Movies Like City of Desire

If you liked City of Desire (2001), a crime and drama movie directed by Raymond Yip Wai-Man, 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
Prison on Fire (1987)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
A veteran inmate takes a newcomer under his wing as the pair confront both other violent inmates and the prison's corrupt wardens.
2
Siberian Education (2013)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and crime
The story of a gang of children growing up in a community of banished criminals, in a forgotten corner of the former Soviet Union. This community rejects the world outside. The only law it obeys… is its own. Against…
3
True Believer (1989)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet…
4
The Sparring Partner (2022)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
Adapted from a sensational real-life case in 2013, the intricate story begins when a young man partners with his friend to murder and dismember his parents. Pleading not guilty, the defense attorneys soon turn on each…
5
Belly (1998)
★ 6.4/10Also crime and drama
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking…
6
Trivisa (2016)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and crime
Three notorious gangsters who have never crossed paths find themselves in the same restaurant at the same time, and their fates are changed forever.
7
American Murderer (2022)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and drama
The True story of how charismatic con man Jason Derek Brown bankrolls his extravagant lifestyle through a series of scams. On Brown’s trail: Lance Leising, a dogged FBI special agent determined to put Brown behind…
8
Special ID (2013)
★ 6/10Also drama and crime
A career-long undercover Hong Kong cop is sent to Mainland China when his former protégé becomes the primary suspect in a murder.
9
Salvable (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
When a battered boxer past his prime finds his dreams and his relationships on the ropes, he falls back in with a dangerous crowd and has to take the biggest swing of his life to reclaim his hope and his family.
10
Inside Man (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
11
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…
12
SPL: Kill Zone (2005)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
Chan, an articulate senior detective nearing the end of his career, is taking care of the daughter of a witness killed by ruthless crime lord Po. Martial arts expert Ma is set to take over as head of the crime unit…
13
Made in Hong Kong (1997)
★ 7.6/10Also crime and drama
After his father abandons the family, Autumn Moon drops out of high school and becomes a debt collector for the Triads. On his rounds, he meets and falls in love with Ping, a daughter of one of the Triads' clients. She…
14
The Most Hated Woman in America (2017)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
The true story of Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- iconoclast, opportunist, and outspoken atheist -- from her controversial rise to her untimely demise.
15
Empire (2002)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top…
16
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also drama and crime
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
17
Island of Fire (1991)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
Someone in a prison run by a corrupt warden fakes the deaths of convicts to later use them as expendable assassins. A police officer is sent into the prison to gather evidence of the corruption.
18
The Mission (1999)
★ 7.5/10Also crime and drama
Triad boss Lung, who has just escaped being killed in an assassination attempt hires the killers Curtis, James, Mike, Roy and Shin for his protection.
19
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and drama
A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district…
20
P Storm (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also crime
Liu Yue Ping reports to the ICAC about a rich 2G Cao Yuen Yuen who bribed officers of the Hong Kong Correctional Services (HKCS) from inside the prison. William Luk decides to infiltrate the prison as an inmate to…