Crime films inspired by real cases — heists, murders, and criminal enterprises that actually happened.
True Story Crime Movies — 51 entries in the movies category, sortable by Title, Year, Director. Every row is ranked by community votes, giving you a crowd-sourced perspective you won't find on Wikipedia or IMDb.
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The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
City of God
2002
Fernando Meirelles
8.4
Drama, Crime
Brazil
129
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
Memories of Murder
2003
Bong Joon Ho
8.1
Crime, Drama, Thriller
South Korea
131
A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.
The Wolf of Wall Street
2013
Martin Scorsese
8
Crime, Drama, Comedy
United States of America
180
A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
Catch Me If You Can
2002
Steven Spielberg
8
Drama, Crime
United States of America
141
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. An FBI agent makes it his mission to put him behind bars. But Frank not only eludes capture, he revels in the pursuit.
Just Mercy
2019
Destin Daniel Cretton
7.9
Drama, Crime, History
United States of America
137
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked aga...
The Chaser
2008
Na Hong-jin
7.8
Crime, Thriller, Action
South Korea
125
Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting wi...
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil
2019
Lee Won-tae
7.8
Crime, Action, Thriller
South Korea
110
After barely surviving a brutal attack by a sadistic serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su is left humiliated. Determined to catch the killer known as K, he forms an uneasy alliance with Jung Tae-seok, a relentless and incorruptible detective who often disrupts his illegal business. However, whi...
Mississippi Burning
1988
Alan Parker
7.7
Drama, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
United States of America
128
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.
The Traitor
2019
Marco Bellocchio
7.7
Drama, Crime, Thriller
Brazil
151
Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change ...
Changeling
2008
Clint Eastwood
7.6
Crime, Drama, Mystery
United States of America
141
Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, her quest for truth exposes a world of corruption.
BlacKkKlansman
2018
Spike Lee
7.5
Crime, Comedy, Drama, History
United States of America
136
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
Donnie Brasco
1997
Mike Newell
7.5
Crime, Drama, Thriller
United States of America
127
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
Serpico
1973
Sidney Lumet
7.5
Crime, Drama
United States of America
130
New York cop Frank Serpico blows the whistle on the rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Badlands
1974
Terrence Malick
7.5
Crime, Drama, Romance
United States of America
94
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023
Martin Scorsese
7.4
Crime, History, Drama
United States of America
206
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Midnight Express
1978
Alan Parker
7.4
Drama, Crime
United Kingdom
121
Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight ...
Boys Don't Cry
1999
Kimberly Peirce
7.4
Crime, Drama
United States of America
118
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Lord of War
2005
Andrew Niccol
7.3
Crime, Drama, Thriller
France
122
Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his customers who include many of the world's most notorious dictators. Finally, he must also face his o...
Papillon
2017
Michael Noer
7.3
Adventure, Crime, Drama
Czech Republic
134
Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.
Molly's Game
2017
Aaron Sorkin
7.2
Drama, Crime
United States of America
141
Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.
Monster
2003
Patty Jenkins
7.2
Crime, Drama
United States of America
109
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 trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately lead...
Legend
2015
Brian Helgeland
7.1
Crime, Thriller
France
132
Suave, charming and volatile, Reggie Kray and his unstable twin brother Ronnie start to leave their mark on the London underworld in the 1960s. Using violence to get what they want, the siblings orchestrate robberies and murders while running nightclubs and protection rackets. With police Detecti...
Patriots Day
2016
Peter Berg
7.1
Action, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Hong Kong
133
In the aftermath of an unspeakable act of terror, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the Boston Marathon bombers before they strike again.
United 93
2006
Paul Greengrass
7.1
Drama, History, Crime, Thriller, Action
France
111
A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
22 July
2018
Paul Greengrass
7.1
Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
United States of America
143
On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. This three-part story focuses on the survivors, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
2019
Joe Berlinger
7
Drama, Crime
United States of America
111
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Bronson
2009
Nicolas Winding Refn
7
Drama, Action, Crime
United Kingdom
92
A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
Capote
2005
Bennett Miller
7
Crime, Drama
United States of America
114
A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".
The Mule
2018
Clint Eastwood
6.9
Crime, Drama
Canada
116
Earl Stone, a man in his eighties, is broke, alone, and facing foreclosure of his business when he is offered a job that simply requires him to drive. Easy enough, but, unbeknownst to Earl, he's just signed on as a drug courier for a Mexican cartel. He does so well that his cargo increases expone...
American Made
2017
Doug Liman
6.9
Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
United States of America
115
The true story of pilot Barry Seal, who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel in the 1980s.
The Good Nurse
2022
Tobias Lindholm
6.9
Drama, Crime, Mystery
United States of America
121
Suspicious that her colleague is responsible for a series of mysterious patient deaths, a nurse risks her own life to uncover the truth.
The Bank Job
2008
Roger Donaldson
6.8
Thriller, Crime, Drama
Australia
112
Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the o...
The Highwaymen
2019
John Lee Hancock
6.8
Crime, Drama, Thriller
United States of America
133
In 1934, Frank Hamer and Manny Gault, two former Texas Rangers, are commissioned to put an end to the wave of vicious crimes perpetrated by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a notorious duo of infamous robbers and cold-blooded killers who nevertheless are worshiped by the public.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
2018
Marielle Heller
6.8
Drama, Crime, Comedy
United States of America
106
When a bestselling celebrity biographer is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.
American Animals
2018
Bart Layton
6.7
Drama, Crime, Documentary
United Kingdom
117
Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.
Machine Gun Preacher
2011
Marc Forster
6.7
Action, Thriller, Crime
United States of America
129
The true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker who finds God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been kidnapped and pressed into duty as soldiers.
Bernie
2012
Richard Linklater
6.6
Comedy, Crime, Drama
United States of America
99
In small-town Texas, affable and popular mortician Bernie Tiede strikes up a friendship with Marjorie Nugent, a wealthy widow well known for her sour attitude. When she becomes controlling and abusive, Bernie goes to great lengths to remove himself from her grasp.
Black Mass
2015
Scott Cooper
6.5
Drama, Crime, History
United Kingdom
123
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
Hustlers
2019
Lorene Scafaria
6.5
Drama, Comedy, Crime
United States of America
110
A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
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How is the True Story Crime Movies list ranked?
The True Story Crime Movies list is ranked by community votes. Every visitor can pick one option over another in head-to-head matchups, and the running totals determine the order you see. No editors or algorithms — just real people voting.
How many entries are in this True Story Crime Movies dataset?
This dataset contains 51 entries, each with multiple sortable, filterable columns. The full table is visible on this page and can be downloaded as a CSV, JSON, or Excel file.
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