Movies Like I Want to Live!

If you liked I Want to Live! (1958), a drama and crime movie directed by Robert Wise, 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
Just Mercy (2019)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and crime
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence…
2
The Lazarus Project (2008)
★ 6/10Also drama
After Ben Garvey foolishly turned back to crime, he thought his life was over when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. But his death sentence isn't quite what it seems, as Ben regains consciousness near an…
3
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
★ 6.5/10Also crime
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while…
4
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…
5
Killer's Kiss (1955)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The…
6
Red Corner (1997)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
7
Kiss of Death (1947)
★ 7.1/10Also crime
An ex-con trying to go straight must face a crazed criminal out for revenge.
8
Brute Force (1947)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's…
9
The Pelican Brief (1993)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
10
Cry of the City (1948)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check…
11
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and crime
Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm's frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon…
12
Straight Time (1978)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.
13
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.
14
Strangers on a Train (1951)
★ 7.7/10Also crime and drama
A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.
15
She Made Them Do It (2012)
★ 5.9/10Also drama and crime
"She Made Them Do It" follows the twisted life of Sarah Pender, a charismatic, intelligent young woman who would become one of the country’s most sought after fugitives.
16
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…
17
A Perfect World (1993)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and crime
A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.
18
Scarlet Street (1945)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and crime
Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find…
19
Richard Jewell (2019)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime…
20
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.