Movies Like South Central

If you liked South Central (1992), a crime and drama movie directed by Stephen Milburn Anderson, 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
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
★ 8.7/10Also drama and crime
Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden…
2
White Heat (1949)
★ 7.7/10Also crime and drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.
3
Girl in the Basement (2021)
★ 7.6/10Also crime
Sara is a teen girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to move away from her controlling father Don. But before she could even blow out the candles, Don imprisons her in the basement of their home.
4
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
★ 7/10Also drama and crime
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
5
Shot Caller (2017)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
6
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
★ 7.7/10Also drama and crime
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's…
7
Sleepers (1996)
★ 7.6/10Also crime and drama
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
8
A Score to Settle (2019)
★ 5.8/10Also crime and drama
A former mob enforcer who is released from prison after serving 22 years for a crime he didn't commit sets out on a path for revenge against the people who wronged him.
9
The Whisper Man (2026)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
10
GoodFellas (1990)
★ 8.5/10Also drama and crime
The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
11
The Informer (2019)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and crime
In New York, former convict Pete Koslow, related to the Polish mafia, must deal with both Klimek the General, his ruthless boss, and the twisted ambitions of two federal agents, as he tries to survive and protect the…
12
Snitch (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Construction company owner John Matthews learns that his estranged son, Jason, has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence…
13
Out of the Furnace (2013)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and crime
Two brothers live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, when a cruel twist of fate lands one in prison. His brother is then lured into one of the most violent crime rings in the Northeast.
14
Dark Places (2015)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and crime
A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.
15
Brubaker (1980)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
16
Belly (1998)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking…
17
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.
18
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…
19
Gangster Squad (2013)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and drama
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west…
20
The Chamber (1996)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
Idealistic young attorney Adam Hall takes on the death row clemency case of his racist grandfather, Sam Cayhall, a former Ku Klux Klan member he has never met.