Movies Like Cardboard Gangsters

If you liked Cardboard Gangsters (2017), a drama and crime movie directed by Mark O'Connor, 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
New Jack City (1991)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and drama
A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself.
2
Calm with Horses (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas 'Arm' Armstrong has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between…
3
Rise of the Footsoldier (2007)
★ 6.4/10Also crime
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
4
Menace II Society (1993)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and crime
A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life.
5
We Die Young (2019)
★ 6.8/10Also drama 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…
6
Ill Manors (2012)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.
7
Al Capone (1959)
★ 6.6/10Also crime and drama
In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder…
8
Year of the Dragon (1985)
★ 6.8/10Also crime
In New York, racist Capt. Stanley White becomes obsessed with destroying a Chinese-American drug ring run by Joey Tai, an up-and-coming young gangster as ambitious as he is ruthless. While pursuing an unauthorized…
9
The Protector (1985)
★ 5.9/10Also crime
Billy Wong is a New York City cop whose partner is gunned down during a robbery. Billy and his new partner, Danny Garoni, are working security at a fashion show when a wealthy man's daughter, Laura Shapiro, is…
10
The Krays (1990)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and crime
Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two…
11
Scarface (1983)
★ 8.2/10Also crime and drama
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…
12
We Still Kill the Old Way (2014)
★ 6/10Also crime
A group of aging London gangsters go on a vigilante killing spree when one of their number is murdered by a street gang.
13
Red Heat (1988)
★ 6.2/10Also crime
A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
14
The Corruptor (1999)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and drama
Danny is a young cop partnered with Nick, a seasoned but ethically tainted veteran. As the two try to stop a gang war in Chinatown, Danny relies on Nick but grows increasingly uncomfortable with the way Nick gets…
15
Gangs of New York (2002)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and crime
In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father's killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He…
16
King of New York (1990)
★ 6.8/10Also crime
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on…
17
State of Grace (1990)
★ 7/10Also drama and crime
Hell's Kitchen, New York. Terry Noonan returns home after a ten-year absence. He soon reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie's sister Kathleen.
18
Wasteman (2026)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and drama
Taylor's hopes for a fresh start post-parole are jeopardised by cellmate Dee's arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own…
19
The Dead Pool (1988)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of prominent figures. By the time Harry learns that the murders are part of a sick…
20
Kill the Irishman (2011)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonate in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war raged between Irish mobster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia. Based on a true story, Kill the Irishman chronicles Greene's…