Films like The Usual Suspects
15 picks with a similar feel
What defines The Usual Suspects, going by its Boxlist taste profile: Weighty and intricate: a dark crime thriller, grounded rather than fantastical. Best if you like puzzles over plain sailing. Its strongest markers on Boxlist are themes of deep rivalry, mysteries that are not what they seem and an all-consuming quest, plus tags such as cargo ship, mind game and criminal mastermind.
Here are 15 films with a similar feel, ranked by how closely they match that profile. Treat them as picks to try, not a definitive list.
Based on The Usual Suspects (1995).
- 1
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Film7.8
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist.
- 2
Jackie Brown (1997)
Film7.3
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist, neo-noir.
- 3
Zodiac (2007)
Film7.5Slower burn
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem. Common ground: whodunit, neo-noir.
- 4
Inside Man (2006)
Film7.4
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also intricate and weighty, with themes of mysteries that are not what they seem and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist.
- 5
The Bank Job (2008)
Film6.8
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also intricate and weighty, with themes of an all-consuming quest. Common ground: police corruption.
- 6
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Film7.2
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also intricate and weighty, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem.
- 7
The Bone Collector (1999)
Film6.8
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also intricate and weighty, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem.
- 8
The Town (2010)
Film7.2Easier to follow
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and dark, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist.
- 9
Heat (1995)
Film7.9Easier to follow
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and dark, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem. Common ground: criminal mastermind, heist, neo-noir.
- 10
The Killing (1956)
Film7.7
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist.
- 11
Chinatown (1974)
Film7.9Slower burn
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem. Common ground: whodunit, neo-noir.
- 12
Suburra (2015)
Film7.3
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry.
- 13
Prisoners (2013)
Film8.0
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and dark, with themes of deep rivalry and mysteries that are not what they seem. Common ground: neo-noir.
- 14
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Film7.5
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and grounded, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: heist.
- 15
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Film8.5
Why it's like The Usual Suspects: Also weighty and intricate, with themes of deep rivalry and an all-consuming quest. Common ground: theft, neo-noir.
Boxlist compares The Usual Suspects with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point. Ratings are TMDB audience scores out of 10.
Which of these suit you?
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Take the taste testQuestions
- What should I watch if I like The Usual Suspects?
- Picks with a similar feel include Dog Day Afternoon, Jackie Brown, Zodiac and Inside Man. Each shares part of The Usual Suspects's taste profile, themes or tags; the full list has 15 films.
- How are these films like The Usual Suspects chosen?
- Boxlist compares The Usual Suspects with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point.