50 Movies Like A History of Violence (2005) You Need to Watch Next
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
Updated June 2026
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If you loved A History of Violence (2005) by David Cronenberg, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are The Accountant, Sleepers, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
50 Movies Similar to A History of Violence
The Accountant
2016 · Gavin O'Connor
As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Sleepers
1996 · Barry Levinson
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
2019 · Vince Gilligan
In the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity, Jesse Pinkman must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
STRAW
2025 · Tyler Perry
What will be her last straw? A devastatingly bad day pushes a hardworking single mother to the breaking point — and into a shocking act of desperation.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Shot Caller
2017 · Ric Roman Waugh
A newly-released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Bound by Honor
1993 · Taylor Hackford
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Counselor
2013 · Ridley Scott
A lawyer finds himself in far over his head when he attempts to get involved in drug trafficking.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Falling Down
1993 · Joel Schumacher
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
John Q
2002 · Nick Cassavetes
John Quincy Archibald is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he dec
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Traffic
2000 · Steven Soderbergh
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Shoplifters
2018 · Hirokazu Kore-eda
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Flawless
2007 · Michael Radford
A female executive and a night janitor conspire to commit a daring diamond heist from their mutual employer, The London Diamond Corporation.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Devil All the Time
2020 · Antonio Campos
In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Brother
2000 · Takeshi Kitano
A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Promising Young Woman
2020 · Emerald Fennell
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
A Perfect Murder
1998 · Andrew Davis
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Pelican Brief
1993 · Alan J. Pakula
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Gambler
2014 · Rupert Wyatt
Literature professor Jim Bennett leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Always a risk-taker, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster and offers his own life as collateral. Staying o
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Wrath of Man
2021 · Guy Ritchie
A cold and mysterious new security guard for a Los Angeles cash truck company surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Girl in the Basement
2021 · Elisabeth Röhm
Sara is a teen girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to move away from her controlling father Don. But before she could even blow out the candles, Don imprisons her in the basement of their
In common: Crime · Thriller
Joker: Folie à Deux
2024 · Todd Phillips
While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur Fleck not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Bank Job
2008 · Roger Donaldson
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 pr
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Natural Born Killers
1994 · Oliver Stone
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Little Things
2021 · John Lee Hancock
Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is d
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Good Time
2017 · Benny Safdie
After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Irreversible
2002 · Gaspar Noé
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for ven
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Secret Agent
2025 · Kleber Mendonça Filho
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven h
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Law Abiding Citizen
2009 · F. Gary Gray
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involve
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
A Time to Kill
1996 · Joel Schumacher
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Rainmaker
1997 · Francis Ford Coppola
Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed parale
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Lincoln Lawyer
2011 · Brad Furman
Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Road to Perdition
2002 · Sam Mendes
Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure, however after his son is witness to a killing, Mike Sullivan finds himself on the run in attempt
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Prisoners
2013 · Denis Villeneuve
Keller Dover is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Godfather Part III
1990 · Francis Ford Coppola
In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Drive
2011 · Nicolas Winding Refn
Driver is a skilled Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. Though he projects an icy exterior, lately he's been warming up to a pretty neighbor named Irene and her young
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Sin Nombre
2009 · Cary Joji Fukunaga
Sayra, a Native Honduran teenager, hungers for a better life. Her chance for one comes when she is reunited with her long-estranged father, who intends to emigrate to Mexico and then enter the United
In common: Crime · Drama
Jack Reacher
2012 · Christopher McQuarrie
One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All evidence points to a single suspect: an ex-military sniper who is quickly brought into custody. The interro
In common: Crime · Drama
Havoc
2025 · Gareth Evans
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.
In common: Crime · Drama
Primal Fear
1996 · Gregory Hoblit
Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chic
In common: Crime · Drama
Inside Man
2006 · Spike Lee
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Le Trou
1960 · Jacques Becker
Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Ove
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
The Town
2010 · Ben Affleck
Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he take
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
Colombiana
2011 · Olivier Megaton
After witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging i
In common: Crime · Drama
The Substitute
1996 · Robert Mandel
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take dow
In common: Crime · Drama
Need for Speed
2014 · Scott Waugh
The film revolves around a local street-racer who partners with a rich and arrogant business associate, only to find himself framed by his colleague and sent to prison. After he gets out, he joins a N
In common: Crime · Drama
Mystic River
2003 · Clint Eastwood
The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
In common: Crime · Drama
Rebel Ridge
2024 · Jeremy Saulnier
A former Marine confronts corruption in a small town when local law enforcement unjustly seizes the bag of cash he needs to post his cousin's bail.
In common: Crime · Drama
A Walk Among the Tombstones
2014 · Scott Frank
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
In common: Crime · Drama
Insomnia
2002 · Christopher Nolan
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
In common: Crime · Drama · Thriller
It Was Just an Accident
2025 · Jafar Panahi
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
In common: Crime · Drama