Movies Like Instant Death

If you liked Instant Death (2017), a action and crime movie directed by Ara Paiaya, 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
Transfusion (2023)
★ 6/10Also crime and action
Ryan Logan, a former Special Forces operative, is battling to cope with life after the loss of his wife. He is thrusted into the criminal underworld to keep his only son from being taken from him.
2
Homefront (2013)
★ 6.9/10Also action
Phil Broker, a retired DEA agent, leads a quiet life with his daughter Maddy, until a school bullying incident draws them into a conflict with Morgan “Gator” Bodine, a local crime boss.
3
We Die Young (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also action and crime
Lucas, a 14-year-old boy inducted into the gang life in Washington D.C., is determined that his 10-year-old brother won't follow the same path. When an Afghanistan war veteran comes into the neighborhood, an…
4
Trespass (1992)
★ 6.3/10Also action and crime
Two Arkansas firemen, Vince and Don, get hold of a map that leads to a cache of stolen gold in an abandoned factory in East St. Louis. What they don't know is that the factory is on the turf of a local gang, who come…
5
Fresh (1994)
★ 7.2/10Also crime
Death and violence anger twelve year old drug courier Fresh, who sets his rival employers against each other.
6
Last Man Standing (1996)
★ 6.4/10Also action and crime
John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As…
7
Shaft (1971)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and action
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
8
Traffic (2000)
★ 7.1/10Also crime
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his well-educated…
9
The Substitute (1996)
★ 7/10Also action and crime
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon…
10
Scarface (1983)
★ 8.2/10Also action and crime
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes…
11
Protector (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also action
Nikki's life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child.
12
The Retirement Plan (2023)
★ 5.8/10Also action and crime
When Ashley and her young daughter Sarah get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can help: her estranged father Matt, currently living the life of a…
13
Havoc (2025)
★ 6.4/10Also action and crime
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.
14
Absolution (2024)
★ 5.9/10Also action and crime
An aging ex-boxer gangster working as muscle for a Boston crime boss receives an upsetting diagnosis. Despite a faltering memory, he attempts to rectify the sins of his past and reconnect with his estranged children…
15
Gringo (2018)
★ 5.9/10Also action and crime
An American businessman with a stake in a pharmaceutical company that's about to go public finds his life is thrown into turmoil by an incident in Mexico.
16
Bound by Honor (1993)
★ 8.2/10Also crime
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known…
17
One Mile: Chapter Two (2026)
★ 6.6/10Also action and crime
Former special forces operative Danny is forced back onto a remote island when a violent, secretive community takes revenge by abducting his daughter Alex, launching a relentless hunt against enemies prepared for his…
18
Scarface (1932)
★ 7.4/10Also crime and action
In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
19
Diablo (2025)
★ 7.3/10Also action and crime
Ex-con Kris Chaney seizes the daughter of a Colombian gangster to fulfill a noble promise to the young girl's mother. When her father enlists both the criminal underworld and a psychotic killer to exact his revenge…
20
Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
★ 6.5/10Also action and crime
The archetypical renegade Texas Ranger wages war against a drug kingpin with automatic weapons, his wits and martial arts after a gun battle leaves his partner dead. All of this inevitably culminates in a martial arts…