Image credit: Miramax, Focus Features, Universal Pictures, SPE, Screen Gems, IFC Films, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., USA Films, Lions Gate Films, Twentieth Century Fox, Gramercy Pictures (I), New Line Cinema
If The Departed had you on the edge of your seat, then brace yourself because we've got 25 films that are right up that alley.
Think of them as a buffet of nail-biters, each serving up its own flavor of double-crosses, shady deals, and that 'who's-hunting-who' thrill.
It's like finding hidden gems in the crime genre, each with a twisty plot or a character so complex, you can't help but be drawn in. Whether you're in it for the adrenaline, the brain-teasing plots, or just a good old-fashioned tale of betrayal and redemption, this list is your ticket to a movie marathon that's bound to keep the spirit of The Departed alive and kicking.
25. "Blow" (2001) Rotten Tomatoes score: 55% The true story of George Jung, who became the American importer for the Medellín Cartel and played a major role in the U.S. cocaine market in the 1970s and 1980s, detailing his rise and fall in the drug trade.
24. "Snatch" (2000) Rotten Tomatoes score: 74% A fast-paced crime comedy set in London's criminal underworld involving unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and a sought-after stolen diamond, all converging in a series of intertwining stories.
23. "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 75% A British crime comedy about four friends who become entangled in a series of unfortunate and violent events after a rigged card game leads them into debt with a powerful crime lord, leading to plans of robbery and betrayal.
22. "Casino" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 78% In 1970s Las Vegas, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a gambling expert, is sent by the Chicago Outfit to manage the Tangiers Casino, but his success is threatened by his volatile enforcer friend Nicky Santoro, his ex-hustler wife Ginger, and a web of corruption and power struggles.
21. "Internal Affairs" (1990) Rotten Tomatoes score: 79% Set in Los Angeles, the film follows the intense psychological battle between an ambitious and corrupt LAPD officer, Dennis Peck, and an Internal Affairs agent, Raymond Avilla, who becomes obsessed with bringing Peck to justice.
20. "Layer Cake" (2004) Rotten Tomatoes score: 81% A successful and unnamed London cocaine dealer tries to retire from the business, but gets pulled into complicated deals involving a missing girl, stolen drugs, and treacherous mobsters, leading to a series of double-crosses and a quest for survival.
19. "American Gangster" (2007) Rotten Tomatoes score: 81% In 1970s Harlem, Frank Lucas rises to become a powerful drug lord by smuggling heroin into the United States in American military planes returning from the Vietnam War, while a dedicated detective, Richie Roberts, works tirelessly to bring him down.
18. "Heat" (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% A seasoned professional thief, Neil McCauley, plans one last big heist, but finds himself pursued by a determined LAPD detective, Vincent Hanna, leading to a cat-and-mouse chase and a deep mutual respect between the criminal and the cop.
17. "The Untouchables" (1987) Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% In Prohibition-era Chicago, Federal Agent Eliot Ness forms a special team, The Untouchables, to take down the notorious gangster Al Capone, leading to a dangerous and violent confrontation with the city's criminal underworld.
16. "Carlito's Way" (1993) Rotten Tomatoes score: 84% Carlito Brigante, a former Puerto Rican drug lord, tries to escape his criminal past and retire to a peaceful life, but he is dragged back into the world of crime and violence by his corrupt lawyer and former associates, culminating in a desperate bid for redemption.
15. "Donnie Brasco" (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 88% FBI agent Joe Pistone goes undercover as Donnie Brasco to infiltrate the Bonanno crime family in New York, forming a close bond with an aging hitman, Lefty Ruggiero, leading to moral conflicts and danger as he delves deeper into the Mafia.
14. "A History of Violence" (2005) Rotten Tomatoes score: 88% Tom Stall, a small-town diner owner, becomes a local hero after a violent act of self-defense, but his newfound fame attracts the attention of mobsters who believe he is a former gangster, unraveling his peaceful life and revealing a dark past.
13. "Eastern Promises" (2007) Rotten Tomatoes score: 89% In London, a midwife stumbles upon evidence against the Russian mafia, drawing the attention of a mysterious and ruthless mobster, Nikolai, who navigates the dangerous underworld to protect her and a baby, revealing his complex and secretive past.
12. "City of God" (2002) Rotten Tomatoes score: 91% In the slums of Rio de Janeiro, two boys' lives diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a drug dealer, capturing the brutal and violent life in the favelas, and the impact of crime and poverty on the community.
11. "The Town" (2010) Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% A lifelong thief, Doug MacRay, plans his last big heist in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood but complicates the crew's escape when he falls in love with the manager of a bank they robbed, leading to a conflict between his criminal life and his desire for a new beginning.
10. "Gomorrah" (2008) Rotten Tomatoes score: 91% Set in Naples, Italy, the film intertwines five stories of individuals whose lives are affected by the brutal and unforgiving world of the Camorra crime syndicate, exploring the grim realities of organized crime and its impact on ordinary people.
9. "Sicario" (2015) Rotten Tomatoes score: 92% An idealistic FBI agent, Kate Macer, is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the U.S.-Mexico border, leading her into a morally complex journey involving a mysterious consultant with a questionable past.
8. "Traffic" (2000) Rotten Tomatoes score: 93% A complex look at the global drug trade told through multiple intertwining stories, including a conservative judge appointed as the US Drug Czar, a Mexican policeman fighting the drug cartels, and the wife of a drug lord taking over the business.
7. "Infernal Affairs" (2002) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% In Hong Kong, a police officer goes undercover in a triad, and simultaneously, a triad member infiltrates the police force; both sides race to uncover each other's mole, leading to a tense and dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
6. "Goodfellas" (1990) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate, based on a true story.
5. "Mean Streets" (1973) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% In Little Italy, New York, a small-time criminal, Charlie, struggles to rise in the ranks of the Mafia but is hampered by his sense of responsibility towards his reckless friend Johnny Boy, his girlfriend, and his conflicting religious beliefs.
4. "Animal Kingdom" (2010) Rotten Tomatoes score: 95% A young man, Joshua 'J' Cody, is thrust into his estranged family's criminal underworld in Melbourne, Australia, where he must navigate the dangerous dynamics and power struggles within his own family, led by his manipulative grandmother, Smurf.
3. "The French Connection" (1971) Rotten Tomatoes score: 96% Two New York City detectives, "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo, uncover a massive heroin smuggling operation involving a French connection, leading to a dangerous and obsessive pursuit of the criminal mastermind behind it.
2. "A Prophet" (2009) Rotten Tomatoes score: 96% A young French-Arab man, Malik El Djebena, imprisoned for six years, is coerced by the Corsican mafia to assassinate a fellow inmate, which leads him to slowly rise within the prison's criminal hierarchy, gaining power and influence.
1. "L.A. Confidential" (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 99% In 1950s Los Angeles, three very different police officers – the ambitious Ed Exley, the brutish Bud White, and the sleazy Jack Vincennes – investigate a series of murders in their own ways, uncovering a massive conspiracy and corruption within the LAPD.
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