Movies Like Shisei: The Tattooer

If you liked Shisei: The Tattooer (2006), a crime and drama movie directed by Hisayasu Satō, 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
Irezumi (1966)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her…
2
180 (2026)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller and crime
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
3
Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
The story of former Ulster Volunteer Force member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffin's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
4
The Parts You Lose (2019)
★ 6.7/10Also 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.
5
Dear Mr. Gacy (2010)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and drama
A chronicle of the interaction between college student Jason Moss and the object of his obsession, serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
6
Chopper (2000)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
The true and infamous story of Australia's notorious criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes.
7
King Ivory (2025)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester…
8
Awake (2007)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and crime
While undergoing heart surgery, a man experiences a phenomenon called ‘anesthetic awareness’, which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make…
9
The Killer (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and crime
Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.
10
Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song (1973)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and thriller
Nami is once again on the run from the law but is saved by an old classmate who works at a strip club. Through a subsequent conversation they discover they both have a score to settle with a particular crooked cop…
11
Wardriver (2026)
★ 7.5/10Also thriller and crime
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
12
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also thriller and drama
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.
13
S.W.A.T.: Under Siege (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and thriller
When a D.E.A. and S.W.A.T. cartel takedown ends in a shootout, S.W.A.T. Agent Travis Hall seizes a mysterious prisoner taking him into custody. Before long, the S.W.A.T. compound is under siege by wave-after-wave of…
14
The Virtuoso (2021)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller and crime
Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.
15
Black Site (2022)
★ 6/10Also thriller and crime
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching…
16
The System (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and thriller
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.
17
Icefall (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also crime and thriller
A young Indigenous game warden arrests an infamous poacher only to discover that the poacher knows the location of a plane carrying millions of dollars that has crashed in a frozen lake. When a group of criminals and…
18
Above the Rim (1994)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
19
Shade (2003)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and crime
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game…
20
One Night in Bangkok (2020)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and crime
A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop…