Movies Like Chinatown

If you liked Chinatown (1974), a crime and mystery movie directed by Roman Polanski, 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
Cape Fear (1991)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and thriller
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape…
2
Basic Instinct (1992)
★ 7/10Also thriller and mystery
Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.
3
The Two Jakes (1990)
★ 6/10Also crime and mystery
Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his business partner, Gittes…
4
Striking Distance (1993)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and mystery
Demoted Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy works river patrol while a serial killer targets women from his past, forcing him to conduct an unauthorized investigation to prove his innocence and expose a dirty cop.
5
Blue Velvet (1986)
★ 7.6/10Also mystery and thriller
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
6
Blow Out (1981)
★ 7.3/10Also crime and mystery
While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other…
7
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…
8
Strange Darling (2024)
★ 6.9/10Also crime and thriller
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
9
Body Double (1984)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and mystery
After losing an acting role and his girlfriend, Jake Scully finally catches a break: he gets offered a gig house-sitting in the Hollywood Hills. While peering through the beautiful home's telescope one night, he spies…
10
8MM (1999)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller and crime
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of…
11
Righteous Kill (2008)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and thriller
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the…
12
Kiss the Girls (1997)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller and crime
Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to…
13
Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and thriller
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
14
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller and crime
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the…
15
The Dead Pool (1988)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and thriller
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…
16
Wardriver (2026)
★ 7.5/10Also thriller and crime
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
17
Dirty Harry (1971)
★ 7.5/10Also crime and thriller
When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.
18
Just Cause (1995)
★ 6.3/10Also mystery and thriller
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
19
6 Bullets (2012)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and crime
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
20
L.A. Confidential (1997)
★ 7.8/10Also crime and mystery
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.