Movies Like Cartel Land

If you liked Cartel Land (2015), a drama and documentary movie directed by Matthew Heineman, 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
Narco Cultura (2013)
★ 7/10Also documentary
To a growing number of Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, narco-traffickers have become iconic outlaws and the new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto, nurturing a new American…
2
Cocaine Cowboys (2006)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary
In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago - and it put the city on the map. "Cocaine Cowboys" is the true story of how…
3
Chaos: The Manson Murders (2025)
★ 6.1/10Also documentary
In August 1969, Charles Manson's followers killed seven people on his orders. Why? Explore a conspiracy of mind control, CIA experiments, and murder.
4
A Toxic Love Story (2026)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
5
Heroin(e) (2017)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
This documentary follows three women — a fire chief, a judge, and a street missionary — as they battle West Virginia's devastating opioid epidemic.
6
Biggie & Tupac (2002)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
In 1997, rap superstars Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G.) were gunned down in separate incidents, the apparent victims of hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick…
7
The Crash (2026)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
8
Voyeur (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also documentary
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
9
Maternal Instinct (2026)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
10
Touching the Void (2003)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary and drama
The true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' disastrous and nearly-fatal mountain climb of 6,344m Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.
11
The Menendez Brothers (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Serving life in prison for murdering their parents, Lyle and Erik Menendez speak out in this documentary explaining the shocking crime and ensuing trials.
12
Icarus (2017)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, director Bryan Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country's "anti-doping" program. Over dozens of…
13
Out of Thin Air (2017)
★ 5.9/10Also documentary
Set within the stark Icelandic landscape, OUT OF THIN AIR examines the 1976 police investigation into the disappearance of two men in the early 1970s.
14
A Deadly American Marriage (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
A chilling 911 call. A gruesome scene. What really happened inside a family's quiet suburban home? Murder or self-defense? Told from both sides, this documentary explores Jason Corbett's brutal death.
15
Bitconned (2024)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary
In this true-crime documentary, three guys exploit the freewheeling cryptocurrency market to scam millions from investors and bankroll lavish lifestyles.
16
Cocaine Cowboys 2 (2008)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
Set in 1991 on the inner-city streets of Oakland, California, cocaine dealer Charles Cosby has his life is changed forever when he writes a fan letter to the "Cocaine Godmother" Griselda Blanco, who is serving time at…
17
Everybody’s Everything (2019)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.
18
Con Mum (2025)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
A chef's life is upended when a jet-setting, champagne-sipping, hotel-hopping woman claims to be his long-lost mother.
19
Amy (2015)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward…
20
The Accountant of Auschwitz (2018)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
Oskar Gröning, known as the "Accountant of Auschwitz," was charged with the murder of 300,000 Jews. When he took the stand in 2015, at the age of 94, his trial made headlines worldwide.