10 Crime Movies Worth Watching

They say crime doesn’t pay. And it usually doesn’t (because you will eventually get caught and go to prison). But what crime does do is make for an entertaining movie genre.

The following 10 crime movies are different from each other in many ways; I tried to provide a diverse group of films for this list. What they do have in common, however, is that they’re all examples of quality movies that fit into this genre.

Emily the Criminal

Emily the Criminal centers on the titular Emily, a down-on-her-luck character struggling to pay off debt while working a cruddy food delivery job. After a chance to make some quick and easy cash presents itself, Emily soon finds herself wrapped up in the world of credit card fraud. Before long, she becomes entangled with one of the ring’s leaders as the stakes continue to rise.

The film is a more grounded crime story. Sure, there’s action, but the movie feels more rooted in reality, and a little less unrealistic, than some of the more well-known crime titles later on this list. It’s well worth your time, with an excellent lead performance from Aubrey Plaza.

The Town

In 2025, I rewatched The Town 15 years after its initial release. The Town is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first saw it in 2010, and I was curious to see if it still held up a decade and a half later. Well, it definitely did. Though now, in addition to just being an all-around great, fun film, the movie serves as a little bit of a time capsule. The Town feels very 2010.

Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, The Town is a heist thriller set in Boston. There’s a romance between Affleck’s character, Doug, and a bank manager, played by Rebecca Hall. The two have chemistry, and the love angle of the story really makes it work. Of course, there’s a little suspension of disbelief that needs to happen with everything, but The Town is one of the best bank robbery movies of the modern era.

Molly’s Game

Aaron Sorkin is best known as a top-tier Hollywood writer, but he does a fantastic job both writing and directing (in his directorial debut) Molly’s Game. The film is based on a book by Molly Bloom and tells the true story of Bloom’s rise to prominence as the host of exclusive, high-stakes poker games.

Molly’s Game is fast-paced and engaging. Sorkin employs his usual quick, smart dialogue, and it works well in this true crime tale. Jessica Chastain stars as Molly. She’s always been a strong actress, but this is definitely one of her better performances. You don’t have to have an interest in poker to enjoy Molly’s Game, but it will certainly add to your appreciation of the story if you happen to.

Drive

The films and TV shows of director Nicolas Winding Refn have always been hit or miss for me, but out of everything he’s worked on, Drive is the clear-cut top piece of media. The film tells the story of a nameless Hollywood stuntman and mechanic who also works as a getaway driver for hire. In order to help a neighbor who he’s developed feelings for, he accepts a job he otherwise wouldn’t. Soon, things go off the rails, and the driver finds himself in deeper than he ever imagined.

Drive features outstanding performances from Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Other extremely talented actors, like Bryan Cranston, Al Brooks, and Oscar Isaac round out a stacked cast. It’s an expertly paced action drama with a killer soundtrack. Drive is one of my favorite crime movies of all time.

The Drop

The Drop is a well-made and more grounded gritty crime drama that a lot of people missed when it was released in 2014. The movie follows a bartender named Bob. He’s a seemingly mild-mannered man, played by the always cool Tom Hardy, who works at a neighborhood bar run by his cousin that also serves as a “drop” for illegal money belonging to the Chechen mafia.

There are a few different threads in the story that all come together later, including a robbery at the bar and Bob rescuing an abandoned dog. The Drop also features the final performance of actor James Gandolfini. It’s an all-around well-done little crime film that deserves more recognition.

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects has always been one of my favorite crime thrillers. The movie has a unique setup, with one of the only survivors of a bloody pier shootout being interviewed by a U.S. Customs agent. In the interview, the man, named Verbal Kint, tells the story of everything that led up to the events at the pier. It all began with a roundup of five criminals for a police lineup six weeks earlier.

Much of the film is Verbal’s story, with scenes during the interview also being interspersed. The Usual Suspects won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and deservedly so. It’s a great, thrilling movie that lends itself to multiple watches. While it’s certainly one of the more well-known crime movies on this list, it’s one that earns its reputation, and it merits a re-watch if you haven’t seen it recently.

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Writer-director S. Craig Zahler’s films are certainly not for the faint of heart, and Brawl in Cell Block 99 is no exception. This is an ultra-violent grindhouse prison movie that will only appeal to those who like a heaping portion of bloody mayhem with their crime movies. The film focuses on Bradley Thomas, a brute of a man who’s a former boxer turned drug runner.

Bradley is played by Vince Vaughn. The actor nails the role, playing a character quite different from the comedic roles he frequently portrays. If the idea of watching Vaughn pummel his adversaries to a pulp in a 1970s-style exploitation film sounds appealing to you, you’re in for a treat.

Miller’s Crossing

When it comes to gangster crime films, everyone knows The Godfather and Goodfellas are great, but one older gangster flick that never got the attention it deserved is Miller’s Crossing. Written and directed by the Coen brothers six years before they’d go on to create their masterpiece Fargo, Miller’s Crossing tells a more classic 1920s gangster tale.

Tom Reagan, played by Gabriel Byrne, is the second-in-command to the head of the Irish crime family. The movie concerns the fight for control between this Irish crime family and the Italians, as well as Tom’s complicated relationship with a woman named Verna, whose brother, Bernie, further complicates everything. If you’re looking for a well-made, aesthetically pleasing, Prohibition-era crime story, Miller’s Crossing is worth checking out.

The Outfit

The Outfit is a smaller-scale crime story in which the entire film is set in a tailor’s shop. At times, with its single set, the movie almost feels like a quality stage play. Despite this, it’s never at all boring and excels at building tension throughout its runtime.

The protagonist of The Outfit is an older man who works as an English cutter (or tailor). Over the course of a night, he becomes entangled with a group of mobsters. As the stakes continue to rise, he’ll need to outwit them all if he hopes to survive.

Outrage

Takeshi Kitano’s trio of Outrage films, of which this is the first (and best) one, probably won’t appeal to all viewers. But if you’re a fan of violent yakuza movies, this entry is top-notch. Kitano wrote, directed, and stars in the film, which is quite entertaining with nonstop yakuza action.

Though Outrage doesn’t do anything revolutionary in terms of its plot, the characters, who are various yakuza thugs at different levels in the organization, are engaging in a “watch bad guys do bad things” sort of way. If you want to watch a violent crime movie featuring gangsters jockeying for position in a criminal empire, Outrage is the movie for you.