Movies Like Malibu High

If you liked Malibu High (1979), a crime and drama movie directed by Irvin Berwick, 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
Vice Squad (1982)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and thriller
An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.
2
Layer Cake (2004)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and thriller
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...
3
Another Day in Paradise (1998)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and crime
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
4
Foxy Brown (1974)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and thriller
A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
5
A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and drama
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
6
Above the Rim (1994)
★ 7.1/10Also crime and drama
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
7
King Ivory (2025)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester…
8
The Public Eye (1992)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and drama
A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.
9
Inside Man (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and thriller
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.
10
Monster (2003)
★ 7.2/10Also crime and drama
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a…
11
The Enforcer (2022)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
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…
12
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also thriller and drama
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.
13
180 (2026)
★ 5.8/10Also thriller and crime
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
14
In Cold Light (2026)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller and crime
Fresh out of prison, Ava's attempt to reclaim her drug operation collapses when she witnesses a brutal crime, forcing her to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute.
15
The Baker (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and crime
A quiet, stoic man, lives a monk-like existence in self-imposed exile. When his estranged son is killed in a drug deal gone bad, he is left to look after a granddaughter he never knew existed, and he is forced back…
16
Blood Ties (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also thriller and crime
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
17
The Substitute (1996)
★ 7/10Also crime and drama
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…
18
The Killer (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and crime
Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.
19
Cleaner (2007)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and thriller
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may…
20
Coffy (1973)
★ 6.6/10Also crime and thriller
After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her…