Primal Fear

Movies Like

Primal Fear (1996)

Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

If you loved Primal Fear, you'll love these similar films. Handpicked based on shared themes, genre, and feel.

Monster

Monster

2021 ★ 6.5

The story of Steve Harmon, a 17-year-old honor student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.

Reasonable Doubt

Reasonable Doubt

2014 ★ 5.8

When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.

Thief

Thief

1981 ★ 7.2

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder

1959 ★ 7.8

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

Barron's Cove

Barron's Cove

2025 ★ 6.6

When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

2019 ★ 7.0

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.

Butterfly on a Wheel

Butterfly on a Wheel

2007 ★ 6.4

A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.

True Confessions

True Confessions

1981 ★ 6.1

A cop clashes with his priest brother while investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.

God Is a Bullet

God Is a Bullet

2023 ★ 6.0

Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.

Rampage

Rampage

1987 ★ 6.0

Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.

Suburbicon

Suburbicon

2017 ★ 5.9

In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.

Fallen

Fallen

1998 ★ 6.8

Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.

Inside Man

Inside Man

2023 ★ 5.9

Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman

2021 ★ 6.7

Set in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase ‘serial killer’.

Cohen and Tate

Cohen and Tate

1989 ★ 6.5

A boy kidnapped by two mismatched hitmen puts them at each other's throats while being driven to their employers, possibly to be killed. Cohen, an older professional becomes increasingly irritated with his partner Tate, a brutish killer, when their prisoner uses unnatural guile and resourcefulness to play them off against each other.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones

2014 ★ 6.3

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

Scarface

Scarface

1932 ★ 7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

All the Money in the World

All the Money in the World

2017 ★ 6.5

The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.

52 Pick-Up

52 Pick-Up

1986 ★ 6.0

Harry Mitchell is a successful Los Angeles manufacturer whose wife is running for city council. His life is turned upside down when three blackmailers confront him with a videotape of him with his young mistress and demand $100,000. Fearing that the story will hurt his wife's political campaign if he goes to the police, Harry pretends that he will pay the men, but does not follow through.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone

2007 ★ 7.3

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

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