Movies and TV shows like The Wire
If you like "The Wire" you are looking for clever, tense and cynical movies or TV shows about / with organized crime, police detective, corruption, police, urban ghetto life, life is a bitch and working undercover themes of Crime, Drama and Thriller genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
The Wire (2002)
346K
Where to Watch
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 59 min.
TV show
Story:
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
Style:
clever, tense, cynical, serious, rough, captivating, dramatic, suspenseful, exciting, erotic ...
Plot:
organized crime, police detective, corruption, police, urban ghetto life, life is a bitch, working undercover, drug dealing, fighting crime, police investigation, gang, drug lord, drugs, surveillance, urban decay, murder, gangsters, wiretap, team, politics, criminal, police officer, buddies, african american, law enforcement ...
Time:
2000s, future, 50s, 20th century, 21st century, 1950s, contemporary
Place:
baltimore, maryland, usa
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to The Wire
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, tense and suspenseful films and TV series with plots about murder, law enforcement, investigation, police officer, police, criminal and corruption mostly in Crime, Drama and Thriller genres. Some movies like The Wire: Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), Southland (2009), Top Boy (2011), Gomorrah (2014), The Sopranos (1999). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded ...
Style:
realistic, tense, serious, talky, rough ...
Plot:
police detective, police, justice, murder, police station, homicide detective, police officer, police protagonist, fighting crime, police investigation, tough law enforcer, workplace ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
baltimore, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
90%
27K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min.
TV show
Story:
Since premiering in 2009, Southland has redefined the police drama with its raw, authentic look at the lives and work of Los Angeles detectives and beat cops. The show centers on four main characters: Officer John Cooper (Cudlitz), a seasoned cop ...
Style:
captivating, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
lapd, police detective, policewoman, law enforcement, partners against crime, police officer, police protagonist, fighting crime, police, peril, team, responsibility ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
california, southern california, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
27K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
A thrilling and raw crime drama following a gang of drug dealers in Hackney, London - an honest and gripping rendition of inner-city drug and gang culture.
Style:
serious, suspenseful, sincere, rough, anime ...
Plot:
gang, urban ghetto life, ambitious, teenage life, leader, life is a bitch, ambition, drug dealing, social problems, struggle, partners in crime, right hand man ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england, london
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
41K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, Germany
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
Based on Robert Saviano's bestselling book, this gritty Italian crime drama paints a portrait of the brutal Neapolitan crime organisation the Camorra, as seen through the eyes of Ciro Di Marzo, the obedient and self- confident right-hand man of ...
Style:
serious, captivating, tense, disturbing, realistic ...
Plot:
mafia, gangsters, camorra, rivalry, drug lord, mob boss, gang war, social decay, society, criminal heroes, life is a bitch, italian mafia ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Place:
italy, naples italy, napoli italy, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
Movie in collections
412K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
The Sopranos is an American television drama created by David Chase. The series revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home ...
Style:
serious, cynical, clever, captivating, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
mafia, organized crime, gangsters, killings, criminal heroes, dark humor, family life, family relations, violence, ambition, mob boss, criminal ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
new jersey, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
82%
Also search:
TV shows similar to The Blacklist
379K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min.
TV show
Story:
A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.
Style:
atmospheric, neo noir, captivating, clever, witty ...
Plot:
dark humor, psychopath, small town, policewoman, law enforcement, police officer, police investigation, killings, small town life, killer, scheme, dishonesty ...
Time:
year 1979, future, 2020s, 20th century, year 2006 ...
Place:
minnesota, usa, north dakota
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are ...
Style:
tense, captivating, clever, realistic, serious ...
Audience:
kids
Plot:
sexual abuse, law and order, police detective, sex crime, law enforcement, female detective, police officer, partners against crime, police, criminal, lawyer, fighting crime ...
Time:
20th century, 2010s, 2000s, 90s, 2020s ...
Place:
new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
1.9M
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 49 min.
TV show
Story:
When Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live, he becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's ...
Style:
serious, captivating, tense, psychological, rough ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
criminal, life turned upside down, family problems, peril, drug dealing, meth lab, drug lord, unlikely partners, master criminal, cancer, life is a bitch, ambition ...
Time:
2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
new mexico, albuquerque new mexico, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 47 min.
TV show
Story:
The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.
Style:
exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
law enforcement, police corruption, police detective, police brutality, corrupt cop, murder, partners, dishonesty, cruelty, drugs, criminal, racism ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
55%
126K
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story:
The real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop against a corrupt system.
Style:
serious, realistic, psychological, dark, neo noir ...
Plot:
police corruption, fighting the system, police, corruption, whistleblower, undercover cop, police investigation, suspense, mafia, social decay, partners, life is a bitch ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 60s
Place:
new york, usa, greenwich village manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Also search:
TV shows like The Mentalist
48K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
James “Ghost” St. Patrick has it all: a beautiful wife, a gorgeous Manhattan penthouse, and the hottest, up-and-coming new nightclub in New York. His club, Truth, caters to the elite: the famous and infamous boldface names that run the city that ...
Style:
tense, serious, realistic, captivating, erotic ...
Plot:
nightlife, ambition, nightclub, drug dealing, businessman, double life, money laundering, organized crime, nightclub owner, sexual activity, drug lord, gangsters ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
74K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 51 min.
TV show
Story:
Based on Michael Connelly's best-selling novels, these are the stories of relentless LAPD homicide Detective Harry Bosch who pursues justice at all costs. But behind his tireless momentum is a man who is haunted by his past and struggles to ...
Style:
realistic, serious, exciting, tense, neo noir ...
Plot:
law enforcement, coworker, police detective, police, determination, murder investigation, homicide detective, suspicion, murder, father daughter relationship, riddles and clues, police investigation ...
Time:
future, 2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
101K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorizes their mutual enemies.
Style:
thought provoking, bleak, suspenseful, realistic, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
prison, prison life, gay, life is a bitch, confined, violence spree, rape, convict, homosexual rape, rapist, strong sexual content, gang violence ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and ...
Style:
intense, tense, realistic, dark, depressing ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
corrupt cop, police corruption, corruption, police, guilt, organized crime, gangsters, suspense, betrayal, murder, dirty cop, police brutality ...
Time:
70s, 21st century
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, los angeles, new jersey, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
Boardwalk Empire is a period drama focusing on Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (based on the historical Enoch L. Johnson), a political figure who rose to prominence and controlled Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition period of the ...
Style:
serious, captivating, suspenseful, atmospheric, tense ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
mafia, gangsters, mob boss, organized crime, prohibition, criminal heroes, corruption, smuggling, businessman, americana, ambitious, elimination ...
Time:
1920s, 20th century
Place:
new jersey, usa, atlantic city, new york, chicago illinois ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
Also search:
Movies like Peaky Blinders
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Dark Blue was an action/drama television series which premiered on TNT on July 15, 2009, at 10 pm. It ended its run on September 15, 2010. The series is set in Los Angeles, California. It revolves around Carter Shaw, the leader of an undercover ...
Style:
tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
undercover, undercover agent, police investigation, police detective, law enforcement, fighting crime, team, right and wrong, workplace, coworker, police procedural, investigation ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
Style:
neo noir, tense, captivating, clever, atmospheric ...
Plot:
police corruption, corruption, murder, murder mystery, police detective, police, justice, organized crime, fighting the system, gang, dangerous attraction, police brutality ...
Time:
50s, 1930s, 20th century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story:
A murdered body on a bridge between El Paso and Juarez bring together El Paso detective Sonya Cross and Chihuahua State Police detective Marco Ruiz.
Style:
tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, serious, bleak ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
serial killer, police detective, twists and turns, partners, policewoman, murder, drug cartel, police investigation, interrogation, u.s. mexico border, corruption, marital problem ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
mexico, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 376 min.
TV show
Story:
The Corner presents the world of Fayette Street using real names and real events. The miniseries tells the true story of men, women and children living amid the open-air drug markets of West Baltimore. It chronicles a year in the lives of ...
Style:
serious, emotional, rough, sitcom, realistic ...
Plot:
rehabilitation, addiction, drug dealing, heroin, drug abuse, african american, lifestyle, teenage life, social decay, life is a bitch, going straight, family relations ...
Time:
90s
Place:
baltimore
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
15K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwined several plots involving an ensemble cast.
The show ...
Style:
realistic, captivating, suspenseful, serious, rough ...
Plot:
police, police detective, swat team, murder, partners against crime, police station, robbery, police protagonist, law enforcement, partners, friends, workplace ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, 2000s
Place:
new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Also search:
TV series similar to Criminal Minds
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 42 min.
TV show
Story:
Detroit 1-8-7 is an American police procedural series about Detroit's leading homicide unit, created by Jason Richman for ABC. It features an ensemble cast of actors including Michael Imperioli and James McDaniel. The series originally ran on ...
Style:
realistic, serious, rough, suspenseful, heroic
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
police detective, fighting crime, partners against crime, tough law enforcer, workplace, coworker, police procedural, law enforcement, police, investigation, woman with a gun, justice ...
Time:
future, 21st century
Place:
detroit, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
The town is shocked with a brutal double murder. The "Courier" hands the case to an experienced journalist - Witold Wanycz. At the same time, he learns about the mysterious suicide of two teenagers. Together with Piotr, a young journalist, ...
Style:
psychological, thought provoking, suspenseful, dark, sinister
Plot:
murder, swamp, life is a bitch, suspense, organized crime, dishonesty, society, hopes, violence, brutality, police, small town ...
Time:
80s
Place:
poland
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
18K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 56 min.
TV show
Story:
Boss is an American political drama television serial created by Farhad Safinia. The series stars Kelsey Grammer as Tom Kane, the mayor of Chicago, who has recently been diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies, a degenerative neurological disorder.
Style:
serious, rough, captivating, clever, political ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
politics, mayor, boss, political intrigue, ambition, career, mental illness, power struggle, dishonesty, life is a bitch, ambitious, scheme ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
chicago illinois, usa, illinois
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story:
An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
Style:
neo noir, serious, atmospheric, gloomy, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
serial killer, investigation, police investigation, murder mystery, police detective, murder investigation, murder, murderer, drinking problem, partners, partners against crime, graphic violence ...
Time:
20th century, 2010s, 90s, 21st century
Place:
louisiana, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
14%
733K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min.
TV show
Story:
Dexter is an American television drama series. The series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for 'Miami Metro Police Department' who also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have ...
Style:
captivating, clever, serious, stylized, tense ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
serial killer, right and wrong, hidden identity, double life, loner, crime investigation, police station, dark humor, dark secret, corpse, vigilantism, forensics ...
Time:
2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
miami, canada, usa, florida
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Also search:
Series like Breaking Bad
254K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
Style:
emotional, intense, tense, realistic, harsh ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
latinos, police officer, gang member, police, street gang, gangsters, gang war, gang, friendship, brutality, urban ghetto, organized crime ...
Time:
2010s, 70s, year 2011, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, south central los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Steve Arnott is a young officer who’s fallen foul of his superiors for refusing to help in the cover-up of an operation that ended in the shooting of an innocent father. He seems ideal to join AC-12, an anti-corruption police unit, just as it ...
Style:
realistic, tense, suspenseful, serious, thrilling ...
Plot:
police corruption, honest law enforcer, female police detective, dirty cop, police detective, police, policewoman, twists and turns, british police, law enforcement, corruption, police officer ...
Time:
future, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
england, united kingdom, britain
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Ireland
Duration: 51 min.
TV show
Story:
Modern-day underworld characters Nidge and John Boy wrestle for control of Dublin's illicit drug trade in this forceful crime drama.
Style:
suspenseful, serious, rough, realistic, tense ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens
Plot:
organized crime, criminal, gang, criminal heroes, gang war, ex convict, addiction, rivalry, life is a bitch, graphic violence, irish, young man ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
ireland, dublin ireland
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Robbery Homicide Division was an American police procedural television series on CBS, created by Barry Schindel with executive producer Michael Mann. Schindel has been nominated for three Emmy Awards.
Style:
tense, suspenseful, serious, rough, exciting ...
Plot:
police detective, police, fighting crime, police investigation, workplace situations, murder, law enforcement, workplace, society, partners, police station, nypd ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
26%
141K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
Style:
atmospheric, serious, tense, rough, dramatic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
uncover truth, murder, partners, talented, police investigation, police detective, law enforcement, cruelty, psychopath, police, forensics, tough law enforcer ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
london, england, united kingdom, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
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