Movies like The Dancer Upstairs
If you like "The Dancer Upstairs" you are looking for atmospheric, tense and political movies about / with politics, dictator, police detective, corruption, character study, danger and fighting crime themes of Crime, Drama and Thriller genre shot in Spain or USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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The Dancer Upstairs (2002)
7K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.
Style:
atmospheric, tense, political, psychological, suspense, disturbing, captivating, serious, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
politics, dictator, police detective, corruption, character study, danger, fighting crime, political unrest, dancing, teacher, dictatorship, violence, murder, assassination, operation condor, conspiracy, espionage, totalitarian state, sex crime, ballet, terrorism, family relations, parents and children, love and romance, profanity ...
Time:
year 2002, y2k, 21st century, contemporary
Place:
peru, latin america, south america, spain, israel, american
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Most similar movies to The Dancer Upstairs
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, suspenseful and tense films with plots about murder, death, violence, politics, investigation, corruption and blood mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres. Some movies like The Dancer Upstairs: A Dry White Season (1989), The American (2010), In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), Numbered Days (1994), No Country for Old Men (2007). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Taking place during the 1976 Soweto uprising, the story follows a white school teacher whose life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Style:
talky, disturbing, emotional, thought provoking, realistic ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
racism, lawyer, society, legal, injustice, rebellion, discrimination, children, courtroom, freedom, chess, social commentary ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, year 1976
Place:
south africa, africa, poland, canada, new jersey ...
Similarity:
100%
106K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, assassin Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him.
Style:
suspense, sexy, ambiguous ending, atmospheric, tense ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
hitman, loner, one last job, nudity, sex, undercover, anti hero, betrayal, skinny dipping, small town, assassination, moral dilemma ...
Time:
year 2010, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
italy, rome italy, europe, california, canada
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
Style:
political, realistic, serious, suspense
Plot:
politics, political repression, government, political corruption, revolution, siblings relations, tragic love, vengeance, love and romance, dishonesty, conspiracy, professor ...
Time:
60s, 1950s, 1940s, 1930s, 50s
Place:
caribbean, latin america, dominican republic
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Antonio, a gunman of the terrorist group ETA, days before making an attack, he meets Charo, a junkie of eighteen years, despite the sordid environment in which they grew up, still has the naivety. He has dedicated his life to a cause they do not ...
Style:
tense, serious, erotic, suspense, sexual ...
Plot:
terrorism, terrorist, prostitution, danger, prostitute, fall in love, drug dealing, couples, cop killer, drug addict, sex scene, erotica ...
Time:
90s
Place:
madrid, spain, basque country, europe, iberian peninsula ...
Similarity:
45%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the ...
Style:
neo noir, suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, serious ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
hitman, psychopath, shooting, serial killer, peril, desert, human nature, brutality, death, sheriff, cruelty, bounty hunter ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s, 20th century, year 1980, 80s
Place:
texas, el paso texas, mexico, america, austin texas ...
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Drama
Country: Peru
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Through out six different and yet parallel stories that take place during the corrupted goverment during the 90s in Peru, Lombardi tells the moral decomposition that ran through all classes and generations of the peruvian society.
Style:
serious, realistic, tense, suspenseful, mind bending ...
Plot:
politics, state affairs, dishonesty, society, murder, political corruption, political unrest, government, dictatorship, dictator, manipulation, corruption ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
peru, latin america
Similarity:
44%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.
Style:
serious, psychological, disturbing, bleak, political ...
Plot:
politics, prisoner, terrorism, rebelliousness, against the odds, danger, state affairs, haunted by the past, injustice, political corruption, revolution, dictatorship ...
Similarity:
43%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.
Style:
suspense, harsh, stylized, captivating, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, police, gangster, nightclub, gang, cop, brothers, hitman, lone hero, multiple storylines, law enforcement ...
Time:
year 2007, 20th century, year 1988, 80s, 70s
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, usa, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
41%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A psychotic young man returns to his old neighborhood after release from prison. He seeks out the woman he previously tried to rape and the man who protected her, with twisted ideas of love for her and hate for him.
Style:
disturbing, talky, realistic, serious, suspenseful ...
Plot:
psychopath, violence, police detective, prison, ex convict, unrequited love, stalking, mental illness, racism, woman in jeopardy, kidnapping, police investigation ...
Time:
year 1964, 20th century, year 1987, 60s
Place:
new york, bronx new york city, usa, mississippi, new jersey ...
Similarity:
41%
79K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
When two married business executives having an affair are blackmailed by a violent criminal, they are forced to turn the tables on him to save their families.
Style:
suspenseful, surprise ending, serious, tense, twist ending ...
Plot:
twists and turns, infidelity, blackmail, dangerous attraction, couples, disorder, police investigation, danger, adultery, rape, violence, betrayal ...
Time:
year 2005, 21st century
Place:
chicago, usa
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder in which the President of The United States is involved occurs in front of his eyes. He is forced to run yet may hold evidence that could convict the President. A political thriller ...
Style:
suspense, political thriller, tense, suspenseful, political ...
Plot:
murder mystery, secret service, politics, usa president, political corruption, father daughter relationship, political conspiracy, president, conspiracy, justice, witnessing a crime, white house ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
washington d.c., usa
Similarity:
40%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
The shooting of a U.S. senator's wife raises the stakes for kidnappers seeking a hefty ransom for a computer magnate.
Style:
serious, suspenseful, realistic, neo noir, erotic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
blackmail, murder, betrayal, cons and scams, state affairs, police investigation, criminal, dishonesty, danger, crime gone awry, politics, protagonist as suspect ...
Time:
year 1998, 90s
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, usa, los angeles, venezuela
Similarity:
39%
229K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 147 min.
Story:
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 well-educated daughter is abusing cocaine ...
Style:
suspense, political, realistic, thought provoking, anthology ...
Plot:
drug traffic, organized crime, drug abuse, drug dealer, drug lord, addiction, drug addiction, drug cartel, drug, war on drugs, politics, corruption ...
Time:
year 2000, y2k, 20th century, 90s, 2000s
Place:
mexico, latin america, california, ohio, los angeles ...
Similarity:
39%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 173 min.
Story:
A corporate lawyer's interest in a decade-old murder case is piqued by a new confession that could clear the convicted killer, who sits on death row.
Style:
bleak, serious, tense, psychological, suspenseful ...
Plot:
legal, frame up, false accusation, investigation, lovers reunited, testimony, uncover truth, police investigation, rebellion, power relations, state affairs, murder ...
Similarity:
38%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Germany
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg and becomes a person of interest for a covert government team which tracks the movements of potential terrorists.
Style:
bleak, tense, political, thought provoking, cerebral ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
espionage, terrorism, spy, intelligence, islam, war on terror, surveillance, immigrant, secret service, investigation, betrayal, manipulation ...
Time:
year 2014, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
germany, hamburg germany, britain, middle east, berlin germany
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin's trail.
Style:
political thriller, suspenseful, political, exciting, intense ...
Plot:
conspiracy, hitman, terrorism, assassin, police investigation, spy thriller, politics, assassination plot, serial killer, assassination attempt, espionage, french president ...
Time:
year 1963, 20th century, 60s, year 1973, 70s
Place:
paris france, france, algeria, europe, big ben london ...
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Style:
suspense, suspenseful, political, thought provoking, intense ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
courtroom drama, courtroom, death penalty, frame up, justice, political corruption, murder mystery, lawyer, male victim, court, conspiracy theory, false accusation ...
Time:
year 1997, 90s
Place:
china, asia, california
Similarity:
37%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Two misunderstood suburban kids challenge society and run from the police while documenting all of their deeds with a digital camera.
Style:
sexy, serious, disturbing, rough, suspenseful ...
Plot:
on the run, found footage, vandalism, revenge, teenage life, society, murderous pair, danger, love, violence, manipulation, erotica ...
Place:
kentucky, usa
Similarity:
37%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Country: Spain, UK, USA, Argentina
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda and his wife Cecilia. Shortly after Cecilia writes an editorial commentary questioning the mysterious ...
Style:
serious, bleak, tense, psychological, suspenseful ...
Plot:
disappearance, politics, uncover truth, danger, political unrest, compassion, father daughter relationship, military dictatorship, marriage proposal, guard dog, revolution, sex crime ...
Time:
year 2003, 70s, year 1976
Place:
latin america, buenos aires argentina, argentina, italy, europe ...
Similarity:
36%
60K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his American wife and a CIA analyst find themselves caught up in a struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility somewhere outside ...
Style:
sexy, serious, tense, disturbing, suspenseful ...
Plot:
terrorism, politics, terrorist, conspiracy, islamic terrorism, war on terror, kidnapping, spy, espionage, islam, cia, intelligence ...
Time:
year 2007, 21st century
Place:
middle east, iraq, washington d.c., illinois, chicago ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
Style:
psychological, suspense, suspenseful, tension, intense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
conspiracy, dentist, paranoia, espionage, revenge, torture, murder, chase, world war two, attempted murder, nazi, violent ...
Time:
20th century, year 1976, 70s
Place:
new york, manhattan new york city, uruguay, paris france, persia ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes", they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is ...
Style:
psychological, detective, suspense, enigmatic, twist ending ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
police investigation, twists and turns, lawyer, rape, murder mystery, pedophile, murder, secret relationship, plot twist, marriage of convenience, dysfunctional marriage, christmas ...
Time:
year 2000, 90s, 20th century
Place:
puerto rico, latin america
Similarity:
36%
34K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Algeria
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Repression is the rule of the day in this film that skewers Greek governance of the 1960s. Z, a leftist rabble rouser, is killed in what appears to be a traffic accident. But given the political climate, the death of such a prominent activist raises ...
Style:
political thriller, political, realistic, tense, suspenseful ...
Plot:
conspiracy, politics, military, investigation, corruption, police, government, government corruption, justice, political corruption, politician, violence ...
Time:
year 1969, 60s, 20th century, 70s
Place:
greece, france, africa, europe
Similarity:
36%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
Keen young Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady. Indeed Peck ...
Style:
neo noir, clever, detective, erotic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
police corruption, internal affairs, corrupt cop, investigation, corruption, police officer, police investigation, abusive husband, sociopath, betrayal, murder, obsession ...
Time:
20th century, 80s, 90s, 70s
Place:
los angeles, usa
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
Tom Flynn, the idealist owner of a left-leaning radical café/bookstore and the quixotic publisher of a hard hitting 911 conspiracy expose, finds himself entangled with a mysterious Eastern European beauty, Kasia, who is on the run from strong hand ...
Style:
neo noir, serious, realistic, suspenseful, black and white ...
Plot:
uncover truth, investigation, fighting the system, race against time, undercover, assassination, rebellion, life is a bitch, danger, dishonesty, government agency, society ...
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
36%
120K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.
Style:
clever, suspense, captivating, political, cynical ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
lawyer, courtroom drama, court, corruption, courtroom, trial, jury, legal, justice, twists and turns, manipulation, court case ...
Time:
year 2003, 20th century, 21st century
Place:
louisiana, cincinnati ohio, indiana, ohio, new orleans ...
Similarity:
36%
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Germany, France, Czech Republic
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex depicts the political turmoil in the period from 1967 to the bloody "Deutschen Herbst" in 1977. The movie approaches the events based on Stefan Aust's standard work on Die Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF). The ...
Style:
political, bleak, realistic, harsh, intellectual ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
terrorism, politics, revolutionary, protest, prison, political unrest, assassination, capitalism, terrorist attack, revolution, idealism, trial ...
Time:
70s, year 2008, 60s, 20th century, year 1970 ...
Place:
germany, rome italy, west berlin west germany, somalia, berlin germany ...
Similarity:
35%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
The true story of four men who narrowly escaped death at the hands of Argentina's military death squads during the 1970s is brought to the screen in this thriller. In 1977, Claudio Tamburrini (Rodrigo de la Serna) was a goalie for a ...
Style:
serious, realistic, sincere, thrilling, crime drama ...
Plot:
dictatorship, politics, false accusation, murder, prison, terrorism, on the run, danger, prison escape, football, operation condor, prison life ...
Time:
20th century, 70s
Place:
latin america, south america, argentina, bolivia, europe ...
Similarity:
35%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store, the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that send them and their family hurtling towards a shattering climax.
Style:
suspense, neo noir, disturbing, psychological, realistic ...
Plot:
robbery, sex scene, dysfunctional family, heist gone wrong, blackmail, crime gone awry, greed, adultery, murder, divorce, sexual attraction, death of wife ...
Time:
year 2007, 90s, 2000s, 70s, 21st century
Place:
new york, persia, usa, new york state, rio de janeiro ...
Similarity:
35%
25K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Set during the Rodney King riots, a robbery homicide investigation triggers a series of events that will cause a corrupt LAPD officer to question his tactics.
Style:
tense, neo noir, detective, intense, harsh ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
police corruption, police officer, police investigation, police brutality, cop, corruption, investigation, profanity, rookie, robbery, partner, fighting the system ...
Time:
20th century, year 1992, y2k, 90s
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, southern california, new jersey
Similarity:
34%
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