Movies Like On the Society File of Shanghai

If you liked On the Society File of Shanghai (1981), a drama and crime movie directed by Wang Chu-Chin, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
True Believer (1989)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet…
2
Under the Light (2023)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and crime
Officers Su Jianming and Li Huilin investigate a crime involving wealthy businessman Li Zhitian. As clues emerge, the investigation becomes more and more like a game of chess.
3
The Shadow Play (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
Tang Yijie, the Construction Committee Director, falls off from rooftop and dies in a demolition riot. Yang Jiadong, a young police officer starts his investigation and finds that Tang's death is tied up with another…
4
A Sun (2019)
★ 7.7/10Also drama and crime
A family of four fractures under the weight of unmet expectations, unexpected tragedy, and uncompromising pride.
5
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also drama and crime
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
6
Only the River Flows (2023)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and crime
Dedicated police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with solving a series of brutal murders in a rural Chinese town. As pressure mounts from his superiors, a hasty arrest is made, but while his colleagues celebrate, several…
7
Siberian Education (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and crime
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against…
8
Each Dawn I Die (1939)
★ 6.9/10Also crime and drama
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
9
Inside Man (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
10
No One Would Tell (1996)
★ 7/10Also drama and crime
Shy sixteen-year-old Stacy Collins can't believe that the most popular guy in school, an attractive athlete named Bobby Tennison, is interested in her. At first she is flattered by his constant attention, but then he…
11
Winged Creatures (2009)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an…
12
S.W.A.T. (2019)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
The story centers on the Chinese Special Police Unit, from their hard training to their first mission.
13
The Wild Goose Lake (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also crime and drama
A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse.
14
The Dead End (2015)
★ 7.6/10Also crime and drama
A "Chinese noir full of sublimated homoeroticism" . The story of three brothers raising a little girl they found as a baby. These sworn brothers are not related by blood, but by a long-standing acquaintance and a…
15
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and crime
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
16
12 Citizens (2014)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and crime
When the film broke out that a young man coming from a rich adopted family murdered his birth father, the controversy around the case hit a nerve with the public at large. An experiment was held through the form of…
17
The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon (2023)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
The arrogant, third most-wanted criminal in Taiwan, decides to get rid of the top two competitors and crowns himself the most-wanted criminal before dying.
18
Police Story: Lockdown (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
A man looking for the release of a long-time prisoner takes a police officer, his daughter, and a group of strangers hostage.
19
The Devil You Know (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and crime
Once-incarcerated Marcus Cowans is trying to turn over a new leaf with the support of his loving family. Upon discovering that one of his brothers may have been involved in a horrific crime, Marcus grapples with the…
20
The System (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also crime
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.