Movies and TV shows like The Wire

If you like "The Wire" you are looking for clever, tense and detective movies or TV shows about / with organized crime, corruption, police detective, police, urban ghetto life, working undercover and life is a bitch 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)
 9.3
 373K
The Wire (2002)
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, detective, cynical, serious, rough, captivating, dramatic, suspenseful, exciting ...
Plot: organized crime, corruption, police detective, police, urban ghetto life, working undercover, life is a bitch, drug dealing, fighting crime, shooting, police investigation, urban decay, drug lord, gang, murder, cop, surveillance, black, wiretap, team, politics, criminal, journalism, legal, dirty cop ...
Time: 2000s, future, year 2002, 20th century, 1950s, 50s, 21st century ...
Place: baltimore, maryland, usa
Keyword: gangsters, compilation, buddy movie, irish, partners

Most similar movies to The Wire

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, tense and suspenseful films and TV series with plots about murder, corruption, investigation, anti hero, criminal, violence and police mostly in Crime, Drama and Thriller genres. Some movies like The Wire: Southland (2009), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), Power (2014), Top Boy (2011), Gomorrah (2014). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 8.5
 29K
Southland (2009)
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: detective, captivating, serious, realistic, rough ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: lapd, policewoman, police detective, law enforcement, partners against crime, police protagonist, fighting crime, police officer, swat, police, peril, responsibility ...
Time: 21st century
Place: california, southern california, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
90%
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
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: tense, realistic, detective, talky, serious ...
Plot: police detective, police, murder, justice, homicide detective, cop, police protagonist, team, fighting crime, police investigation, workplace, tough law enforcer ...
Time: 20th century, 90s
Place: baltimore, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
91%
 8.1
 52K
Power (2014)
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: serious, tense, realistic, captivating, erotic ...
Plot: nightclub, nightlife, drug dealing, ambition, nightclub owner, businessman, organized crime, money laundering, sexual activity, drug lord, double life, criminal ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.4
 39K
Top Boy (2011)
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, sincere, suspenseful, rough, anime ...
Plot: urban ghetto life, gang, ambitious, teenage life, life is a bitch, drug dealing, struggle, partners in crime, right hand man, poverty, social problems, gang war ...
Time: 21st century
Place: england, london
⇓ similarity ⇓
90%
Movie in collections
clever movies
7065
tense movies
16020
 8.6
 44K
Gomorrah (2014)
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, tense, disturbing, captivating, realistic ...
Plot: mafia, mob boss, drug lord, camorra, social decay, society, gang war, life is a bitch, gangster, strong violent content, urban, urban ghetto life ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: italy, naples italy, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
88%
 8.9
 417K
Fargo (2014)
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: neo noir, atmospheric, captivating, detective, clever ...
Plot: dark humor, psychopath, small town, law enforcement, police investigation, cop, snow, killings, small town life, social relations, scheme, policewoman ...
Time: 2010s, year 1979, year 2014, future, year 2006 ...
Place: minnesota, north dakota, east germany, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
88%
 9.2
 464K
The Sopranos (1999)
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, psychological, rough ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: organized crime, mafia, killings, mob boss, dark humor, criminal heroes, family life, gangster, violence, parents and children, dysfunctional family, family relations ...
Time: 90s, 2000s, year 1999, 20th century, 21st century
Place: new jersey, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
77%
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
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: detective, tense, captivating, clever, grindhouse ...
Audience: kids, adult
Plot: law and order, sexual abuse, police, sex crime, law enforcement, criminal, police detective, female detective, partners against crime, lawyer, danger, fighting crime ...
Time: 90s, 2000s, 20th century, 2010s, 2020s ...
Place: new york, usa, las vegas, new york state
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
 8.7
 87K
The Shield (2002)
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: tense, rough, exciting, suspenseful, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: police corruption, police detective, law enforcement, corrupt cop, dirty cop, cop, police brutality, dishonesty, cruelty, murder, tough law enforcer, peril ...
Time: 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
55%
 9.5
 2.1M
Breaking Bad (2008)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 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, cancer, peril, life turned upside down, drug dealing, drug cartel, unlikely partners, drug lord, master criminal, family problems, life is a bitch, drug ...
Time: y2k, year 2008, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: new mexico, albuquerque new mexico, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
 7.7
 134K
Serpico (1973)
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: suspense, realistic, serious, neo noir, psychological ...
Audience: date night
Plot: police corruption, corruption, fighting the system, police, whistleblower, undercover cop, police investigation, corrupt cop, mafia, social decay, biopic, life is a bitch ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1973, 60s
Place: new york, usa, manhattan new york city, greenwich village manhattan new york city, bronx new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.5
 5K
The Corner (2000)
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: rough, serious, emotional, sitcom, crime drama ...
Plot: rehabilitation, heroin, addiction, drug dealing, drug abuse, african american, urban, lifestyle, teenage life, social decay, going straight, life is a bitch ...
Time: 90s
Place: baltimore
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.7
 106K
Oz (1997)
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: rough, bleak, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: prison life, prison, life is a bitch, confined, violence spree, rape, homosexual rape, gay, rapist, strong sexual content, gang violence, racism ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
 8.5
 83K
Bosch (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 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, detective, neo noir ...
Plot: police, determination, police detective, law enforcement, murder investigation, police investigation, suspicion, murder, coworker, homicide detective, father daughter relationship, lapd ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
Brooklyn's Finest (2009)
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: tense, realistic, suspense, neo noir, hood ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: corrupt cop, police corruption, police, corruption, organized crime, rookie, nypd, dirty cop, betrayal, swat team, robbery, murder ...
Time: year 2010, year 2009, 21st century
Place: new york, brooklyn new york city, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.9
 277K
The Blacklist (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In ...
Style: exciting, tense, serious, captivating, clever ...
Audience: family friendly, boys' night, adult
Plot: fbi, investigation, unlikely partners, master criminal, law enforcement, danger, intrigue, secret, mind game, killings, murder investigation, criminal ...
Time: future, 2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place: usa, chicago, washington d.c.
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Boardwalk Empire (2010)
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, costume drama, captivating, suspenseful, atmospheric ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: mafia, gangster, mob boss, organized crime, prohibition, smuggling, criminal heroes, corruption, politician, mobster, female nudity, american history ...
Time: 1920s, 2000s, 2010s, 1900s, year 2010 ...
Place: new jersey, usa, cuba, atlantic city new jersey, atlantic city ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
 8.1
 203K
Reacher (2022)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story: Plot unknown
Style: tense, captivating, disturbing, suspense, anime ...
Plot: one man army, corruption, murder, agent, ex military, police officer, tough guy, muscleman, police, male protagonist, false accusation, false accusation of murder ...
Time: future, 2020s
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
detective movies
4949
gang movies
4547
cynical movies
1916
2000s movies
3013
L.A. Confidential (1997)
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, noir, captivating, suspense ...
Audience: adult
Plot: corruption, police corruption, murder, murder mystery, police, police detective, organized crime, fighting the system, call girl, dangerous attraction, police brutality, twists and turns ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, year 1997, 90s, 20th century
Place: los angeles, california, usa, persia, arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.4
 4K
Dark Blue (2009)
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, rough, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: undercover agent, police investigation, police detective, law enforcement, fighting crime, right and wrong, team, workplace, police procedural, investigation, police, arrest ...
Time: 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.6
 20K
The Bridge (2013)
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, detective, suspenseful, serious ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: serial killer, police detective, police investigation, twists and turns, policewoman, murder, drug cartel, social problems, u.s. mexico border, corruption, partner, marital problem ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: mexico, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.4
 92K
Narcos: Mexico (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story: See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in 1980s Mexico.
Style: suspense, atmospheric, captivating, crime drama, intense ...
Plot: drug cartel, organized crime, marijuana, undercover agent, business, corruption, drug lord, cartel, drug, gang, criminal, drug dealing ...
Time: 80s, 90s
Place: mexico, latin america
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.7
 16K
NYPD Blue (1993)
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, suspenseful, captivating, serious, rough ...
Plot: police, police detective, murder, partners against crime, nypd, robbery, police protagonist, swat team, law enforcement, partner, human nature, tough law enforcer ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new york, usa, new york state
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
Movie in collections
murder movies
21738
cop movies
cop
1995
black movies
2085
Detroit 1-8-7 (2010)
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, detective ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: police detective, fighting crime, partners against crime, tough law enforcer, workplace, coworker, police procedural, law enforcement, female police officer, cop, police, investigation ...
Time: future, 21st century
Place: detroit, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 8.9
 647K
True Detective (2014)
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, anthology, gloomy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: serial killer, investigation, police investigation, murder, murder mystery, police detective, murder investigation, murderer, drinking problem, partners against crime, female nudity, troubled ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, 2000s, 20th century, 80s ...
Place: louisiana, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
16%
 7.1
 33K
The Staircase (2022)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 519 min.
TV show
Story: An exploration of the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.
Style: crime thriller, detective, suspense, thrilling, historical drama ...
Plot: true crime, courtroom, parents, house, criminal, defense attorney, criminal trial, gay, courtroom drama, court, suspect, murder investigation ...
Time: 2000s, year 2001, 2020s
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.0
 5K
The Mire (2018)
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: suspense, psychological, thought provoking, suspenseful, crime thriller ...
Plot: murder, swamp, life is a bitch, violence, dishonesty, organized crime, hopes, society, danger, small town, brutality, police ...
Time: 80s
Place: poland
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.1
 18K
Boss (2011)
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, ambition, political intrigue, career, mental illness, life is a bitch, dishonesty, power struggle, ambitious, corruption ...
Time: 21st century
Place: chicago, usa, illinois
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.6
 267K
End of Watch (2012)
Genre: Action, 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: tense, emotional, suspense, independent film, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: latinos, gang member, cop, police, shooting, street gang, friendship, urban ghetto, police investigation, organized crime, police officer, found footage ...
Time: year 2012, 2010s, year 2011, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, south central los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 7.7
 470K
Training Day (2001)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Style: neo noir, realistic, tense, harsh, suspense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, adult
Plot: police corruption, gang, corrupt cop, ghetto, gunfight, drug dealer, police, african american, rookie, mentor, dirty cop, drug ...
Time: year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
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