12 Movies Like Sons of Anarchy You Need to Watch
Craving gritty crime, drama, and thriller picks? Explore 12 films and series with the same outlaw energy, from Bad Lieutenant to Gangs of London.
If you’re hunting for movies like Sons of Anarchy, you probably want more than simple crime stories — you want loyalty tested, power struggles, and characters who live just outside the law. This list brings that same rough energy through titles like Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Den of Thieves, and Godfather of Harlem, plus newer picks such as Secrets of the Hells Angels and City of God: The Fight Rages On. You’ll also find TV-heavy choices like Mayor of Kingstown and Gangs of London, which keep the pressure high with betrayal, violence, and moral gray areas. Whether you prefer crime, drama, thriller, mystery, or documentary, these selections deliver the grit and tension that made the original series so addictive.
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01
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
crime · drama · mystery
Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.
Directed by Werner HerzogCast Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit, Fairuza BalkAmazon Prime VideoFreevee -
02
Secrets of the Hells Angels
documentary · crime · history
Exposes the true cost of being a member of the world's most infamous biker club: the Hells Angels.
Directed by Dave Foulkes, Bill Thomas, David Foulkes, Johnny BurkeCast Jon Lee PelletHulu -
03
City of God: The Fight Rages On
crime · drama
Twenty years after City of God, Buscapé recounts how conflicts between police, traffickers, and militias impacted the community.
Directed by Bruno Costa, Aly MuritibaCast Alexandre Rodrigues, Roberta Rodrigues, Andréia Horta, Marcos Palmeira, Sabrina RosaMax -
04
Mayor of Kingstown
crime · drama · thriller
In a small Michigan town where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry, the McClusky family are the power brokers between the police, criminals, inmates, prison guards and politicians in a city completely dependent on prisons and the prisoners they contain.
Directed by Christoph Schrewe, Guy Ferland, Stephen Kay, Clark Johnson, Ben RichardsonCast Jeremy Renner, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Hugh Dillon, Derek WebsterParamount Plus -
05
Godfather of Harlem
crime · drama
Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.
Directed by Guillermo Navarro, Joe Chappelle, Carl Seaton, Marisol Adler, Rob GreenleaCast Forest Whitaker, Ilfenesh Hadera, Lucy Fry, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Erik LaRay HarveyHulu -
06
Den of Thieves
action · crime · drama · thriller
A gritty crime saga which follows the lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and the state's most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank.
Directed by Christian GudegastCast Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O'Shea Jackson Jr., 50 Cent, Meadow WilliamsNetflixAMC+ -
07
Gangs of London
action · crime · drama
When the head of a criminal organisation, Finn Wallace is assassinated, the sudden power vacuum his death creates threatens the fragile peace between the intricate web of gangs operating on the streets of the city. Now it’s up to the grieving, volatile and impulsive Sean Wallace to restore control and find those responsible for killing his father.
Directed by Corin Hardy, Gareth Evans, Hongsun Kim, Xavier Gens, Nima NourizadehCast Michelle Fairley, Sope Dirisu, Lucian Msamati, Brian Vernel, Pippa Bennett-WarnerAMC+ -
08
Mayans M.C.
crime · drama · thriller
Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.
Directed by Elgin James, Brett Dos Santos, Rachel Goldberg, Guy Ferland, Norberto BarbaCast JD Pardo, Clayton Cardenas, Sarah Bolger, Michael Irby, Carla BarattaHulu -
09
City of Vice
crime · drama · history
In the 1750s London’s perilous streets were run by armed gangs, corrupt night watchmen and thief takers. Then two Westminster magistrates, novelist Henry Fielding and his brother, John, obtained a grant from Parliament allowing them to bring some law and order to the crime-ridden boroughs of Central London.
Directed by Justin Hardy, Dan ReedCast Ian McDiarmid, Francis Magee, Steve Speirs, Alice O'Connell, Iain GlenFreevee -
10
Band of Gold
crime · drama
Band of Gold is a British drama series written by Kay Mellor and produced by Granada Television. It was initially broadcast on ITV between 1995 and 1997. Starring Geraldine James, Cathy Tyson, Barbara Dickson and Samantha Morton, the series revolves around the lives of a group of women who live and work in Bradford's red-light district.
Three seasons were produced (the third under the moniker of Gold, with only a small number of characters from the first two series).
Directed by Matthew Evans, Richard Laxton, Betsan Morris Evans, Charles Beeson, Richard StandevenCast Geraldine James, Cathy Tyson, Barbara Dickson, Samantha Morton, Tony DoyleFreevee -
11
City of Lies
biography · crime · drama · mystery · thriller
Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case -- the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur -- but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies.
Directed by Brad FurmanCast Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Toby Huss, Dayton Callie, Neil Brown Jr.Freevee -
12
High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule
documentary · crime
In 2013, Michaella McCollum from Northern Ireland and Melissa Reid from Scotland were caught at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Peru trying to smuggle £1.5 million of cocaine into Spain. The pair, also known as the `Peru Two,' were sentenced to almost seven years in one of the most notorious prisons in the world. The series provides a first-hand account from Michaella, a former club hostess in the Spanish nightlife, as she traces her journey from arriving in the foreign country for her first holiday to her downward spiral into the illicit world of drugs and excess.
Directed by Stuart BernardCast Alexandra Constantinidi, Tatiana Penfold, Sade GilibertiNetflix
Wrapping Up
These picks capture the things fans keep coming back for: fractured loyalties, dangerous antiheroes, and stories where every decision has a cost. From hard-edged crime dramas to revealing documentaries, each title offers a different angle on the same darker world. Bookmark this page and check back when you want another round of tense, character-driven viewing. The list is updated regularly, so it stays useful as new releases and standout older favorites continue to surface.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes these movies similar to Sons of Anarchy?
These picks were matched by tone, themes, and story style using a similarity model trained on plot synopses, genres, and cast — not just shared genre tags — so the connection runs deeper than a simple category match.
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Last updated: September 4, 2026