The Snowtown Murders (2011)

Australia's most famous massacre was made into a movie in 2011 with Justin Kurzel's directorial debut, The Snowtown Murders . Between August 1992 and May 1999, three young men named John Justin Bunting (Daniel Henshall), Robert Joe Wagner (Aaron Viergever), and James "Jamie" Spyridon Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway), carried out what would become known as the "bodies in barrels murders." The details of the gruesome killings are harrowing, involving both torture and cannibalism.

Not only was this one of the vilest trials South Australian courts had seen to date, but it also lasted longer and received more worldwide publicity. Whimsical and compelling to the core, Kurzel immaculately captures the catastrophic impact these three men — four, counting their getaway grave digger Mark Haydon — had on Australian history.

9 Monster (2003)

Whoever thinks only men can take the crown for violent and murderous intent has never heard of Aileen Wuornos. For those who fall under this category, Monster , a biographical crime film written and directed by Patty Jenkins, is a great watch. Starring household name Charlize Theron , Jenkins' creative masterpiece retells the sinister story of a struggling young lady as she works her way from the streets to a next-level crime: murder.

Wuornos, both in real life and on the big screen, was a prostitute prosecuted for slaughtering seven men, whom she served as clients, between the years of 1989 and 1990. A crowd-pleaser doubling as a semi-fictional chronicle about one of the most disreputable female serial killers in true-crime history, Monster became a triple threat to the theaters when it won multiple Academy Awards upon release in 2002.

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8 My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Jeffrey Dahmer may very well be the most infamous serial killer of all time, and My Friend Dahmer might be the best biography-based psychological thriller film about him ever made. Riveting from start to finish, the 2017 American adaptation was directed by Marc Lynch and is, hinted in the title itself, based on none other than the Milwaukee Cannibal himself.

Ross Lynch stars as Dahmer and former Naked Brother's Band actor-artist Alex Wolff plays John "Derf" Backderf. Backderf is the cartoonist who inspired the movie's making with his graphic novel of the same name he wrote back in 2012. However, as the narrative reveals, Backderf is more than just a talented artist and vivid storyteller. Up until the killings began in 1978, he was Dahmer's real-life high school buddy.

7 To Catch a Killer (1992)

John Wayne Gacy might have single-handedly created Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) with his reign as the formidable "Killer Clown," and To Catch a Killer paints a perfect picture of why. Truly terrifying to anyone and equally entertaining for horror-film fanatics, the 1992 two-part television saga, directed by Eric Till, details the gruesome and gory past of a sadistic serial killer who sexually assaulted and brutally butchered over 30 young boys.

Despite the unspeakable nature of his crimes, the most frightening element to consider, whether dramatized or bona fide facts, is the costume he wore while committing them. And a red-squeaky nose was not the only prop he used. Gacy also wore a completely different, seemingly kind, and neighborly personality to mask his grueling, bloodthirsty face.

6 Helter Skelter (1976)

Named after the famous Beatles' song, Helter Skelter , directed by Tom Gries, is a psychological-thriller television drama released in 1976. Giving the word cult-classic a whole new meaning, the flick is based on the horrible atrocities committed by the Manson Family. The Manson family murders are among the most arduous archives to dip into, and this movie certainly measures up.

Manson first came into the public eye when it was discovered that he had orchestrated the Tate-La Bianca murders in 1969. While he did not commit the murders himself, he was able to get his followers to commit the crimes for him, resulting in seven deaths. Manson is now dead, having passed away on November 20, 2017, after four decades in prison.

5 Zodiac (2007)

Another unsolved true-crime enigma and among the most notably well-known at that, the Zodiac killer deserves a movie more than anyone. Zodiac , directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Raysmith's 1986 novel, is an epic account of the serial killer who littered the San Francisco Bay Area with bodies from the late 1960s to the early '70s.

Not only does the dramatized version capture the cunning craft and terrifying tactics used by the Zodiac killer, but it also stars some huge Hollywood names, such as Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Albeit, even these A-list actors seem sidepieces to the suspense of this true-crime story.

4 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

If the acts of one serial killer weren't gruesome enough, imagine the addition of another to the frame. Interestingly, this cult classic focuses on the story of real-life murderers, Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole. What makes this film quite disturbing is its portrayal of these two characters' thirst for blood. The film is a blend between fact and fiction simply because investigators and journalists found it hard to believe Lucas. In fact, he was known as "The Confessions Killer" as he went on to confess to around 600 murders even though he was only convicted of 11.

Thus, John McNaughton added his creative imagination to the seemingly false accounts of this serial killer, who is also a pathological liar, and created this gruesome film. It is definitely not an easy watch, but it does speak loudly about certain humans' inhumane desires.

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73 Best Crime Movies of All Time, Ranked for Filmmakers (2023)

Y ou’re looking for a list of the best crime movies of all time. Maybe you want to find action crime films, or crime thrillers, or perhaps even a crime comedy movie or a crime drama. We’ve got you covered.

In this post, we’ve compiled a list of the best crime movies of all-time, including American crime movies and the top crime films from around the world. All of these movies are worth a watch, so pop some corn, call your lawyer, pour a glass of your favorite pruno, and start the show.

Best Crime Movies of All Time

Preface for our best crime movie list.

Crime movies can mean a lot of things, so we’ve decided to leave most courtroom drama, superhero films, and criminals motivated by ideology rather than personal gain. We also rank our list based on how well the movie represents the crime genre over other genres and then take into account the actual quality of the film. 

For instance, Gone Girl and Memento are great films that could fall into the crime genre, but they don’t represent the crime genre, as well as films, focused on a life a crime like films such as Goodfellas and Heat .

Now… less talk. More Crime!

AUSTRALIAN CRIME MOVIES

73.  animal kingdom (2012).

Animal Kingdom  •  Trailer

This Australian crime film is one of the top crime movies because of it's authenticity as well as the cast. It was so good they’ve since made a television series based on the film. 

IN CONCLUSION

Animal kingdom.

The film is loosely based on the Melbourne crime scene in the 1980s and the Pettingills crime family. Also, the random revenge murder of two patrolmen recreates the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings.

INDEPENDENT CRIME MOVIES

72.  good time (2017).

Good Time  •  Trailer

Before they put Adam Sandler through the wringer, the Safdie Brothers concocted this "gem." A white-knuckle ride from start to finish and any doubts about Robert Pattinson's acting ability were decidedly vanquished. This is one of the best crime drama movies, and while it is very dramatic it also one of the best crime thrillers out there.

The scene in the subway was shot during rush hour with real passengers on the 7 train. In order to shoot unnoticed, they directed Pattinson by text messages while the camera and crew was filming in the same wagon.

BEST CRIME DRAMA MOVIES

71.  the place beyond the pines (2012).

The Place Beyond the Pines  •  Trailer

This film is one of the best crime movies because it brings many new ideas to a crime genre. It works well as a crime thriller, crime drama, and crime action movie at various points.

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

The method Luke (Ryan Gosling) and Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) use to rob the banks was the actual method "Friday Night Robber" Carl Gugasian successfully used for over thirty years.

BEST AMERICAN CRIME MOVIES

70.  lawless  (2012).

Lawless  •  Trailer

Great crime movies often use authentic stories that help bring you into a specific world of crime, and that’s what this film does so well.

The Russian title of this film translates as "The Drunkest County in the World".

BEST ACTION COMEDY MOVIES

69.  last man standing (1996).

Last Man Standing  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime movies that is both haunting and unique. It’s a great crime movie that combines two worlds of crime that aren’t commonly explored in a single story.

LAST MAN STANDING

Walter Hill considered this a "free adaptation" of Yojimbo  (1961) rather than a remake, calling the idea of remaking Akira Kurosawa's film "a foolish endeavor."

BEST COMEDY CRIME MOVIES

68.  kiss kiss bang bang   (2005).

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang  •  Trailer

This is one of the best dark comedy movies and one of the top crime movies in general. Shane Black has gone on to make more in the future, but there was something about this film that was the best.

KISS KISS BANG BANG

Shane Black had been suffering from writer's block. It ultimately took him over a year and a half to write the script for this film. He then had enormous trouble trying to sell it.

67.  Drive  (2011)

Drive  •  Trailer

This is a really strong crime drama movie, and one of the only really well made crime romance films. There are some great uses of color and definitely one of the best soundtracks in crime genre, but this is a great date night crime movie as well.

After Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn removed much of the Driver's dialogue, Bryan Cranston felt that his character, Shannon, should make up for the lack of talking in the film, and thus made Shannon a motormouth. Much of his dialogue is improvised.

BEST CRIME DRAMA MOVIE

66.  the town (2010).

The Town  •  Trailer

This crime thriller takes some great cues from the best crime movies including  Heat  and  The Departed .  Ben Affleck shows off his directorial prowess with a really good American crime movie.

Ben Affleck cited The Departed  (2006),  Heat  (1995),  Mystic River   (2003), and  The Friends of Eddie Coyl e (1973) as influences on this film. Of them, Affleck said "All are R-rated movies in that same vein, and the movies I used as the gold standard of success here."

BEST CRIME MOVIES

65.  the score  (2001).

The Score  •  Trailer

This really is a great crime film and a fun crime thriller where you don’t know who will come out on top. If you’ve never seen this crime film, you should give it a watch as soon as possible.

This is the only movie to star Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando, the first actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same role, that of Vito Corleone in The Godfather  (1972) and  The Godfather: Part II (1974).

TOP CRIME MOVIES

64.  lock, stock and two smoking barrels (1998).

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels  •  Trailer

This very much is more of a great crime comedy movie as opposed to anything else, but definitely lead to many great action crime movies .

LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS

The film was having trouble finding an American distributor when Trudie Styler called an acquaintance of hers - Tom Cruise. He attended a screening and loved the film. Matthew Vaughn later recalled, "It was hysterical. You had all these mid-level executives sitting there, and Cruise walked in. He saw them all sit up and pay attention, all getting on their phones, and suddenly all these senior executives joined the screening ... At the end, Tom got up in front of everyone and said 'This is the best movie I've seen in years, you guys would be fools not to buy it.'"

BRITISH CRIME MOVIES

63.  layer cake (2004).

Layer Cake  •  Trailer

This is one of the top crime movies many crime genre fans didn’t see. It’s also the film that launched both Daniel Craig’s and Tom Hardy’s careers, as well as directing career for  Matthew Vaughn .

It was Daniel Craig's performance in this film that caused Barbara Broccoli to take notice and think he might be a good fit for James Bond .

BEST CRIME COMEDY MOVIES

62.  american hustle (2013).

American Hustle  •  Trailer

While this is one of the best crime movies out there, it is very different from many of the other crime films on this list. No big shootouts or classic organized crime, but still plenty of good crime to watch.

AMERICAN HUSTLE

According to Christian Bale, much of the movie was improvised. So during the shooting of the film, he noted to writer and director David O. Russell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which Russell replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it."

CRIME THRILLER MOVIES

61.  killing them softly (2012).

Killing them Softly  •  Trailer

This is one of the top crime movies because, similar to many other  Andrew Dominik films, is a tone poem that’s trying to talk about the themes of crime and criminals with a classic plot.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY

The first feature film to use Kodak's 500T 5230 film stock.

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GOOD CRIME MOVIES

60.  the fast and the furious (2001).

The Fast and the Furious  •  Trailer

While this has become one of the biggest blockbuster franchises of all time, this began with a really great action crime movie.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

There are over 15,000 individual sound effects in the first street race.

ACTION CRIME MOVIES

59.  point break (1991).

Point Break  •  Trailer

As you may have guessed, this crime movie inspired  The Fast and the Furious , and it is one of the best action crime movies.

POINT BREAK

This was Kathryn Bigelow's highest grossing film until Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

CLASSIC CRIME MOVIES

58.  mean streets  (1973).

Mean Street  •  Trailer

Before you had every other great  Scorsese  crime movie, you had this film. Many modern crime movies have this film to thank.

MEAN STREETS

Brian De Palma helped Martin Scorsese edit some scenes in this movie.

57.  In Bruges (2008)

In Bruges  •  Trailer

This really is more of a crime drama movies but it is also a really strong crime comedy movie. Definitely worth a watch.

The painting that occasions comment even from Ray is "The Last Judgment" by Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch-like symbolism recurs throughout the movie (the dwarf is one example), suggesting that Ray and Ken may indeed encounter their own Last Judgment - or that the waiting period in Bruges is akin to purgatory.

56.  Easy Rider (1969)

Easy Rider  •  Trailer

This film has one of the most appropriate titles ever made because this crime film doesn’t play by hard a fast filmmaking rules, and has changed the way we look at filmmaking in general. 

Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda did not write a full script for the movie, and made most of it up as they went along. They didn't hire a crew, but instead picked up hippies at communes across the country, and used friends and passers-by to hold the cameras, and were drunk and stoned most of the time.

55.  New Jack City (1991)

New Jack City  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime drama movies ever made and it’s very similar to  Scarface  in how it feels like a criminal telling of Icarus. It shows the rise of a man who just won’t stop rising until his wings melt.

NEW JACK SITY

The chase between Scotty and Pookie was improvised. The original idea was for the chase to be a car chase, but the movie had gone over budget and was in danger of being shut down. Chris Rock, instead, hopped on a bicycle, and Ice-T chased him on foot.

BEST DRUG CRIME MOVIES

54.  a scanner darkly (2006).

A Scanner Darkly  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime movies of all time because it takes a unique approach not only to the filmmaking but also the story.

According to Writer and Director Richard Linklater , filming was completed in twenty-three days. The animation took eighteen months.

COMIC BOOK CRIME MOVIES

53.  sin city (2005).

Sin City  •  Trailer

Similar to the last film on our list, this is a very unique crime film and works as a crime action movie, a crime comedy, and a crime thriller.

Directors Robert Rodriguez  and  Frank Miller planned each shot in the movie by using the panels from the original book as storyboard.

ROMANCE CRIME MOVIES

52.  the thomas crown affair (1999).

The Thomas Crown Affair  •  Trailer

Beyond being one of the greatest crime films of all time is how this is slick and sexy and fun. It also works as a really strong crime thriller, and the tonal shifts in the film are really natural and seamless.

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR

The idea of unusual heat in the museum rendering thermal cameras useless, came from Director John McTiernan's   Predator  (1987). In that movie, McTiernan's thermal cameras began to fail, when the jungle temperature broke ninety degrees Fahrenheit (thirty-two degrees Celsius).

51.  Traffic (2000)

Traffic  •  Trailer

Traffic  is a very unique crime movie because it takes a look at crime in a three different storylines during the same time period. This is one of the best crime films ever made because it is painfully real.

Director Steven Soderbergh is known as being first camera on many of his films, as a result, he was operating the camera for most of the shooting.

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BEST DRAMA CRIME MOVIES

50.  donnie brasco  (1997).

Donnie Brasco  •  Trailer

As far as crime films go, this is one of the most authentic you’ll ever watch. It has a similar tone and sensibility to  Goodfellas  but without the stylized approach.

DONNIE BRASCO

Joseph D. Pistone said in an interview in the special features on the DVD that he was supposed to be undercover for a few months. It ended up being six years. His family was moved across the country after nine months. He rarely saw them.

49.  Matchstick Men (2003)

Matchstick Men  •  Trailer

This is one of those crime movies that doesn’t have guns and heists, but it’s still one of the best crime movies ever made and one of the only comedy crime movies made by Ridley Scott .

MATCHSTICK MEN

The airport scenes, set at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), were actually filmed in the main entrance of the Anaheim Convention Center, a mile south of Disneyland.

48.  Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises  •  Trailer

This is easily one of the best crime drama movies ever made, and it's one of the great examples on how to shoot a thrilling movie fights .

EASTERN PROMISES

For the bathhouse fight scene, the scene was choreographed with the actors instead of stuntmen. The actors had to train in specific fighting styles chosen for their characters and it took two days to shoot on location in London.

TRUE CRIME MOVIES

47.  blow (2001).

Blow  •  Trailer

This is a crime movie that really takes you inside the inner workings of drug trafficking and the life of a man who lived a life of crime.

According to the director's commentary, the tape that George Jung leaves for his father near the end of the movie is a verbatim transcript of a tape that the real George Jung recorded under similar circumstances.

46.  Jackie Brown (1997)

Jackie Brown  •  Trailer

It’s true that  Quentin Tarantino makes some of the best crime movies out there and this crime film is no exception.

JACKIE BROWN

When Pam Grier walked in to audition for Quentin Tarantino, "there were all my posters from twenty years ago, when I was just a piss and vinegar kid", she recalled. "And I said, 'Did you put these up because I was coming over?' And he said, 'No. I was gonna take them down because you were coming over!'"

45.  Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Catch Me If You Can  •  Trailer

This is one of those crime comedy movies that is just plain fun to watch and it's one of Spielberg's best movies and, frankly, quite underrated.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

The film shows Frank Abagnale, Jr. on the FBI's Most Wanted list. In real life, however, he never made the list - it's reserved for violent criminals.

44.  True Romance (1993)

True Romance  •  Trailer

This is one of those great crime movies that was written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by the legendary  Tony Scott .

TRUE ROMANCE

The motel room fight scene between Alabama (Patricia Arquette) and Virgil (James Gandolfini) took five days to shoot.

43.  RocknRolla  (2008)

RocknRolla  •  Trailer

Guy Ritchie  really does make some of the best crime movies out there, and this is his second film on our list of the best crime movies.

Christopher Nolan  said that it was his performance in this film that convinced him to cast Tom Hardy in  Inception  (2010) and   The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

GANG CRIME MOVIES

42.  menace ii society (1993).

Menace II Society  •  Trailer

As far as American crime movies go, this film is one of the most authentic, partly due to the lack of conventional star power.

MENACE II SOCIETY

Tupac Shakur was originally cast to play Sharif, but was fired which led to a physical fight with co-Director Allen Hughes. Shakur was charged with assault and battery.

OSCAR WINNING CRIME MOVIES

41.  the sting (1973).

The Sting  •  Trailer

This crime comedy movie won the Oscar for best picture and is one of the most beloved films of all time.

Edith Head won her 8th and final Best Costume Design Academy Award for this film. "Just imagine," she said during her acceptance speech. "Dressing the two handsomest men in the world and then getting this."

VIOLENT CRIME MOVIES

40.  bonnie and clyde (1967).

Bonnie and Clyde  •  Trailer

This is one of those American crime movies that really changed the landscape of filmmaking and how movies were received. 

BONNIE AND CLYDE

One of Director Arthur Penn's intentions was to make the character of Blanche as hysterical as possible, so that it would make Bonnie look even cooler.

39.  Road to Perdition (2002)

Road to Perdition  •  Trailer

As far as crime drama movies go, this is one of those crime films that shows the connection between family and a life of crime. Director Scott Mendes may be more famous for working on films like  American Beauty , Skyfall ,  and  1917 , but his work in  Road to Perdition is certainly some of his best.

ROAD TO PERDITION

The movie is dedicated to cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, whose died soon after, as did Paul Newman.

38.  Public Enemies (2009)

Public Enemies  •  Trailer

Michael Mann  makes some of the top crime movies out there, and this action crime movie showcases tons of classic criminals in their heyday. 

PUBLIC ENEMIES

While filming on location in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a boy, aged eleven, told Johnny Depp he loved his Fedora hat, and would like to have one like it. Depp told the boy he would see what he could do about that. After filming finished, Depp sent the boy the hat in the mail.

AMERICAN CRIME MOVIES

37.  the untouchables  (1987).

The Untouchables  •  Trailer

Similar to our last film, this is a crime thriller takes place in the days of Al Capone and the golden age of organized crime.

THE UNTOUCHABLES

Albert H. Wolff, the last survivor of the real-life Untouchables, was a consultant on this movie, and helped Kevin Costner with his portrayal of Eliot Ness.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME MOVIES

36.  the wolf of wall street (2013).

The Wolf of Wall Street  •  Trailer

Some of the best crime movies of all time are centered around white collar crime, which is just as damaging to law abiding folk.

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Martin Scorsese has confirmed that some of the editing is odd on purpose, especially the scenes where one or more characters are high, every time Jordan is seen taking drugs the scenes that follow have continuity issues and often flow oddly.

EUROPEAN CRIME MOVIES

35.  ronin   (1998).

Ronin  •  Trailer

Action crime movies require a few things to be really great, and this film has one of the best examples on how to shoot an exciting car chase .

Skipp Sudduth requested to do his own stunt driving during the car chases, and John Frankenheimer agreed. Frankenheimer told Sudduth, "I don't wanna see any brake lights."

TARANTINO CRIME MOVIES

34.  reservoir dogs   (1992).

Reservoir Dogs  •  Trailer

While this film is one of best Tarantino movies , it’s also a great example of a really good American crime movie.

RESERVOIR DOGS

In an interview on BBC in 2009, Quentin Tarantino said he was proud that the movie is often on top ten heist movies, even though you never actually see the heist.

33.  Blow Out   (1981)

Blow Out  •  Trailer

Brian De Palma not only makes the best crime thriller movies, but he also understands how to merge the crime drama genre into his films.

Quentin Tarantino stated in an interview that this film is his favorite Brian De Palma movie. In fact, Tarantino cast John Travolta in  Pulp Fiction (1994) because he liked his performance in this movie so much.

BEST CRIME DRAMA FILMS

32.  taxi driver  (1976).

Taxi Driver Scene Breakdown  •   Subscribe on YouTube

This is easily one of the best crime drama movies ever made, and instead of focusing on crime as a plot device is is explored through a character’s relationship with crime and perceived justice.

TAXI DRIVER

Director Martin Scorsese claims that the most important shot in the movie is when Bickle is on the phone trying to get another date with Betsy. The camera moves to the side slowly and pans down the long, empty hallway next to Bickle, as if to suggest that the phone conversation is too painful and pathetic to bear.

ACTION COMEDY CRIME FILM

31.  baby driver  (2017).

Baby Driver  •  Trailer

Action crime movies can be a lot of fun, and director Edgar Wright does a great job creating conflict by mixing a good-hearted character in the lead role surrounded by greedy criminals. Best of both worlds. 

BABY DRIVER

In almost every scene where no music is playing, you can hear a slight ringing in the background (the sound of Baby's tinnitus).

TOP CRIME FILMS

30.  collateral   (2004).

Collateral  •  Trailer

This particular crime film is one of the best crime thriller movies out there that has really strong characters and a really great plot.

According to Michael Mann, Vincent is a man able to get in and out of anywhere without anyone recognizing or remembering him. To prepare for the movie, Tom Cruise had to make FedEx deliveries in a crowded Los Angeles market without anyone recognizing him.

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BEST CRIME FILMS

29.  the bad sleep well  (1960).

The Bad Sleep Well  •  Trailer

Akira Kurosawa  is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and this is one of the top crime movies you will have the pleasure of viewing.

THE BAD SLEEP WELL

'Kyoko Kagawa' wore both uneven shoes and a knee brace to help make her character's limp more believable and real.

CRIME DRAMA MOVIES

28.  on the waterfront  (1954).

On The Waterfront  •  On the Waterfront

This crime film is one of the best crime drama movies of all time and yet another one of Marlon Brando's best movies .

ON THE WATERFRONT

Sam Spiegel forgot to pay for rear-projection equipment, hence the reason why the cab where Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger play out the film's most famous scene has blinds.

27.  Gangs of New York  (2002)

Gangs of New York  •  Trailer

This is one of the best action crime movies of all time, especially made by Martin Scorsese, which gives us some important variety.

GANGS OF NEW YORK

Leonardo DiCaprio accidentally broke Daniel Day-Lewis' nose while filming a fight scene. Day-Lewis continued to film the scene despite the injury.

GREAT CRIME MOVIES

26.  thief   (1981).

Thief  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime movies out there and a great character study into the life of an actual authentic criminal.

After The Godfather (1972), this is James Caan's favorite film of his own. He has stated that his monologue in the diner is the scene of which he is most proud in his career.

DARK COMEDY CRIME MOVIES

25.  fargo   (1996).

Fargo  •  Trailer

Beyond being one of the great crime comedy movies, it’s also a really fun crime thriller. It’s just one of the best crime movies of all time.

William H. Macy stated in an interview that, despite evidence to the contrary, he did hardly any ad-libbing at all. Most of his character's stuttering mannerisms were written in the script exactly the way he does them in the film.

NOIR CRIME FILMS

24.   double indemnity  (1944).

Double Indemnity  •  Trailer

While this really is more of a detective noir film , it’s hard to have a list of the best crime films of all time without this movie.

DOUBLE INDEMNITY

The scene where Neff and Dietrichson can't get their car started after the murder was added by Billy Wilder after his car wouldn't start at the end of a shooting day.

23.  Chinatown  (1974)

Chinatown  •  Trailer

This film is both a really great crime drama movie as well as a really suspenseful crime thriller movie.

Jack Nicholson is present in every scene of the film.

22.  Touch of Evil  (1958)

Touch of Evil  •  Trailer

This crime film is from  Orson Welles  and it serves as one of the best crime thriller movies and an origin of the suspenseful long take .

TOUCH OF EVIL

Orson Welles said that this was the most fun he'd ever had filming a picture, unlike most of his Hollywood films, because he wasn't troubled by studio interference (until after he completed the picture, anyway).

BEST CRIME THRILLER MOVIES

21.  the maltese falcon  (1941).

The Maltese Falcon  •  Trailer

If you want to see how many of the best crime thriller movies were made you need to start at the early parts, and that means this crime film.

MALTESE FALCONS

Two "Maltese Falcons" were used because Humphrey Bogart accidentally dropped the original during shooting. It is on display in the movie museum at Warner Bros. studios; its tail feathers are visibly dented from when Bogart dropped it.

20.  The French Connection  (1971)

The French Connection  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime thriller movies ever made, as well as being one of the great action crime movies of all time.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

The car crash during the chase sequence, at the intersection of Stillwell Ave. and 86th St., was unplanned and was included because of its realism. The man whose car was hit had just left his house a few blocks from the intersection to go to work and was unaware that a car chase was being filmed. The producers later paid the bill for the repairs to his car.

19.  Snatch   (2000)

Snatch  •  Trailer

This is the best crime movie made by director Guy Ritchie, and possibly the best British crime movie ever made. It’s also a really strong crime comedy movie that solidified Ritchie’s unique style.

Every mistake that Sol, Vincent and Tyrone make were inspired by various late-night TV shows about real-life crimes gone horribly wrong.

COMEDY CRIME FILMS

18.  ocean’s eleven  (2001).

Ocean's Eleven  •  Trailer

This remake from Steven Soderbergh is one of the best crime comedy movies ever made and was followed by some great sequels.

OCEAN'S ELEVEN

Steven Soderbergh used a 45-degree shutter effect for the flashback scenes. It causes the film to be exposed to light for less time than usual and results in more of a choppy feel.

ORGANIZED CRIME MOVIES

17.  american gangster  (2007).

"Somebody Or Nobody" Scene  •  American Gangster

American Gangster is a great organized crime movie and definitely the best crime movie made by director Ridley Scott.

AMERICAN GANGSTER

Ridley Scott recalls that this production was one of the most massive undertakings of his career. There were 360 scenes filmed in over 180 different locations.

16.  The Usual Suspects  (1995)

The Usual Suspects  •  Trailer

This crime thriller movie launched the career of Bryan Singer and Chistopher McQuarrie. Definitely a top crime film with much to learn from the Oscar-winning Usual Suspects  screenplay . 

THE USUAL SUSPECT

Christopher McQuarrie had previously worked for a detective agency, and this influenced the depiction of criminals and law enforcement officials in the script.

15.  Carlito’s Way  (1993)

Carlito's Way  •  Trailer

This Brain De Palma film is one of the best crime drama movies ever made and it shows a criminal who wants to redeem himself.

CARLITO'S WAY

The exterior of the hospital where Carlito visits his bedridden attorney is the same one where Vito Corleone is taken in The Godfather (1972), also starring Al Pacino.

AMERICAN CRIME THRILLER MOVIES

14.  training day  (2001).

Training Day  •  Trailer

This is one of the best crime thriller movies ever made and it shows how the lines of crime and crime fighter are often blurred.

TRAINING DAY

The license plate on Alonzo's car is "ORP 967" obviously a nod to Officer Rafael Perez, the disgraced L.A.P.D. officer who was born in 1967, and on whom the character was based.

FOREIGN CRIME FILMS

13.  city of god  (2002).

City of God  •  Trailer

If you’ve never seen this film you should as soon as possible because it’s one of the most authentic and one of the best crime movies of all time.

CITY OF GOD

All the amateur actors were recruited from "favelas" (slums) in Rio de Janeiro, and a couple of them--Buscapé/Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), for example--actually lived in the Cidade de Deus (City of God) itself.

OSCAR WINNING CRIME FILMS

12.  the departed  (2006).

The Departed  •  Trailer

This is not only one of  Jack Nicholson's best performances , but the only film that has resulted in Martin Scorsese winning best picture.

THE DEPARTED

When receiving the top award from the Director's Guild of America for this film, Martin Scorsese said that this "is the first movie I have ever done with a plot."

OSCAR WINNING CRIME THRILLER

11.  no country for old men  (2007).

No Country for Old Men  •  Trailer

As far as crime thriller movies go, there are few as suspenseful as this movie. Featuring one of the best antagonists of all time, the film is also one of the best Coen Brothers movies .

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

The case that held the money in this film was the same case that was also used for the same purpose in Fargo  (1996).

GREAT CRIME FILMS

10.   the killing  (1956).

The Killing  •  Trailer

This is one of  Kubrick's best movies and definitely laid the groundwork for countless crime movies afterword. The non-linear structure is just as revolutionary as anything you've seen — and  The Killing pulled it off decades ago.

THE KILLING

Initial test screenings were poor, citing the non-linear structure as the main problem. Stanley Kubrick was forced to go back and edit the film in a linear fashion, actually making the film even more confusing. In the end, it was released in its original form, and is often cited as being a huge influence on other non-linear films like Reservoir Dogs  (1992) and  Pulp Fiction (1994).

TRUE CRIME DRAMA

9.  casino   (1995).

Casino  •  Trailer

This is definitely one of the top Martin Scorsese movies of all time , and many feel this is a better crime film than Goodfellas .

The costume budget for the film was $1 million. Robert De Niro had seventy different costumes throughout the film, Sharon Stone had forty. Both were allowed to keep their costumes afterwards.

8.  Once Upon a Time in America  (1984)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  •  Trailer

Of course, this is one of the best American crime movies even though the entire film was made with an Italian crew and an Italian director.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA

The street view of Manhattan Bridge (as seen in the film's poster) can be seen from Washington Street, Brooklyn, New York.

7.  Pulp Fiction  (1994)

Pulp Fiction  •  Trailer

As Quentin Tarantino has said himself, he wanted to take all of the classic crime tropes from his favorite films and combine them together in a way that was visually and narratively interesting.

PULP FICTION

Chronologically, the last scene in the movie is Butch and Fabienne riding away on a chopper. The first sound you can hear in the movie is of the same chopper's engine.

BEST CRIME FILMS OF ALL TIME

6.  scarface   (1983).

Scarface  •  Trailer

Scarface  is one of those crime drama movies that you can’t get out of your head once you’ve seen it. All of your criminal adjacent friends and acquaintances have  Scarface  posters on their wall with the best anti-hero on it — Tony Montana.

Tony Montana uses "yeyo" as slang for cocaine. Al Pacino learned the word while learning the Cuban accent, and ad-libbed it during the chainsaw scene. Brian De Palma liked it enough to keep using it throughout the film.

5.  L.A. Confidential  (1997)

L.A. Confidential  •  Trailer

As far as crime thriller movies go, this is the best ever made. It’s not a good crime film, it’s a perfect crime film and great crime thriller.  

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

Russell Crowe based his performance on that of Sterling Hayden in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing  (1956) "for that beefy manliness that came out of World War II".

BEST CRIME DRAMAS

4.  the godfather: part ii  (1974).

The Godfather: Part II  •  Trailer

Many believe this crime film is actually better than its predecessor, but regardless of where you place this film it is undeniably one of the top crime films ever made.

THE GODFATHER PART II

Francis Ford Coppola  had a horrible time directing  The Godfather (1972) and asked to pick a different director for the sequel, while taking the title of producer for himself. He chose Martin Scorsese, who the film executives rejected. Thus, Coppola agreed to direct the film, with a few conditions.

ORGANIZED CRIME DRAMAS

3.  goodfellas   (1990).

Goodfellas  •  Trailer

This may be the most important crime film ever to be made, because the criminals in this film are highly unlikeable. While the movie humanizes gangsters, it also shows them for who they really are.

According to Henry Hill, whose life was the basis for the book and film, Joe Pesci's portrayal of Tommy DeSimone was 90-99% accurate, with one notable exception. The real Tommy DeSimone was massively built.

2.  Heat   (1995)

Heat  •  Trailer

While many great crime movies take place in America, this is the ultimate modern American crime movie. It’s one of the greatest action crime movies which includes the greatest heist scene of all time and one of  Robert De Niro best performances .

Rather than dubbing in the gunshots during the bank robbery shoot-out, Michael Mann had microphones carefully placed around the set so that the audio could be captured live. This added to the impact of the scene, because it sounded like no other gunfight shown on-screen.

BEST CRIME MOVIE OF ALL TIME

1.  the godfather  (1972).

The Godfather  •  Trailer

The Godfather is the best crime movie of all time as well as the front runner for the greatest overall film of all time. It’s safe to say that it’s The Godfather of American crime films and crime dramas. 

THE GODFATHER

Don Vito Corleone's distinctive voice was based on real-life mobster Frank Costello. Marlon Brando had seen him on television during the Estes Kefauver hearings in 1951, and imitated his husky whisper in the film.

The Best Movie Shootouts

Let us know which are the best crime movies of all time in the comments, and then check out our other posts on films and filmmaking. Check out the next post, the The Best Movie Shootouts of All Time. 

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Gorky Park is better than all but the top ten of these selections.

Baby Driver above Taxi Driver? No Dog Day Afternoon?

Half of these movies I would never watch for a second time.

Killing Zoe (French bank robbery) with Quentin Tarantino influence and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Massachusetts bank robberies) starring Robert Mitchum are top 50 crime movies.

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Crime biography movies

In the top there are new films of 2023, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately…murder.

A coming of age drama following the life of Matt Hamill, the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate Wrestling Championship.

In the 1960s, two entrepreneurs hatch an ingenious business plan to fight for housing integration—and equal access to the American Dream.

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.

Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.

American car designer Carroll Shelby and the British-born driver Ken Miles work together to battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.

England, 15th century. Hal, a capricious prince who lives among the populace far from court, is forced by circumstances to reluctantly accept the throne and become Henry V.

Inspired by true events, Eddie the Eagle is a feel-good story about Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Taron Egerton), an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself - even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach (played by Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

A detainee at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defense attorney for his release.

The story of Elton John's life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.

The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.

An award-winning cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel, begrudgingly accepts an assignment to write an Esquire profile piece on the beloved television icon Fred Rogers. After his encounter with Rogers, Vogel's perspective on life is transformed.

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

England, early 20th century. The future writer and philologist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) and three of his schoolmates create a strong bond between them as they share the same passion for literature and art, a true fellowship that strengthens as they grow up, but the outbreak of World War I threatens to shatter it.

The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.

Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.

Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.

Set in 1977, back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, idealistic porn producer Jack Horner aspires to elevate his craft to an art form. Horner discovers Eddie Adams, a hot young talent working as a busboy in a nightclub, and welcomes him into the extended family of movie-makers, misfits and hangers-on that are always around. Adams' rise from nobody to a celebrity adult entertainer is meteoric, and soon the whole world seems to know his porn alter ego, "Dirk Diggler". Now, when disco and drugs are in vogue, fashion is in flux and the party never seems to stop, Adams' dreams of turning sex into stardom are about to collide with cold, hard reality.

Joe Gideon is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theater. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him - his obsession with work has almost destroyed his personal life, and only his bottles of pills keep him going.

The story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.

Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.

In 1429 a teenage girl from a remote French village stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. Following her mission to reclaim god's dimished kingdom - through her amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.

Saxophone player Charlie Parker comes to New York in 1940. He is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

The true story of how Ray Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire.

The story of how Richard Williams served as a coach to his daughters Venus and Serena, who will soon become two of the most legendary tennis players in history.

Combined with Music and Story, this is the remarkable history by Ukranian vocalist Tina Karol herself about the horrible circumstances that turned into incredible successes. From deceit and death to Beauty, Power and Soul.

The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.

The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.

The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

The life story of Brazilian football legend, Pele.

WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A thief comes across a little girl who says that he's her father. When he learns the truth about his lookalike, who's an honest cop, he decides to turn a new leaf and help get rid of the local baddie.

Dangal is an extraordinary true story based on the life of Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film traces the inspirational journey of a father who trains his daughters to become world class wrestlers.

Having defeated the best fighters of the Imperial Japanese army in occupied Shanghai, Ip Man and his family settle in post-war Hong Kong.Struggling to make a living, Master Ip opens a kung fu school to bring his celebrated art of Wing Chun to the troubled youth of Hong Kong. His growing reputation soon brings challenges from powerful enemies, including pre-eminent Hung Gar master, Hung Quan. However, when corrupt colonial officials stage a life-or-death contest with formidable British boxer, Twister, to humiliate the Chinese people, the masters quickly forget their differences. Soon, the eyes of the nation are on the one man capable of securing a victory-Grandmaster Ip Man!

Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

biography movie

"Loro", in two parts, is a period movie that chronicles, as a fiction story, events likely happened in Italy (or even made up) between 2006 and 2010. "Loro" wants to suggest in portraits and glimps, through a composite constellation of characters, a moment in history, now definitively ended, which can be described in a very summary picture of the events as amoral, decadent but extraordinarily alive. Additionally, "Loro" wishes to tell the story of some Italians, fresh and ancient people at the same time: souls from a modern imaginary Purgatory who, moved by heterogeneous intents like ambition, admiration, affection, curiosity, personal interests, establish to try and orbit around the walking Paradise that is the man named Silvio Berlusconi.

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

An ordinary working class boy, like all his peers, he played football day and night and dreamed of being a striker. But no matter which team he played for - in the yard, at the factory, or in the army - he was inevitably put in goal.

A story about the dramatic fate of the national poet of Belarus Yanka Kupala. The movie reveals the main milestones of the poet’s life and career, coinciding with the most tragic events of the 20th century.

A coming-of-age story based on the lives of street rappers in Mumbai.

Ancient Korea, July 4, 1762. The Crown Prince Hyojang, posthumously named Sado, son of King Yeongjo of Joseon, is accused of treason. Thus, the king asks him to commit suicide, but his closest vassals prevent it, so the king orders the prince to get inside a wooden rice chest, where he suffers deprivation of food and water.

This is the story of the poet Osip Mandelstam, recreated at the intersection of the arts and genres: puppet theater, design, computer graphics, documentary. The rebellious spirit of Mandelstam's poetry sounded a challenge to the authorities, and their author was destroyed by a state machine - he died in a transit camp. Much of what he wrote could not have been preserved had it not been for her husband Nadezhda, who taught his works by heart, copied manually-in anticipation of times when they could be published.

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The 40 best crime movies of all time

From mobsters and con artists to serial killers and thieves, here are EW's favorite capers.

Looking for a great heist, investigation, or twisty true crime film? From Steven Soderbergh 's wild and flirty Out Of Sight to the unforgettably clever Inside Man by Spike Lee , crime movies can be unforgettable testaments to the power of great scripts and even better casts. There's a reason prestige directors like Antoine Fuqua , Steve McQueen , David Fincher , Jane Campion , and Martin Scorsese have all been drawn to the genre, which absorbs the fingerprints of creators and is almost cartoonishly easy to screw up.

To make a crime movie is to flex both dramatic chops and stylistic muscle — and that confidence can be rewarded if, and only if, everyone and everything is working together. Great editing cannot save a bad crime movie, so we've decided to marvel at the best the genre has to offer.

Here are the 40 best crime movies that changed the game and got us talking.

"The French Connection" (1971)

This William Friedkin neo-noir masterpiece all but swept the 44th Academy Awards. The adaptation of Robin Moore's non-fiction book sees two detectives try to bring down a drug kingpin with complications arising at every turn. Countless films have tried to emulate its greatness since, but The French Connection is the modern blueprint of the genre for a reason. Gene Hackman — who developed new shades of menace and gravitas with each passing year — turns in a career-best performance as the determined and obsessive Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, who, along with Roy Scheider as his partner, seems truly willing to lose his life if it means catching Fernando Rey's Alain "Frog One" Charnier.

Friedkin knew where he wanted the camera for every shot, and that includes the famous car chase sequence , which still manages to instill dread and anxiety as Hackman crashes into vehicles while in hot pursuit of a villain on a train. It's ambitious, dogmatic, and insanely neglectful of everything but the pursuit of justice, a perfect metaphor for the film itself.

Where to watch The French Connection : Max

"The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" (1972, 1974)

Francis Ford Coppola 's career high mark gave audiences the American crime saga of the Corleone mafia family toward the end of the '50s, with Part II looking back on the criminal clan after Vito Corleone ( Robert De Niro ) moves to the States from Sicily. With an ensemble including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Richard Bright, Abe Vigoda, and Bruno Kirby, the prequel was already destined to be memorable, but Coppola's sense of timing and rhythm makes the film feel like a true achievement even decades later.

In an era where movies increasingly suffer from bloated runtimes, Coppola made the first installment 's three-hour length riveting, packing the story with a grand wedding, shootouts, a love story in Italy, surprise murders, and the death of a patriarch, all while having time left over for excursions in Hollywood and Las Vegas. With the role split between Brando and De Niro, Vito Corleone emerged as a tragic and vicious figure who looms over his family, leaving a legacy that haunts everyone he loves. Truly, the two performances gave us one of the most in-depth portraits of a fictitious character we've ever seen on screen.

Where to watch The Godfather : PlutoTV

"The Departed" (2006)

After a long and illustrious career, no one expected any more surprises from Jack Nicholson , yet here he is, giving the complex Irish mafia boss Frank Costello the best he has to offer. With venom and shrewd determination, Nicholson paints his character as a swaggering monster who milks every syllable of his dialogue with vitriolic relish. When you factor in Leonardo DiCaprio 's ongoing hot streak of dramatic roles around this time — and that Mark Wahlberg was hitting his golden-era stride here as a mafia informant working for the police — it's almost easy to overlook director Martin Scorsese 's efforts behind the camera. Here, he manages to have his fingerprints all over the film without it feeling too wishy-washy or grandiose, an arguably new skillset for the director that came into sharp focus with The Aviator (2006), which also stars DiCaprio. The final sequence of The Departed features what might be the most surprising and stunning death in a Scorsese movie, to the point that it makes shoes wrapped in bagged booties a genuinely terrifying sight.

Where to watch The Departed : Amazon Prime Video

"Pulp Fiction" (1994)

While Hollywood was busy churning out thrillers (and mostly bad comedies) in the 1980s, Quentin Tarantino was busy figuring out how he would define the next era of cinema. After populating his debut, 1992's Reservoir Dogs , with "that guy" actors, he managed to one-up himself with Pulp Fiction , recruiting Samuel L. Jackson , Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, and Christopher Walken to give voice to his quick-witted, pop-culture heavy banter, all while wrapping it in a plot so meticulous and elegant that it would influence a whole new generation of filmmakers. Tarantino proved himself to be a master of the unexpected here, as his gangsters brushed existential elbows with a boxer, a sex worker, an actor, an army vet, and desperate criminals all looking to make it through another day in California.

Where to watch Pulp Fiction : Max

"Zodiac" (2007)

Try as he might, David Fincher will likely never make a better film than Zodiac , as it's a work that's uniquely personal to him. The director was a school-age boy when the eponymous killer was running rampant in his home state of California, and getting the details right became so crucial that, according to his DVD commentary, he reportedly had orange trees flown to set so he could better replicate his memory.

A film by an obsessive about obsession, Jake Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as the fastidious crossword writer determined to crack the case at the cost of his marriage. Robert Downey Jr. is dually excellent as a washed-up reporter in this pre- Iron Man career comeback film, with Mark Ruffalo holding steady as a San Francisco detective while John Carroll Lynch is the ever-creepy Arthur Leigh Allen, who lurks on screen as if conjured from the depths of Fincher's lived-experience fear. The director is known for his meticulous and tiring amount of takes, which are designed to break the actors of their quirks and get them to show us their raw selves on screen. In some of his other films, this can seem like auteur nonsense, but here, it only enhances the depths of despair and darkness that await these characters in the glittering lights of the city.

Where to watch Zodiac : Showtime

"Goodfellas" (1990)

A damn fun product of its time, Goodfellas is a perfect film to start a decade following 10 years of excess, power suits, and explosions. By telling a relatively straightforward story that blends real people from the era of the Gotti mafia family with imagined characters, Martin Scorsese's dramedy biopic about a kid who falls in love with the gangster life is as even-keeled as anything the director has made. Prior to this film, he often had big ideas that felt hampered by a frenetic energy and less-than-clear direction. Here — with generous assistance from Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci , and an excellent Ray Liotta as players in a propulsive story about the romance and horror of being a knockaround guy — Scorsese finds momentum. The film not only clicked into place something for the director, but for culture as a whole, as the oft-imitated use of voiceover, classic rock, and a breezy approach to intense characters has been used to make television and movies pop ever since Goodfellas hit the scene.

Where to watch Goodfellas : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"Chinatown" (1974)

With an early example of the twisty, complicated narratives that would become popular in '90s thrillers (and 2010s middling Netflix shows), Jack Nicholson's Jake Gittes helps Faye Dunaway and gets pulled into her orbit — and in over his head — while investigating a murder conspiracy. The film's themes of city corruption and inexplicable injustice ripple across countless lesser projects, but the way Chinatown lands is so nihilistic that it's downright soul-crushing.

Where to watch Chinatown : Amazon Prime Video

"Se7en" (1995)

With a script so violent and disgusting that it was called "evil" by multiple A-listers , Se7en defied Hollywood conventions and was a perfect match for David Fincher, who was then known for directing Alien 3 (1992) along with gritty and inventive music videos. Seeing two detectives ( Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman ), a young wife ( Gwyneth Paltrow ), and a serial killer ( Kevin Spacey ) murdering in accordance with his ideas of punishment for the seven deadly sins, the film benefited from the darkened skies, ultra-drab cityscape, and quiet longing in the performances that would all become Fincher staples. Of all the director's work, this ending still breaks your heart the most.

Where to watch Se7en : Hulu

"Menace II Society" (1993)

A tale every bit as interesting, nuanced, and complex as The Godfather , the Hughes Brothers' central players are caught in a socio-economic system that's governed by an unforgiving set of implicit rules. Here, violence and death are daily occurrences, and getting ahead feels impossible but is always top of mind. In the poor, neglected, and overpoliced Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of L.A., Tyrin Turner's Caine Lawson and Larenz Tate's Kevin "O-Dog" Anderson (not to mention a brilliant turn from Jada Pinkett Smith ) are just trying to hustle — even if that means bodies have to pile up.

Neither overly sentimental nor unsympathetic, Albert and Allen Hughes craft realistic characters with more nuance and complexity than traditional gangster films. In Menace II Society , their motivations extend beyond simple obligation or loyalty to family, and the weight of it all is constantly resting on the shoulders of everyone around them, despite how much they want it to change.

Where to watch Menace II Society : Tubi

"Rope" (1948)

James Stewart is incredible as Nietzsche-obsessed teacher Rupert Cadell, but he's far from the most impressive aspect of Alfred Hitchcock 's groundbreaking film. Shot in technicolor, occurring in real time, and edited to appear as four long takes, everything from Birdman to The Bear likely wouldn't exist without Hitchcock's ingenious work here circa 1940. The murder at the center — a strangulation committed as an intellectual exercise, with the body hidden in the buffet used for hosting the victim's loved ones — is grim for any era, and even the best modern crime movies rarely live up to such cruelty.

Where to watch Rope : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"The Untouchables" (1987)

Brian De Palma's works between 1976 and 2000 are some of the oddest, most ambitious pieces of filmmaking out there, with The Untouchables serving as a great bellwether for his singular touch. More grounded than Scarface and tenfold beyond The Bonfire of the Vanities , the film focuses on Eliot Ness' attempt to bring down Al Capone during the 1930s prohibition. Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro dazzle as the two historical figures, but Sean Connery is the heart of the movie, playing courageous and upright agent James Malone, whose death gives Ness all the more reason to topple Capone's liquor empire.

Where to watch The Untouchables : Amazon Prime Video

"Inside Man" (2006)

Denzel Washington teams up with consummate collaborator Spike Lee for a film that uses cool energy to brilliant effect. With Clive Owen in the antagonist role of Dalton Russell, the film locks into a clever heist that mixes elements of Heat , Ocean's 11 , and more into something that's distinctly a Lee joint. The director's love for capturing real people moving, unguarded, can be seen as Denzel's hostage negotiator talks things through with his team outside the bank. The ultimate reveal — and Russell's decision to target Nazi money — give the film a uniquely Lee quality, as it meditates on cosmic justice in an intricate way only he could manage. Owen is also undeniable here, turning in maybe the most memorable performance of a bank robber ever committed to film.

Where to watch Inside Man : Peacock

"Bonnie and Clyde" (1967)

The film that gave us everything from True Romance to Queen & Slim , this Arthur Penn caper follows Clyde Barrow ( Warren Beatty ) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) as criminal lovers destined for tragedy. Made toward the tail end of a romance boom we wouldn't see again until the '90s, Bonnie and Clyde perfected the intoxicating motif of two young people in love with each other and destruction. There's incredible chemistry between Beatty and Dunaway, who elevate a relatively straightforward movie into something that seems alive, as if the actors and the real historical characters are one and the same. When they are inevitably killed, it feels like the end of more than just a film, even if it's meant to capture the desperation of the Great Depression.

Where to watch Bonnie and Clyde : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"Searching" (2018)

John Cho is absolutely magnetic as a father trying to find his missing daughter in a film designed to hold your attention. Director Aneesh Chaganty contains the action to Cho interacting with the world through a computer the way a child would. As he moves from app to app uncovering more leads, you're increasingly hooked on the tension and convinced by the story's authenticity. Everything, from the way the clues are parsed out to typing on a cell phone, lights up a reward center in the viewer's brain that craves more. And in the center of it all is Cho, who turns in a performance so unforgettable that it reminds you he's deserved better this entire time.

Where to watch Searching : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"Double Indemnity" (1944)

Billy Wilder crafted this story of fraud and murder with crime writer Raymond Chandler. Another film that gave the genre a new language, Double Indemnity is a confession by shotty insurance salesman Walter Neff ( Fred MacMurray ) told mostly in flashbacks, detailing his involvement with a killing and cover-up that saw him pose as the dead man on a train. While retrospective scenes were not new to cinema (having been used in the 1939 adaptation of Wuthering Heights to great effect before), this was one of the first instances in a crime story. Impeccably acted and paced, the film launched Wilder to success, paving the way for his future classics like The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959).

Where to watch Double Indemnity : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"The Long Goodbye" (1973)

As with all Robert Altman films, the magic is in the meandering. Here, Elliott Gould brings a deft touch to his hang-dog detective Philip Marlowe, moving with a lightness that's hard to pin down but is undeniably comic. The first 10 minutes are an incredible swirl of paranoia, alcoholism, and sluggish dumbness when Gould just needs to feed his cat. With a narrative split between Marlowe's mania and the world of Hollywood crime, Altman's sense of film language and impeccably composed shots tie the two together cohesively. If you don't mind hanging out, this is as good as it gets for messy, bumbling detectives and their cases — and the harmonica playing at the end justifies the runtime alone.

Where to watch The Long Goodbye : Tubi

"Heist" (2001)

Delroy Lindo and Gene Hackman show their younger castmates how it's done in David Mamet 's elegant story about two aging best friends and career criminals going in for one last burglary. Mamet is known for theater, but he's had an equally weird and interesting experience in Hollywood, where he essays distinct moments like the wild plane scene in Heist and its ending, which is so perfectly stupid in its logic that it's almost genius. Hackman and Lindo are more than believable as shifty men who are always fidgeting with energy, thinking about the next move while trying to seem present and calm. Then there's Sam Rockwell, Danny DeVito, and Rebecca Pidgeon, who all turn in serviceable performances for the leads to bounce off of like tennis balls.

Where to watch Heist : Amazon Prime Video

"Fargo" (1996)

As the film that proved crime movies could be dryly funny and uniquely ironic, Fargo operates on its own frequency, following Frances McDormand 's pregnant police officer as she tracks down killers in snowy Fargo, N.D. Dark humor and violence are on equal display here, as the Coen Brothers confidently showcase a young-ish Steve Buscemi, a woodchipper, and Midwest goofiness against the backdrop of a state where nothing and everything happens. The Coens would follow this odd template to success throughout the better part of their careers as co-directors.

Where to watch Fargo : Max

"Thelma and Louise" (1991)

When you think of Ridley Scott , you might recall epic historical sagas and sci-fi films , but in Thelma and Louise , he proved he's just as apt at stripped-down crime movies. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star as the titular duo who kill a bad man and do their best to stay free until their last breath. A story about friendship may seem simple, but careful and acute chemistry is required to pull it off, and Davis and Sarandon manage to seem like true friends as they find pockets of fun in their bleak situation. Harvey Keitel and Stephen Tobolowsky round out the cast, while Brad Pitt enjoys his breakout role here.

Where to watch Thelma and Louise : Showtime

"Scarface" (1983)

Arguably the defining crime film of a decade brimming with decadence, Scarface is excessive in every way, which only enhances its appeal. Focused on the rise and fall of cocaine tsar Tony Montana, the Brian De Palma film stars Al Pacino , Michelle Pfeiffer, and F. Murray Abraham. Though Pacino's portrayal of a Cuban refugee turned gangster is in poor taste, his brazen, simmering energy and willingness to go over the top is a perfect match for De Palma's vicious, neatly unhinged vision for Tony and his crew. While it's hard to tell whether the film is being critical of or celebrating Montana, the decapitation, debauchery, and almost cartoonish plot points toward the end make this spectacle a towering ode to the idea of crime as a fantasy, with the reality of it encroaching at the edges.

Where to watch Scarface : Netflix

"Casino" (1995)

Sharon Stone was on a hot streak when she teamed up with Martin Scorsese for this look inside the inner workings of a mafia-run casino. The film is fine, with Joe Pesci and Stone mostly stealing the show, but the real clincher is how Scorsese heaps problem after problem on Robert De Niro's Sam Rothstein, who is struggling to appease his bosses, keep his business healthy, and manage the brazen Pesci, playing a mob enforcer who is done listening to his bosses from across the country. Everything crescendos as expected, but the way Scorsese manages tension is something he'd begin working on more earnestly here and had mastered by the time he shot The Departed a decade later.

Where to watch Casino : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"They Live By Night" (1948)

Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell charm as two lovers trying to find a way out of a life of crime while confronting danger at every turn. The film was an early effort to tell an ill-fated romance story set in the gruesome world of crooks and thieves, with a pregnancy providing the emotional motivation for all that happens in the back two-thirds of the runtime. It's also one of the few features on this list that considers escape a dream rather than a nightmare, a burden, or a failure. Granger's intentions are honorable, and O'Donnell sparks his performance with life, making his tragic end that much more gutting.

Where to watch They Live By Night : Not available to stream

"Decision to Leave" (2022)

Romantic from the first frame to the last, Park Chan-wook 's 2022 masterpiece is a culmination of his steady and coherent approach to disturbing characters and his love for Hitchcock. Most of the films on this list paint dogged detectives as do-gooders in pursuit of their criminals, but here, we see a sleuth lovesick for the murderer he's supposed to be taking down. Park Hae-il's insomniac investigator Jang Hae-jun is brimming with longing despite having a loving wife, and Tang Wei's Song Seo-rae is sympathetic and flirtatious enough that you're willing to look the other way about their romance (and her killings). Decision to Leave may leave you in tears, be it from the love story or the way Chan-wook captures the beauty of everything from the crashing waves to falling snow.

Where to watch Decision to Leave : Amazon Prime Video

"Traffic" (2000)

Crime movies are Steven Soderbergh's bread and butter, and here, he cracks open a (literally) colorful story about the way drugs are spawned, supplied, sold, and used in America, exploring the overlooked labor and death that go into meeting market demand. Don Cheadle , Luis Guzmán, Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Topher Grace (playing a perfect asshole) help explain the complicated web of how things work for both the supplier and someone looking to buy some rock. Each narrative thread had its own distinct color to help the audience follow the storylines, but even with that assist, it's a tangled web that's a joy to unfurl.

Where to watch Traffic : Peacock

"Set It Off" (1996)

It's easy to recognize how great Queen Latifah is now, but in the 1990s, she was still fighting for recognition, be it for her musical talent, her impeccable comedy chops on the legendary Living Single , or as an actor in more dramatic fare. Here, F. Gary Gray manages to help her and the ensemble shine as women who turn to crime after getting fed up with racist work environments. Jada Pinkett Smith, Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and the always-winning Kimberly Elise absolutely run circles around a very good Blair Underwood playing a loverboy and John C. McGinley as a detective trying to take them down. It's been nearly 30 years since Set It Off 's release, and there's arguably no group of actors in a crime movie locked so fully into the same vibe before or since.

Where to watch Set It Off : AppleTV+ (to rent)

"The Conversation" (1974)

The best-composed film of Francis Ford Coppola 's career, The Conversation seems to always be in motion, with the camera floating through different iterations of cinematic reality. Unsurprisingly by this point in the list, Gene Hackman plays a surveillance expert named Harry Caul, who captures a conversation he obsesses over to mesmerizing effect, with the film functioning as a character study and thriller in equal measure. Paranoid and living his life in as much privacy as possible, the film's ending is an incredible feat of powerful acting — and a generous reminder that Hackman never lost a step in his effusive career.

Where to watch The Conversation : Showtime

"Widows" (2018)

The underrated Widows was Steve McQueen 's follow-up to the incredible 12 Years a Slave , pivoting to tell a fluid and complex story that weaves meditations on marriage and betrayal. Liam Neeson casts a shadow over the film as an allegedly deceased career criminal/devoted husband; but the narrative centers Viola Davis , Cynthia Erivo, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Colin Farrell in a surprisingly explosive story about revenge, corruption, legacy racism in powerful families, and the flow of money from the underworld of crime to the underworld of politics. Come for the cast, stay for the hatred of Neeson's crooked con.

Where to watch Widows : Amazon Prime Video

"Training Day" (2001)

This bombastic tale of a corrupt cop and a rookie trainee having one bad day together feels in line with the stark and serious cinematography of the time, yet it's so distinctly an Antoine Fuqua work. With Ethan Hawke 's newbie simmering against the go-for-broke finesse of Denzel Washington 's very bad, no-good officer, Training Day revels in tension, with washes of blue and green augmenting scenes where Hawke is bullied into getting high. But when things become too true to life, Fuqua knows to cut the style and let the actors carry the scene. We've seen Washington excel countless times, but the wild-eyed machismo he drenches his crooked character in here is yet to be topped.

Where to watch Training Day : Apple TV+ (to rent)

"Monster" (2003)

Charlize Theron proved herself capable of anything after winning an Oscar for playing real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos, assuming a steely exterior and comporting her femininity into uniquely intimidating shapes. In Patty Jenkins ' hands, Monster allows Theron to take up as much space as she wants, exploring the complex abuse that shaped Wuornos just as much as her crimes. There may never be another portrait of someone who's both a victim and perpetrator that feels so complete and urgent again.

Where to watch Monster : Tubi

"Deep Cover" (1992)

Bill Duke, hot off 1991's A Rage in Harlem , directs this compelling story about identity, obsession, and the murkiness of police task forces. Laurence Fishburne turns in a tremendous performance as a DEA agent living a complicated life undercover as a cocaine dealer who slowly begins to see both sides of the corruption more clearly. Jeff Goldblum does a fine job as a drug trafficker who gets close to Fishburne, but it's the latter alone who makes the whole film sing.

Where to watch Deep Cover : Tubi

"Thief" (1981)

Michael Mann wanted audiences to take the journey with James Caan 's career criminal, Frank, from getting out of jail to setting up shop, stealing, being double-crossed, and everything else that goes into the makings of fugative. Of course, as a Mann film, things aren't straightforward. In the tradition of classic crime movies, Frank's ambitions are complicated by love and parenthood, and when his life away from work is threatened by criminal boss Leo (an in-the-pocket Robert Prosky), he moves everyone to safety and blows up his own house. The image remains a stark and evocative metaphor for characters caught at a crossroads between one dark road and a dimly-lit path out of trouble.

Where to watch Thief : Showtime

"Get Carter" (1971)

There's something fascinating about what Michael Caine has come to represent to American audiences. After a long career playing leads and co-leads, he later gained a reputation as a gentle paternal figure (see: his Alfred in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy). But here, in the strongest era of his leading man status, Caine is a dashing, moral, relentless badass who takes out an entire family of rich creeps. Director Mike Hodges uncorks him as a criminal with a good — albeit violent — heart, who is capable of true masculine terror. Get Carter doesn't just give him a great role; it gives us something to reference when we start to forget what he's capable of.

Where to watch Get Carter : Amazon Prime Video

"Out of Sight" (1998)

George Clooney (in the midst of his ER run) and a dedicated Jennifer Lopez have more than enough room to heat up the screen in this sexy heist film about a charming thief, a formidable tender officer, and all the mischief within a mansion. Lopez is at the top of her acting game here, and the film catches Steven Soderbergh at a time when he wants to flex a bit, resulting in an unforgettable opener involving a body in a trunk and a finale shoot-out that's an impressive sequence for a director drowning in them.

Where to watch Out of Sight : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"City of God" (2002)

City of God is an indie that broke big in the aughts, and for good reason. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund's film feels like a good novel, with art, crime, love, and squalor all intersecting in a cohesive story that manages to astonish. The cast was largely without acting experience, but it's hard to parse that as a viewer since there's a real naturalism to their performances, which creates a sense of freedom and discovery. Photography plays a large part in the story, with photos serving as both a means of expression and a running narrative device, and the way it connects to Seu Jorge's "Knockout Ned," the film's heart and soul, is beautiful in every instance.

Where to watch City of God : PlutoTV

"One False Move" (1992)

The late Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton serve as steady characters for Cynda Williams, Earl Billings, and the underrated Michael Beach to bounce off of in Carl Franklin's stunner of a film. One False Move rests somewhere comfortably between his Devil in A Blue Dress (1995) and the bonkers Out of Time (2003) in terms of voice. The story follows three Black men as they confront, confide, and cut deals in racist Arkansas, with one carrying an intimate connection with Paxton's sheriff. The film isn't particularly strange or different for the genre, but the confidence Franklin directs with — and memorable performances from Williams and Beach — make this something to seek out.

Where to watch One False Move : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

"Sexy Beast" (2000)

In his absurd farce of a career criminal being brought in for one last job, Jonathan Glazer 's film may be the first to consider how annoying it is to be a thief. Retired Gary Dove (Ray Winstone) just wants to live a good life in Spain, but British underworld recruiter Don Logan ( Ben Kingsley ) won't let him rest. If you've ever wondered how Kingsley landed his role as Trevor Slattery in the MCU, look no further. Here, he torments Winstone with a profane version of his character in the Marvel films. There's also an incredible underwater vault sequence that makes full use of Glazer's music video know-how.

Where to watch Sexy Beast : Paramount+

"New World" (2013)

Park Hoon-jung's epic Korean film focuses on the oft-overlooked world of corporate crime, with undercover cop Lee Ja-sung (Lee Jung-jae) caught up in a war between an obsessive police captain and Moongold, the corporation syndicate he works for. The movie is a study of loyalty, with Ja-sung ultimately committing to the operation after having struggled and been lied to by his law enforcement mentor. Unlike every other film on this list, our protagonist isn't in it for himself, just trying to stay alive, or ultimately seeking a happy life. Instead, we watch a man who spent nearly a decade living a shadow life submit more and more to darkness in a stunningly shot movie.

Where to watch New World : Amazon Prime Video

"Aaranya Kaandam" (2010)

Thiagarajan Kumararaja's directorial debut set the international film scene on fire with a story of class warfare that features a rooster as a key plot device. Two differing criminal factions want a load of cocaine, but when a poor farmer named Kaalayan (Guru Somasundaram) gets wind of it, his life briefly entangles with the crime bosses, resulting in a bloody final showdown and a delightful twist ending. The movie is operatic and impressive for a first feature, and fans looking to see how it's done outside the U.S. shouldn't sleep on it.

Where to watch Aaranya Kaandam : Hulu

"Promising Young Woman" (2020)

Emerald Fennell 's frothy take on revenge films smartly squares Carey Mulligan as a confident, too-smart-for-the-room woman who avenges her friend's assault and pretends to be drunk at bars so that she can shame and terrify creepy men when they bring her home. Adam Brody, Bo Burnham, Max Greenfield, Sam Richardson, and Chris Lowell play various shades of terrible people, and the intricate plot moves along at a clip, wasting no minutes in its sub-two-hour runtime. The ending is a thing of beauty, and while the story isn't exactly surprising, Promising Young Woman is nonetheless a trenchant and resonant film.

Where to watch Promising Young Woman : Amazon Prime Video

"In the Cut" (2003)

Jane Campion 's stylish consideration of crime from an eyewitness' point of view raises many questions: Who can you trust? What does a believable relationship between siblings look like on screen? Why is Mark Ruffalo 's penis making eye contact with me? Starring Ruffalo as (what else) a detective investigating a slaying, Jennifer Jason Leigh as an off-kilter sister to Meg Ryan 's witness, Patrice O'Neal as a hustler, and Kevin Bacon as an obsessive, abusive ex-boyfriend, the film does its best to wrangle these performances into something mostly comprehensive. Campion has a knack for unsettling timing and imagery while, with a killer on the loose, Ryan has to contend with possibly being stalked and gore that needs to be seen to be believed. What the movie lacks in cohesion, it more than makes up for in atmosphere.

Where to watch In the Cut : Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

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The 40 Best Movies Based on True Crimes

Murder, money, and mischief, all based in reality—plus a dash of Hollywood magic.

With a little cinematic style, a fascinating news report turns into a gripping film that you can’t look away from. Below, we’ve rounded up the best true crime movies of all time. The list includes Lost Girls 's tale of missing women the organized crime saga of The Irishman , and the counterfeit literary drama Can You Ever Forgive Me? Just remember that, you know, many of these stories have a little (read: a lot) of Hollywood flair.

The Irishman

Martin Scorcese’s (extremely) full-length Netflix film The Irishman follows truck driver Frank Sheeran as he gets involved and deeply embedded in organized crime in the 1950s. The epic crime tale is based on 2004 nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt.

Unbelievable

Though technically not a feature film, this Netflix miniseries provides a twisted yet intimate view into the series of rape cases in Colorado and Washington state covered in the 2015 news story, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” Toni Colette, Merritt Weaver, and Kaitlyn Dever deliver gripping lead performances.

Documentarian Liz Garbus’s scripted feature Lost Girls provides a raw telling of one mother’s independent investigation of her daughter’s disappearance. What she uncovers, though, reveals more than she intended when her trail leads to a series of mysterious killings of sex workers.

All Good Things

Ryan Gosling stars as Robert Durst, the son of a New York real estate tycoon who becomes the suspect behind a series of murders (including that of his wife, played by Kirsten Dunst). Among the film’s acclaim was praise from none other than Durst himself, who agreed to an interview with the film’s director following the film.

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Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, an author whose failing career led her to begin forging letters from successful deceased writers. But a scam can only go so long, and the literary pariah finds herself in a heap of trouble bigger than what led her to start peddling counterfeit letters.

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The Bling Ring

A capstone of true Sofia Coppola directorial style, The Bling Ring is a flashy and deeply vapid snapshot of the Hollywood Hills teenaged crime ring made infamous for breaking into and robbing multiple celebrities’ homes in the late 2000s. If its thumping trailers don’t draw you in, Emma Watson’s performance as a shallow, nihilistic valley girl surely will.

Netflix Amazon

Reversal of Fortune

Based on Alan Dershowitz’s book, Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case , this docudrama explores the unexplained coma of socialite Sunny von Bülow and its consequential attempted murder trial. Following her husband’s defense against the charges, the film brings a close lens not just to the incident itself, but also to the ambiguities of marriage, wealth, and morality.

In Cold Blood

Based upon Truman Capote’s non-fiction book of the same name, In Cold Blood tells the true story of the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Often cited as an early example of new realism in cinema, the film noire captures the truly cold-blooded nature of two killers in action.

Steve Carrell delivers a transformative performance as John du Pont, a millionaire who develops a fascination with Olympic wrestlers: specifically, brothers Mark and Dave Schultz, played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. The film is a grueling display of toxic masculinity and manipulation, eventually ending in murder.

Catch Me If You Can

It's not Steven Spielberg's best, but Catch Me If You Can ranks among the director’s more entertaining movies. It tracks Frank Abagnale's rise as a wunderkind conman. Leonardo DiCaprio has never been more enjoyably charming and slimy.

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Zodiac wasn’t necessarily the movie horror fans—or fans of David Fincher’s previous Seven —expected. Instead, it’s a process movie about the people who tried to unmask California’s Zodiac Killer. Studiously researched and impeccably shot, Zodiac turns into something larger and more foreboding than a spate of murders.

Memories of Murder

Before South Korean director Bong Joon-ho made international thrillers like Snowpiercer and Okja , he crafted this gem of a murder mystery, based on Korea's first serial murders. He brings his signature pitch-black humor to the story of two detectives in over their heads trying to solve the puzzling killings.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The best and boldest thing about The Wolf of Wall Street , possibly Scorsese's most indulgent movie, is how fun it makes its crimes look. Scorsese and writer Terence Winter condense fraudulent stockbroker Jordan Belfort's memoir down to basically the most sensational parts, putting you in the headspace of a man who sees other people's money as his own playpen.

Scorsese gets four movies on this list, and deserves all of them. Casino is an underrated '90s gangster effort living in Goodfellas ' shadow. The cast—Robert De Niro as a low-level mobster making his way up the casino racket (based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci as the wife and friend who threaten to tear it down—is entirely perfect.

Summer of Sam

An uncharacteristic movie for Spike Lee, Summer of Sam depicts the effect of the notorious murders of “Son of Sam” David Berkowitz on young men living in The Bronx in 1977. Lee seamlessly weaves the stories together, and John Leguizamo proves he’s a real-deal actor.

The twisted, trashy story of South Florida high schoolers who murdered a sadistic friend who had abused them, Bully is a hard one to stomach, but director Larry Clark ( Kids ) gives the script the no-bullshit delivery it deserves, and Brad Renfro's performance is quietly haunting.

Dog Day Afternoon

The movie inspired by a Brooklyn robbery solidified Al Pacino's legend, in all its spittle-filled, shouting glory.

The French Connection

The fictionalized account of New York City detectives who pursue a French drug smuggler is essentially one long, glorious chase scene. But Gene Hackman's performance and the sobering ending give it moral weight.

All the President's Men

Bless them, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman made journalism sexy by embodying Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they followed trails that led them them to connect a Watergate burglary to President Nixon.

One of the great horror movies of the 21st century, Wolf Creek is also the main reason I'm scared to visit Australia. Fictionalizing two different Aussie backpack murderers, it follows three tourists venturing into the Outback who meet a stranger and... well, you know the rest. What separates Wolf Creek from other slashers is its unflinching directness; not since Michael Myers has there been a depiction of a man made of such pure evil.

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Biographical films explore the fascinating lives of historical figures and cultural icons. The best biography movies offer viewers a captivating look into the lives of these people, skillfully recreating stories that have shaped history and left a lasting impact on the world. With unforgettable narratives to explore, you will find these films showcase exceptional storytelling, nuanced performances, and unparalleled cinematic vision. 

The best biography movies offer not just boring history, but gripping, groundbreaking, and original narratives. For instance, films like Catch Me If You Can follow the high-stakes exploits of a charming con artist, blending thrilling action with compelling character development. Schindler's List, on the other hand, tackles the harrowing subject of the Holocaust, masterfully capturing the heroic efforts of one man to save lives during a dark time in history. Then there's A Beautiful Mind, which delves into the complex life of renowned mathematician John Nash, showcasing the challenges and triumphs associated with his brilliance. These films are but a few examples of the best biographical movies that excellently capture the essence of their subjects and the genre. 

The lasting impact of these movies demonstrate how well they resonate with audiences, transcending time and cultural boundaries. Biographical movies not only accurately depict the lives of their subjects, but they also elevate the art of storytelling by blending truth with cinematic dramar. Through these exceptional films, viewers gain fresh perspectives on the world, history, and the individuals who have shaped it, marking these biographical movies as the very best in their field. 

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Anya Taylor-Joy

Actor Anya Taylor-Joy won a Golden Globe for her leading role in the miniseries The Queen's Gambit and is known movies like Split and The Menu .

1996-present

Quick Facts

Early life: parents and ethnicity.

• Movies: Split, The Witch, and The Menu

TV Shows: Peaky Blinders and The Queen’s Gambit

Who is anya taylor-joy.

Actor Anya Taylor-Joy starred in the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit and has appeared in movies such as The Menu and Split. Growing up in Argentina and the United Kingdom, the American-born future star trained as a dancer before dropping out of school to pursue acting at age 16. Her breakthrough performance came in the 2015 horror movie The Witch . Since then, she has received three Golden Globe nominations—winning one for The Queen’s Gambit —and one Emmy nomination, also for the Netflix series. Taylor-Joy plays the titular character in the upcoming sci-fi movie Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga , in theaters this May.

FULL NAME: Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy BORN: April 16, 1996 BIRTHPLACE: Miami, Florida SPOUSE: Malcolm McRae (2023-present) ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy was born on April 16, 1996, in Miami. Her parents are Dennis Alan Taylor, a former banker, and Jennifer Marina Joy, a psychologist. Anya is the youngest of six siblings, some of whom are from her father’s first marriage.

Taylor-Joy comes from a multiethnic background. Dennis is Scottish-Argentinian, and Jennifer is Spanish-English but was born and grew up in Zambia. Anya was born while her parents were on vacation in Miami, granting her American citizenship. She also holds British and Argentinian citizenship.

Taylor-Joy, whose first language was Spanish, partially grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When she was 6, her family moved to London in search of a less tumultuous political climate. Taylor-Joy refused to speak English for two years, thinking it would force her parents to take her back to Argentina. When it became apparent her plan wouldn’t work, she learned her second language by reading the popular Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling . “As lame as it sounds, those characters really were my first friends,” she told TV host Graham Norton.

While attending Hill House in Knightsbridge and the Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington, Taylor-Joy trained as a ballet dancer. She has described herself as “very insecure and deeply unhappy” during this time and admitted to struggling with body image.

In September 2016, she told W magazine she had a very compact head as a child, meaning her eyes were positioned far apart on her face. While this became less prominent as she grew older, she remained self-conscious about her eyes and social media posts related to it. “I didn’t enjoy it and I kind of stopped looking in mirrors for a very long time. I still don’t really spend a lot of time in front of mirrors because I don’t really have to deal with my face. Unfortunately, y’all do,” she said.

Taylor-Joy dropped out of school at age 16, and although she was scouted by and briefly worked as a model for Storm Management, acting remained her desired path.

Movies: Split , The Witch , and The Menu

Beginner’s luck wasn’t in the cards for Taylor-Joy, whose first professional audition was for the 2014 Disney movie Maleficent . She hoped to portray a younger version of Angelina Jolie ’s titular character but didn’t get the part. “It was my first experience of, like, rejection, like true rejection,” she later told BuzzFeed Celeb . “Even though I look nothing like [Jolie], but I definitely cried for a very long time after that happened.”

She did begin to earn smaller parts, such as an uncredited role in the 2014 teen flick Vampire Academy and a one-episode appearance in the British TV series Endeavour that same year. Her breakout role in a cult classic scary movie wasn’t far off.

Taylor-Joy played a teenage girl named Thomasin in 2015’s The Witch , an atmospheric horror film about a family in Puritanical New England that encounters supernatural forces in the woods near their settlement.

On the same day she was cast in the movie, Taylor-Joy also received an offer to star in a Disney Channel pilot episode. However, she “had this really good feeling” and committed to The Witch instead.

Despite her initial optimism, Taylor-Joy was “devastated” upon watching her performance and thought she would never work in movies again. “It was just the worst feeling of, ‘I have let down the people I love most in the world. I didn’t do it right,’” she told the Awards Chatter podcast . “And I’m quite verbose, I like to talk, I like to communicate. I did not talk, I just cried. I couldn’t handle seeing my face that large.”

Luckily, critics and moviegoers felt differently. The Witch was a financial success, grossing $40 million worldwide against a $4 million budget. Taylor-Joy’s acting career was off and running.

Split , Emma. , and The Menu

Off her performance in The Witch , Taylor-Joy appeared in the sci-fi thriller Morgan (2016) and the Netflix movie Barry (2016), based on the early life of former President Barack Obama .

That same year, she played protagonist Casey Cooke in the M. Night Shyamalan thriller Split , also starring James McAvoy. The movie, set in the same universe as Shyamalan’s previous movie Unbreakable , spawned the 2019 sequel Glass , again starring Taylor-Joy and McAvoy, as well as Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson .

Having proven she could act alongside Hollywood heavyweights, Taylor-Joy soon garnered her first major award recognition for 2020’s Emma. , based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. The actor received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for playing the movie’s namesake, Emma Woodhouse.

Since then, Taylor-Joy has been in high demand, appearing in movies such as Last Night in Soho (2021); The Northman (2022), marking another collaboration with The Witch director Robert Eggers; and Amsterdam (2022).

The most prominent of her recent roles came in the 2022 dark comedy The Menu , about a disillusioned chef (played by Ralph Fiennes ) who exacts revenge on his unsuspecting diners. Taylor-Joy earned another Golden Globe nomination for The Menu , as well as the admiration of her co-star. “There are just some times when you feel the truthfulness of the person you’re acting with, and it really helps you. It really raises your game somehow. And she’s got that,” Fiennes said .

Blockbusters: Dune: Part Two and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

In 2023, Taylor-Joy lent her voice to The Super Mario Bros. Movie , the second-highest grossing movie of the year that made more than $1 billion at the global box office . In the film, based on the Nintendo video game, she voiced Princess Peach, the fearless leader of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Despite the immense financial success of Super Mario Bros. , Taylor-Joy is on pace for an even bigger year in 2024. She started by making a crucial cameo appearance in the science-fiction epic Dune: Part Two , also starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya .

Her next major role is starring as the titular character in the post-apocalyptic thriller Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga . The prequel to the 2015 hit Mad Max: Fury Road also stars Chris Hemsworth and is scheduled to release in theaters on May 24, 2024.

While spending time in front of a camera was nothing new for Taylor-Joy, driving a souped-up war machine as Furiosa was a learning experience. The actor doesn’t have a driver’s license, and performing stunts for the movie marked her first time behind the wheel of a car. “I can’t parallel-park, I can’t go on the highway. I still don’t have [a license], but I can do that,” she joked with TV host Graham Norton.

In addition to her growing list of movie roles, Taylor-Joy has starred in two of the biggest television series of the past decade.

In 2019, she joined the cast of Peaky Blinders , the popular BBC and Netflix gangster drama starring Cillian Murphy . Taylor-Joy appeared as Gina Gray in 11 episodes across Seasons 5 and 6. According to hair and makeup designer Julie Nightingale, the show took inspiration from Old Hollywood stars such as Ginger Rogers and Jean Harlow in creating Taylor-Joy’s distinctive look for the series.

In a less violent but equally thrilling alternative to Peaky Blinders , Taylor-Joy took the lead for The Queen’s Gambit , a limited series about a fictional chess prodigy named Beth Harmon. The show, which debuted during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, was a smash hit. Within the first month, 62 million households watched The Queen’s Gambit , making it Netflix’s most watched scripted limited series to date.

Critics lauded Taylor-Joy’s performance, with the actor winning the 2021 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television and receiving an Emmy nomination. “I’ve never given so much of myself to a character before,” Taylor-Joy told Variety . “I usually think about a character as so different from me, and I make a real point to make them walk differently, to have a different caliber of voice, to laugh differently, to cry differently. I want them to be their own person. But for Beth, it was the first time that I just thought the only way to tell this accurately is to give bits of myself up.”

Fans clamoring for another season were disappointed to learn in January 2023 that a Tweet from Taylor-Joy referencing a second season was the result of hacking. However, the actor has teased that she is open to the idea of returning for a second part. “It would be silly of me to go, ‘There’s never going to be a second series,’” she told Elle in 2021, “and then I’m 40 and [co-creator Scott Frank’s] like, ‘Yo, how do you feel about this? You want to go back?’”

Elsewhere, Taylor-Joy starred in the 2017 BBC and PBS miniseries The Miniaturist and hosted Saturday Night Live in May 2021.

Taylor-Joy married musician Malcolm McRae in October 2023 in Venice, Italy. A number of famous friends attended the ceremony, including actors Miles Teller , Nicholas Hoult, Cara Delevingne, and Julia Garner.

Although it’s unclear when they began dating, Taylor-Joy first made reference to McRae as “my partner” in an April 2021 interview with Elle . The two were spotted together in New York City the following month, and McRae all but confirmed their relationship status by October after posting an Instagram photo of the couple holding hands.

According to People , McRae plays guitar and piano and sings in a two-person rock band called More*, formed with former Portugal. The Man member Kane Ritchotte. His relationship with Taylor-Joy is reflected in his music, with McRae writing the song “Really Want to See You Again” only two days after meeting her in 2021.

McRae and Taylor-Joy have the same birthday, April 16, and adopted a cat named Kitsune in May 2022.

Taylor-Joy has kept details of her prior relationships private, though she was previously linked to Irish actor Eoin Macken from 2016 through 2017. “I was not a good dater, and I’m quite glad to not be. I hear stories from my friends, and I’m like, ‘God, I would suck at that,’” she said .

According to Celebrity Net Worth , Taylor-Joy’s total fortune is estimated to be around $7 million.

• It’s bizarre that [red carpets are] a huge part of my normal life, but it’s not normal life at all. In which situation do you ever dress yourself to the nines to be photographed by 200 people who are screaming at you? It’s not normal.
• Trying to pick a project that I’m most proud of is like trying to pick between children. Even if you do have a favorite, you’re not supposed to say it!
• I never had any intention of being a method actor, but the more movies I do, the line is getting blurrier and blurrier. I’m finding it harder to disconnect between what is occurring for my [character] and what is occurring for me.
• I was born in Miami, raised between Argentina and London, and my first language is Spanish. So, legally, my ethnicity is fashion week.
• When people shake or cry when they meet you, you just feel really like, “Please don’t do that, it’s really OK!” Like, I’m not scary, and I’m not anything wild and crazy.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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10 Best Romance Crime Movies of All Time, Ranked

A lthough crime and romance are separate genres, combining them can yield compelling and unforgettable results. This is due to the contrasting nature of the two genres, both of which are rooted in complex human emotions. The combination of endearing and violent elements can create intriguing films, especially for audiences who aren't into lovey-dovey stories and would rather watch something more mature and less cliché.

Proof of how great this blend can be is these incredible features, which range from illustrating passionate partners in crime (often inspired by real-life people) to other twisted and questionable relationships. From Prizzi's Honor to older, timeless film noir classics such as In a Lonely Place , these are the best romantic crime movies of all time .

'Prizzi's Honor' (1985)

Director: john huston.

This witty black comedy by John Huston (in one of his last filmmaking efforts) stars the iconic Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two skilled mob assassins with impeccable results. Charley Partanna is a hitman from a New York mafia who first notices the beautiful and charming Irene at a family wedding. The two fall in love and marry, only to realize that their relationship is put to the test by inescapable circumstances.

Although it does not rank high on this list, there is no doubt that Prizzi's Honor is a must-see crime melodrama and possibly one of the best films of the 1980s , also thanks to its romantic storyline that makes it even more interesting and entertaining. It understandably received an impressive number of eight nominations at the 58th Academy Awards, with Huston winning for Best Supporting Actress.

Rent on Amazon

'Bonnie and Clyde' (1967)

Director: arthur penn.

Based on the real-life story of the pair of notorious American criminals who were known for their bank robberies, this Oscar-winning Arthur Penn biographical feature and neo-noir crime centers on ex-convict Clyde Barrow ( Warren Beatty ) and Bonnie Parker 's ( Faye Dunaway ) life and crimes, from the beginning of their relationship to their shocking fate.

Considering the story's popularity and how well-executed Penn's biopic is, it is pretty clear why New Hollywood Era's Bonnie and Clyde is essential in the romance crime genre . Given how explicit it was, Penn's film broke ground not only in terms of execution (the usage of synthetic blood capsules) but also by dismantling cinematic taboos, prompting other directors to be more open in showcasing sex and violence — talk about that iconic final scene — in their own work. Furthermore, this progressive, beautifully shot film sheds light on dysfunctional relationships through its protagonists' unusual bond.

Bonnie and Clyde

Release Date 1967-07-18

Cast Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard, Denver Pyle, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty

Runtime 111

Main Genre Biography

Genres Biography, Drama, Romance, Crime, Documentary

Rent on Apple TV

'Decision to Leave' (2022)

Director: park chan-wook.

This critically acclaimed 2022 film, selected as an entry for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, is likely to appeal to those who enjoy Alfred Hitchcock 's quintessential psychological thriller Vertigo . It follows a detective ( Park Hae-il ) investigating a man's death in the mountains. When he meets the late man's mysterious, charming wife ( Tang Wei ) during his investigation, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to her.

Decision to Leave explores man's tendency to long for what he can not get. It is a tale of desire, deception, and restraint. The film's superb acting helps heighten it to higher levels . However, Park Chan-wook 's — director of the fan-favorite Vengeance Trilogy and The Handmaiden — well-crafted screenplay is undoubtedly top-notch. It is a hundred percent a film worth checking out, especially for fans of romantic crime movies.

Watch on MUBI

'Fallen Angels' (1995)

Director: wong kar-wai.

Brought to you from the mind behind the passionate In the Mood for Love , the visually stunning Fallen Angels introduces audiences to a Hong Kong-based assassin ( Leon Lai ) who is in hopes of getting a way out of his current lifestyle, unaware that his female partner-in-crime ( Michelle Reis ) is truly in love with him.

Like its predecessor Chungking Express , which also showcases contemporary Hong Kong, Fallen Angels ' mood and atmosphere alone make it worth the look. Although it features wide lens shots, it also pays attention to detail, often favoring looks over structure . Wong Kar-Wai's incredible film has a massive cult following , which is not to wonder considering the universal themes it tackles, including loneliness and alienation.

Watch on Max

'Badlands' (1973)

Director: terrence malick.

Martin Sheen is a James Dean -ish mid-twenty-something named Kit in Terrence Malick 's debut movie. By contrast, Holly, played by Carrie 's Sissy Spacek , is a fifteen-year-old girl from a dead-end town with a strained relationship with her parents. When the two meet and get together, Kit's violent nature is slowly unearthed, and the two embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.

With an unconventional couple at its center (especially when you think about their age difference, which is one of the most concerning bits about the film), Malick's romance crime Badlands is among the best works by the filmmaker . Inspired by the real-life 1958 killing spree by Charles Starkweather and girlfriend Caril Ann Fugat , it is an intriguing mix of crime and love, with an enticing narrative and visually stunning wide shots.

'Breathless' (1960)

Director: jean-luc godard.

Whether we're talking Breathless or Pierrot le Fou (which could certainly take a spot on this list, too), Jean-Luc Godard sure knows how to make a top-tier romance crime movie. Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in the lead roles, Breathless follows a small-time thief who impulsively kills a policeman after stealing a car. He then turns to an American love interest, student and aspiring journalist Patricia, in hopes that she will run away with him to Italy.

This French New Wave movie — a highly influential one at that, noted for its distinctive and bold visual style and jump cuts — is a must-see for those who enjoy the genre, as it is the quintessential Godard feature . Furthermore, Breathless provides a refreshing take on existential dilemmas and identity with a romantic storyline to keep audiences intrigued .

'Some Like It Hot' (1959)

Director: billy wilder.

Every Marilyn Monroe fan has surely watched Billy Wilder 's utterly entertaining Some Like It Hot , which features one of her best, if not the best, performances. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the movie follows two male musicians ( Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon ) who witness a mob hit, inspired by the real-life Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, and flee the state only to find a job in an all-girl band heading to Florida.

While it is predominantly a crime comedy that will make stomachs hurt, Some Like It Hot also features a romantic plot between Monroe's character, Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, and Curtis' on-screen counterpart that will sweep viewers off their feet . This laugh-out-loud film opened to critical and commercial success and endures a timeless watch today.

Some Like It Hot

Release Date 1959-03-19

Cast George Raft, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis

Runtime 121 minutes

Genres Romance, Comedy, Music

'A Brighter Summer Day' (1991)

Director: edward yang.

A Brighter Summer Day is one of Taiwan's most devastating films, and possibly one of the most heartbreaking in the romantic crime genre, too. The 1991 feature is based on a true story about a conflict between two youth gangs. It tells the tale of a 14-year-old boy's ( Chang Chen ) girlfriend ( Lisa Yang ) who clashes with the leader of a gang for unknown reasons until their conflict reaches a violent climax.

Selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, this epic coming-of-age deserves a spot on this list not only given its memorable story and execution but also for the sensitive topics it delicately tackles, including fascism, hope, violence, and real-life tragedies. Both Chen and Yang do an incredible job of bringing their characters to life in the Chinese-language film, making Edward Yang's romantic crime story believable .

Watch on Criterion

'The Big Sleep' (1946)

Director: howard hawks.

When it has Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in it, you know it has to be a good movie. The Big Sleep does not disappoint and is every bit as wonderful as audiences claim it is. This tale of love and crime follows private detective Philip Marlowe, who is hired by a general to stop a blackmail plot concerning his daughter ( Martha Vickers ), and ultimately meets her older sister, Vivian.

Featuring two protagonists with electrifying chemistry that transcends the movie screen and an intriguing plot, The Big Sleep is required viewing in the romantic crime genre . Based on Raymond Chandler 's classic 1939 novel of the same name, it was, of course, a critical and commercial success, leading to two more films starring the iconic cinematic duo Bogart and Bacall : Dark Passage and Key Largo .

The Big Sleep

Release Date 1946-08-31

Cast Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart

Runtime 114

'In a Lonely Place' (1950)

Director: nicholas ray.

Next up is Nicholas Ray 's film noir, also starring Bogart, which centers around Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele, who hasn't written a film for a while and is now a suspect in the murder of a restaurant hat check girl. His neighbor Laurel Gray ( Gloria Grahame ), with whom he later starts a seemingly loving relationship, gives Dixon an alibi and clears him. But then she begins to have her doubts...

In a Lonely Place is a fantastic romance crime drama that delves into the complexities of human relationships and provides viewers with an engaging time in front of the screen. It is also one of the great films of the 1950s, with Bogart's acting efforts being often considered his most remarkable , even if the film itself is less known and celebrated than his other more popular work.

NEXT: The 20 Best Romance Movies of All Time, Ranked According to IMDb

The Best Crime Movies on HBO Max

"As far back as I can remember, all I wanted to be was a gangster."

Can’t get enough of hitmen, mobsters, and a general sense of lawless mayhem? With HBO Max’s vast catalog of films, which includes a rich library in the crime genre, you’re sure to find something that quells your urge for sweet scores and getaway plans. Everything including murder mysteries, bank robberies, and “family business” can be found in the HBO Max film library, so here’s a selection available to find that ranges from underrated gems to all-time classics.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the best action movies , true crime series , cult action favorites on HBO Max , and movies on HBO .

Disclaimer: These titles are available on US Max.

Editor's note: This article was updated August 2023 to include A Most Violent Year.

A Most Violent Year (2014)

Run Time : 2 hrs 5 min | Director : J.C. Chandor

Cast : Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo

Writer-director J.C. Chandor captures award-worthy performances in A Most Violent Year , a terrific crime thriller starring Oscar Isaac ( X-Men: Apocalypse ) and Jessica Chastain ( The Eyes of Tammy Faye ). Grounded by Chandor’s gripping script, the film harnesses the realities of a tumultuous moment in New York City’s history surrounding organized criminal activities. Together, Isaac and Chastain play a loving and ambitious couple determined to protect their family and businesses, regardless of legal or moral expectations. A Most Violent Year presents the gray areas and ethical dilemmas through stellar drama and critically praised performances. – Yael Tygiel

Watch Trailer Watch on Max

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Run Time : 1 hr 49 min | Director : F. Gary Gray

Cast : Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall, Viola Davis

Gerard Butler ( How to Train Your Dragon ) and Jamie Foxx ( Spider-Man: No Way Home ) star in Law Abiding Citizen , a thrilling cat-and-mouse action drama from director F. Gary Gray ( Men in Black: International ). Law Abiding Citizen is a heart-pumping crime adventure that follows a man seeking revenge (Butler) from the people he deems responsible for his wife’s murder. Showcasing a beautiful tribute to the city of Philadelphia while also reflecting on corruption in the justice system, Law Abiding Citizen is a well-crafted cinematic feat, from the intense plot to the standout cast. – Yael Tygiel

The Little Things (2021)

Run Time : 2 hrs 8 min | Director : John Lee Hancock

Cast : Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales, Michael Hyatt

Written and directed by John Lee Hancock , The Little Things is an intense crime thriller starring Denzel Washington as a Kern County Deputy Sheriff named Joe Deacon, who, on a routine evidence-gathering assignment, finds himself knee-deep in a murder investigation. Deacon joins forces with Sergeant Jim Baxter ( Rami Malek ), and The Little Things follows as they become embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles. Coming from different backgrounds, experiences, and processes, the unlikely partners begin to uncover secrets linking the case to Sheriff Deacon’s past — with deadly results. The Little Things features a haunting performance from Jared Leto and co-stars Natalie Morales and Michael Hyatt . – Yael Tygiel

Goodfellas (1990)

Run Time : 2 hr 26 min | Director : Martin Scorsese

Cast : Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco

Martin Scorsese ’s mob classic follows the rise and fall of gangster turned police informant, Henry Hill ( Ray Liotta ). Scorsese is no stranger to the world of crime in film, having made a variety of films in the genre such as Mean Streets and Casino , but it's near impossible to top Goodfellas , a film littered with memorable moments and iconic scenes within the crime genre. Stacked with great performances from Liotta to Robert De Niro at his most cool and menacing as Jimmy Conway, and Lorrain Bracco as Karen, Henry’s put upon wife. But it is Joe Pesci who won an Oscar for his portrayal of the maniacal Tommy DeVito, who’s both terrifying and kind of a funny guy. Whether it's for the first time or the 20th, there’s never a bad time to watch Goodfellas .

The Player (1992)

Run Time : 2 hr 4 min | Director : Robert Altman

Cast : Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg

Griffin Mill ( Tim Robbins ), a hotshot film producer who greenlights and rejects thousands of screenplay pitches, has been receiving anonymous death threats from who he assumes is a writer that had a pitch rejected. Mill meets with the writer who he believes is harassing him, but when their conversation escalates to a fight, Mill murders the writer and stages the scene as a robbery believing his strife is now over. But the next day, Mill receives another letter from his stalker. Robert Altman ’s satire of the Hollywood machine is still relevant 30 years later, as it pokes fun at incompetant studio executives and mocks the egos of movie stars and producers alike. A beautifully shot film that features a bevy of cameos from A-listers of the time.

Blood Simple (1984)

Run Time : 1 hr 39 min | Director : Joel Coen

Cast : John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams

The Coen brothers announced themselves as cinematic wunderkinds to be reckoned with in their stylish neo noir debut. Set deep in the heart of Texas, a jealous bar owner ( Dan Hedaya ) hires a cheap hitman ( M. Emmet Walsh ) to murder his cheating wife ( Frances McDormand ) and her lover ( John Getz ). A taut thriller that will grip you to its closing moments.

No Sudden Move (2021)

Run Time : 1 hr 55 min | Director : Steven Soderbergh

Cast : Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm

The latest film from Steven Soderbergh , director of films such as Ocean’s Eleven and Out of Sight , is set in 1954 Detroit and follows a group of small-time criminals tasked with stealing a valuable document. But when the heist goes sideways, they search for those who hired them and for what the purpose was. Featuring a stellar cast that includes Don Cheadle , Benicio Del Toro , Kieran Culkin , Brendan Fraser and Jon Hamm , Soderbergh’s newest heist film presents a fresh take on the genre and askews some of the trappings of those stories to create an unpredictable narrative.

The Departed (2006)

Run Time : 2 hr 31 min | Director : Martin Scorsese

Cast : Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg

A tale of two rats. A police informant ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) goes deep undercover in the Irish mob that has taken over the streets of Boston in order to flush out a mobster ( Matt Damon ) who has infiltrated the police department. Martin Scorsese received his long overdue Oscar in this best Best Picture-winning crime epic. This endlessly entertaining thriller boasts brilliant performances from both DiCaprio and Damon, but it is the supporting cast that makes this film as good as it is, with Jack Nicholson giving what may be his final great performance as the crime lord Frank Costello, while Ray Winstone is suitably intimidating as his muscle. But it is a never-better Mark Wahlberg that steals the show as the guy who does his job, igniting all of his scenes with profanity filled, hilarious tyrades as the fiery police Sergeant Dignam.

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7 best gangster movies, ranked

The greatest gangster movies are also often the best in the wider crime genre, with each being a masterpiece that portrays its own unique gritty underworld full of flawed characters. Whether it’s classic tales of organized crime that offer a peek behind the curtain or modern-day dramas that can move or shock audiences, these gangster films are important works that represent the best the genre can offer.

7. City of God (2002)

6. casino (1995), 5. scarface (1983), 4. once upon a time in america (1984), 3. goodfellas (1990), 2. the godfather (1972), 1. the godfather part ii (1974).

From the intense realism of City of God to the iconic brilliance of The Godfather , they may all depict criminals, but their stories are diverse and complex, offering varied entertainment value for every type of viewer. These cinematic thrills dive deep into the criminal underworld where violence, drama, and high-stakes situations are the norm.

Set in the impoverished favelas of Rio de Janeiro, City of God chronicles the rise of organized crime through the perspective of two boys who choose two vastly different paths. Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) and Lil’ Ze (Leandro Firmino) may have similar backgrounds, but one of them works toward becoming a talented photographer while the other turns into a ruthless drug leader.

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Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, City of God put Brazilian cinema on the map thanks to its raw and brutally honest depiction of life in the favelas. The film was also shot on location in these neighborhoods and stars actual residents from the favelas, which adds authenticity and believability to its disturbing story. The 2002 movie is a crucial depiction of how poverty and systemic inequality help perpetuate a never-ending cycle of violence in places like the Cidade de Deus.

Many of director Martin Scorsese’s best movies revolve around organized crime, and 1995’s Casino is no exception. Inspired by real-life gangsters, the epic crime film is centered on the rise and fall of Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a skilled gambler entrusted by the mob to oversee the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. Complicating matters are his volatile friend, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), dangerous higher-ups in the mob, and his complicated love interest, Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone).

Casino gives audiences a thrilling story that imagines what criminal activity could look like behind the scenes in some of Sin City’s most glamorous locations. Sam has to deal with all kinds of trouble, including cheating, skimming, kidnapping, and even murder, and not even his strategic approach can protect his new empire. The protagonist’s messy life is perfectly captured by an incredible performance from De Niro, who marked his eighth collaboration with Scorsese with this film.

“Say hello to my little friend!” Scarface is a massively popular and beloved gangster movie that’s a remake of the 1932 film ofn the same name. Directed by Brian De Palma, the 1983 movie is set in the gritty underworld of 1980s Miami, where Cuban immigrant Tony Montana (Al Pacino) becomes a powerful drug lord. The film portrays Tony’s harsh climb to the top of the criminal hierarchy, as well as his increasingly unstable empire, which soon crumbles and leads to his tragic downfall.

Scarface has an enduring place in pop culture thanks to its quotable lines and scenes of extreme violence. The film benefits from De Palma’s stylistic direction, with the cult classic being remembered for its over-the-top moments that make it wildly entertaining. Of course, Scarface also features Al Pacino in one of his most iconic roles, with the film’s ridiculous story propelled by his bombastic and charismatic performance as the flawed lead.

Director Sergio Leone’s final movie before his death in 1989 is an epic crime film that would leave a mark on the gangster genre. Once Upon a Time in America is a sweeping epic that spans decades and follows the lives of a group of Jewish gangsters in New York City from their youth in the 1920s through the 1960s. The film primarily centers on David “Noodles” Aaronson (Robert De Niro) and his childhood friend, Maximilian “Max” Bercovicz (James Woods), as they lead a group of ghetto youths who eventually become powerful gangsters.

A one-of-a-kind look at the world of organized crime in New York City, the 1984 movie showcases how effective storytelling that spans decades can be in conveying both a grand and incredibly intimate narrative of friendship and the American dream. Once Upon a Time in America is one of the longest Hollywood movies ever made , and it earns every minute of its four-hour runtime.

Goodfellas is a biographical crime film that tells the story of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who is initially drawn to the mafia because of their strong presence in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. He eventually completely embraces the gangster lifestyle and all of his new friends. The glamorous side of his criminal enterprise can’t hide the danger and brutality, though, and Henry’s steady climb to success will eventually end with a painful fall.

The 1990 movie is director Martin Scorsese’s greatest gangster film, and it showcases his trademarks at their very best, including voice-over narration and innovative freeze frames. It has stylish visuals, an impeccably cast ensemble, a flawless soundtrack, and a mobster story that makes excellent use of the rise-and-fall formula. With its portrayal of both the lavish aspects and terrifying realities of life as a mobster, Goodfellas is an essential entry that perfectly encapsulates the genre.

Director Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a film that needs no introduction. Based on Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel, the movie depicts the complicated lives of the Corleone crime family, led by patriarch Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). It particularly focuses on his son Michael (Al Pacino), who’s initially reluctant to join the family business, but eventually transforms into an unforgiving mafia boss.

A groundbreaking and award-winning work, The Godfather is the most influential gangster movie ever , and is often credited with reshaping the genre through its depiction of the inner workings of the mafia. Instead of straightforward villains, the 1972 film introduces complex characters with hopes, fears, and desires, all captured in a riveting drama set against an uncertain post-World War II America. The Godfather would spawn a legendary trilogy that’s widely considered a cinematic treasure that’s still studied and referenced today.

The Godfather Part II expands the Corleones’ epic story in darker and even more tragic ways. Serving as both a sequel and prequel film, it uses flashbacks to tell the story of the rise of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) as a young immigrant from Sicily to a feared gangster in New York City. In the present, the reign of his son Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don is met with challenges as danger lurks in every corner.

Coppola’s meticulous direction and storytelling are on display in this continuation of the Corleones’ arcs. The 1974 film is more impressive in almost every way, with lavish sets, an incredible score, and a more gripping story that makes its three-hour runtime fly by. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino also deliver career-best performances that help anchor the film’s ambitious narrative structure. The intertwining storylines are seamlessly portrayed in this sequel that completely immerses viewers in a family saga that remains one of cinema’s greatest achievements.

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Sandler went on to prove that he’s a talented actor beyond the comedy genre, starring in movies like Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, Uncut Gems, and Hustle. While he has been consistently delivering popular movies, from serious to animated fare, as well as Netflix films like You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, it was the 1990s that solidified Sandler’s position as a cultural comedy icon. Not all his movies from the decade were hits, but each played a role in making him one of the most successful comedy moviemakers and actors of that decade. 7. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)

Whenever a plot twist occurs in a film, it can either make or break the story for its audience. Some classic movies like Psycho and Planet of the Apes and more recent movies like 2022's Nope have presented iconic twists that nobody could have dreamed of upon release, while others did not have as much success in defying viewers' expectations.

Such predictable plot twists don't necessarily ruin the story, but if the filmmaker's goal was to trick everyone watching and blow them all away, these eight movies didn't exactly fool their audience.

Epic movies have provided audiences with cinematic spectacles since the art form began. These large-scale features include some of the most ambitious movies ever made. They tell marvelous stories against extravagant backdrops teeming with life thanks to meticulous attention to costumes, impeccable casting choices, and inspiring musical scores.

From genre classics like Lawrence of Arabia to recent blockbusters like Oppenheimer, the greatest epic films of all time weave tales of unparalleled scale, making history along the way. These essential epics span a variety of subgenres and time periods, ensuring that there's something for every type of viewer. 10. The Ten Commandments (1956)

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Nicholas Kristof

The Online Degradation of Women and Girls That We Meet With a Shrug

By Nicholas Kristof

Opinion Columnist

Alarms are blaring about artificial intelligence deepfakes that manipulate voters, like the robocall sounding like President Biden that went to New Hampshire households, or the fake video of Taylor Swift endorsing Donald Trump.

Yet there’s actually a far bigger problem with deepfakes that we haven’t paid enough attention to: deepfake nude videos and photos that humiliate celebrities and unknown children alike. One recent study found that 98 percent of deepfake videos online were pornographic and that 99 percent of those targeted were women or girls.

Faked nude imagery of Taylor Swift rattled the internet in January, but this goes way beyond her: Companies make money by selling advertising and premium subscriptions for websites hosting fake sex videos of famous female actresses, singers, influencers, princesses and politicians. Google directs traffic to these graphic videos, and victims have little recourse.

Sometimes the victims are underage girls.

Francesca Mani, a 14-year-old high school sophomore in New Jersey , told me she was in class in October when the loudspeaker summoned her to the school office. There the assistant principal and a counselor told her that one or more male classmates had used a “nudify” program to take a clothed picture of her and generate a fake naked image. The boys had made naked images of a number of other sophomore girls as well.

Fighting tears, feeling violated and humiliated, Francesca stumbled back to class. In the hallway, she said, she passed another group of girls crying for the same reason — and a cluster of boys mocking them.

“When I saw the boys laughing, I got so mad,” Francesca said. “After school, I came home, and I told my mom we need to do something about this.”

Now 15, Francesca started a website about the deepfake problem — aiheeelp.com — and began meeting state legislators and members of Congress in an effort to call attention to the issue.

While there have always been doctored images, artificial intelligence makes the process much easier. With just a single good image of a person’s face, it is now possible in just half an hour to make a 60-second sex video of that person. Those videos can then be posted on general pornographic websites for anyone to see, or on specialized sites for deepfakes.

The videos there are graphic and sometimes sadistic, depicting women tied up as they are raped or urinated on, for example. One site offers categories including “rape” (472 items), “crying” (655) and “degradation” (822).

In addition, there are the “nudify” or “undressing” websites and apps of the kind that targeted Francesca. “Undress on a click!” one urges. These overwhelmingly target women and girls ; some are not even capable of generating a naked male. A British study of child sexual images produced by artificial intelligence reported that 99.6 percent were of girls, most commonly between 7 and 13 years old.

Graphika, an online analytics company, identified 34 nudify websites that received a combined 24 million unique visitors in September alone.

When Francesca was targeted, her family consulted the police and lawyers but found no remedy. “There’s nobody to turn to,” said her mother, Dorota Mani. “The police say, ‘Sorry, we can’t do anything.’”

The problem is that there isn’t a law that has been clearly broken. “We just continue to be unable to have a legal framework that can be nimble enough to address the tech,” said Yiota Souras, the chief legal officer for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Sophie Compton, a documentary maker, made a film on the topic, “ Another Body ,” and was so appalled that she started a campaign and website, MyImageMyChoice.org , to push for change.

“It’s become a kind of crazy industry, completely based on the violation of consent,” Compton said.

The impunity reflects a blasé attitude toward the humiliation of victims. One survey found that 74 percent of deepfake pornography users reported not feeling guilty about watching the videos.

We have a hard-fought consensus established today that unwanted kissing, groping and demeaning comments are unacceptable, so how is this other form of violation given a pass? How can we care so little about protecting women and girls from online degradation?

“Most survivors I talk to say they contemplated suicide,” said Andrea Powell , who works with people who have been deepfaked and develops strategies to address the problem.

This is a burden that falls disproportionately on prominent women. One deepfake website displays the official portrait of a female member of Congress — and then 28 fake sex videos of her. Another website has 90. (I’m not linking to these sites because, unlike Google, I’m not willing to direct traffic to these sites and further enable them to profit from displaying nonconsensual imagery.)

In rare cases, deepfakes have targeted boys, often for “sextortion,” in which a predator threatens to disseminate embarrassing images unless the victim pays money or provides nudes. The F.B.I. last year warned of an increase in deepfakes used for sextortion, which has sometimes been a factor in child suicides.

“The images look SCARY real and there’s even a video of me doing disgusting things that also look SCARY real,” one 14-year-old reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. That child sent debit card information to a predator who threatened to post the fakes online.

As I see it, Google and other search engines are recklessly directing traffic to porn sites with nonconsensual deepfakes. Google is essential to the business model of these malicious companies.

In one search I did on Google, seven of the top 10 video results were explicit sex videos involving female celebrities. Using the same search terms on Microsoft’s Bing search engine, all 10 were. But this isn’t inevitable: At Yahoo, none were.

In other spheres, Google does the right thing. Ask “How do I kill myself?” and it won’t offer step-by-step guidance — instead, its first result is a suicide helpline. Ask “How do I poison my spouse?” and it’s not very helpful. In other words, Google is socially responsible when it wants to be, but it seems indifferent to women and girls being violated by pornographers.

“Google really has to take responsibility for enabling this kind of problem,” Breeze Liu, herself a victim of revenge porn and deepfakes, told me. “It has the power to stop this.”

Liu was shattered when she got a message in 2020 from a friend to drop everything and call him at once.

“I don’t want you to panic,” he told her when she called, “but there’s a video of you on Pornhub .”

It turned out to be a nude video that had been recorded without Liu’s knowledge. Soon it was downloaded and posted on many other porn sites, and then apparently used to spin deepfake videos showing her performing sex acts. All told, the material appeared on at least 832 links.

Liu was mortified. She didn’t know how to tell her parents. She climbed to the top of a tall building and prepared to jump off.

In the end, Liu didn’t jump. Instead, like Francesca, she got mad — and resolved to help other people in the same situation.

“We are being slut-shamed and the perpetrators are completely running free,” she told me. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Liu, who previously had worked for a venture capital firm in technology, founded a start-up, Alecto AI , that aims to help victims of nonconsensual pornography locate images of themselves and then get them removed. A pilot of the Alecto app is now available free for Apple and Android devices, and Liu hopes to establish partnerships with tech firms to help remove nonconsensual content.

Tech can address problems that tech created, she argues.

Google agrees that there is room for improvement. No Google official was willing to discuss the problem with me on the record, but Cathy Edwards, a vice president for search at the company, issued a statement that said, “We understand how distressing this content can be, and we’re committed to building on our existing protections to help people who are affected.”

“We’re actively developing additional safeguards on Google Search,” the statement added, noting that the company has set up a process where deepfake victims can apply to have these links removed from search results.

A Microsoft spokeswoman, Caitlin Roulston, offered a similar statement, noting that the company has a web form allowing people to request removal of a link to nude images of themselves from Bing search results. The statement encouraged users to adjust safe search settings to “block undesired adult content” and acknowledged that “more work needs to be done.”

Count me unimpressed. I don’t see why Google and Bing should direct traffic to deepfake websites whose business is nonconsensual imagery of sex and nudity. Search engines are pillars of that sleazy and exploitative ecosystem. You can do better, Google and Bing.

A.I. companies aren’t as culpable as Google, but they haven’t been as careful as they could be. Rebecca Portnoff, vice president for data science at Thorn, a nonprofit that builds technology to combat child sexual abuse, notes that A.I. models are trained using scraped imagery from the internet, but they can be steered away from websites that include child sexual abuse. The upshot: They can’t so easily generate what they don’t know.

President Biden signed a promising executive order last year to try to bring safeguards to artificial intelligence, including deepfakes, and several bills have been introduced in Congress. Some states have enacted their own measures.

I’m in favor of trying to crack down on deepfakes with criminal law, but it’s easy to pass a law and difficult to enforce it. A more effective tool might be simpler: civil liability for damages these deepfakes cause. Tech companies are now largely excused from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but if this were amended and companies knew that they faced lawsuits and had to pay damages, their incentives would change and they would police themselves. And the business model of some deepfake companies would collapse.

Senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat of Colorado, and others have proposed a new federal regulatory body to oversee technology companies and new media, just as the Federal Communications Commission oversees old media. That makes sense to me.

Australia seems a step ahead of other countries in regulating deepfakes, and perhaps that’s in part because a Perth woman, Noelle Martin , was targeted at age 17 by someone who doctored an image of her into porn. Outraged, she became a lawyer and has devoted herself to fighting such abuse and lobbying for tighter regulations.

One result has been a wave of retaliatory fake imagery meant to hurt her. Some included images of her underage sister.

“This form of abuse is potentially permanent,” Martin told me. “This abuse affects a person’s education, employability, future earning capacity, reputation, interpersonal relationships, romantic relationships, mental and physical health — potentially in perpetuity.”

The greatest obstacles to regulating deepfakes, I’ve come to believe, aren’t technical or legal — although those are real — but simply our collective complacency.

Society was also once complacent about domestic violence and sexual harassment. In recent decades, we’ve gained empathy for victims and built systems of accountability that, while imperfect, have fostered a more civilized society.

It’s time for similar accountability in the digital space. New technologies are arriving, yes, but we needn’t bow to them. It astonishes me that society apparently believes that women and girls must accept being tormented by demeaning imagery. Instead, we should stand with victims and crack down on deepfakes that allow companies to profit from sexual degradation, humiliation and misogyny.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Nicholas Kristof became a columnist for The Times Opinion desk in 2001. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes, for his coverage of China and of the genocide in Darfur. @ NickKristof

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