Movies Like Shaft

If you liked Shaft (2000), a action and adventure movie directed by John Singleton, 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
A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and thriller
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
2
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…
3
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…
4
Vigilante (1983)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and action
New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. When a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, he goes…
5
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.
6
Q & A (1990)
★ 5.9/10Also action and thriller
A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him.
7
Gloria (1980)
★ 6.9/10Also crime and thriller
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.
8
We Own the Night (2007)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and thriller
A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.
9
Donnie Brasco (1997)
★ 7.5/10Also crime and thriller
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
10
Death Wish (2018)
★ 6.2/10Also action and crime
A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.
11
State of Grace (1990)
★ 7/10Also crime and thriller
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.
12
Out for Justice (1991)
★ 6.2/10Also action and crime
Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who knows everyone and everything in his neighborhood. Killing his partner was someone's big mistake... because he's now out for justice.
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
The Informer (2019)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and thriller
In New York, former convict Pete Koslow, related to the Polish mafia, must deal with both Klimek the General, his ruthless boss, and the twisted ambitions of two federal agents, as he tries to survive and protect the…
15
Dead Man Down (2013)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and action
In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
16
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…
17
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
★ 6.4/10Also action and crime
Charlie and his troublesome cousin Paulie decide to steal $150,000 in order to back a "sure thing" race horse that Paulie has inside information on. The aftermath of the robbery gets them into serious trouble with the…
18
Layer Cake (2004)
★ 6.9/10Also thriller and crime
When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...
19
Maximum Risk (1996)
★ 5.8/10Also action and thriller
Alain Moreau's investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the beauty of the south of France to the mean streets of New York City and into the arms of his brother's beautiful girlfriend…
20
The Enforcer (2022)
★ 7/10Also action and crime
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to…