Movies Like Detective Story

If you liked Detective Story (1951), a crime and drama movie directed by William Wyler, 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
Brooklyn's Finest (2010)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes…
2
Reptile (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
3
Prisoners (2013)
★ 8.1/10Also drama and crime
After his six-year-old daughter is abducted, a desperate father takes justice into his own hands when he loses faith in the detective leading the investigation, setting both men on a collision course as the search…
4
Havoc (2025)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and drama
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.
5
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The…
6
Black and Blue (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also crime
Rookie cop Alicia West, an Army veteran, inadvertently captures the murder of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realizing that the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the one person from…
7
Hollywoodland (2006)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
8
Crown Vic (2019)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
One memorable night in the life of veteran patrol officer Ray Mandel and his trainee, ambitious rookie cop Nick Holland in the LAPD's Olympic Division. With two cop killers on the loose and hunting for more targets…
9
Crime of Passion (1956)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and crime
Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a…
10
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect…
11
In Too Deep (1999)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and crime
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an…
12
China Moon (1994)
★ 6.1/10Also crime
Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After she shoots her husband, Kyle relucantly agrees to help hide the body, but his partner is showing an unusual flair for finding…
13
McQ (1974)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.
14
Changeling (2008)
★ 7.6/10Also crime and drama
Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her…
15
L.A. Confidential (1997)
★ 7.8/10Also crime
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
16
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
Brad has committed murder and barricaded himself inside his house. With the help of his friends and neighbours, the cops piece together the strange tale of how this nice young man arrived at such a dark place.
17
The Naked City (1948)
★ 7.2/10Also crime and drama
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
18
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
★ 7.1/10Also crime
Marcus and Mike are forced to confront new threats, career changes, and midlife crises as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious…
19
Dark Blue (2002)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.
20
The Corruptor (1999)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
Danny is a young cop partnered with Nick, a seasoned but ethically tainted veteran. As the two try to stop a gang war in Chinatown, Danny relies on Nick but grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way Nick gets…