Movies Like The Ambush Murders

If you liked The Ambush Murders (1982), a tv movie and drama movie directed by Steven Hilliard Stern, 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
Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and tv movie
Jesse investigates the suspicious death of a young friend while the police force deals with the arrogant new police chief who is the son-in-law of a town councilman.
2
A Dry White Season (1989)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
3
The Life of David Gale (2003)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
4
The Organization (1971)
★ 6.3/10Also drama
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for…
5
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and tv movie
When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled…
6
Tyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned…
7
McQ (1974)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.
8
The Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
★ 6.5/10Also tv movie
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute…
9
Colombiana (2011)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante…
10
Righteous Kill (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also drama
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the…
11
Guilty by Suspicion (1991)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.
12
Broken City (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched…
13
My Dinner with Hervé (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and tv movie
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
14
Stone Cold (2005)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and tv movie
Jesse Stone is a former L.A. homicide detective who left behind the big city and an ex-wife to become the police chief of the quiet New England fishing town of Paradise. Stone's old habits die hard as he continues to…
15
Street Kings (2008)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the…
16
The Color of Friendship (2000)
★ 6.7/10Also drama
Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from…
17
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
18
The Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
19
Blindfire (2020)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the…
20
Blood Ties (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.