The main characters of Knives Out looking at the camera in the film's poster.Image via Lionsgate
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Brad LaCour
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Brad LaCour is a Senior List Writer for Collider. Based out of Los Angeles, California, Brad lives close enough to the stars but is too busy to find out where exactly they live. Brad is fairly certain he's seen Paul Stanley twice in a grocery store, but was too afraid to ask.
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Crime movies are one of the most engaging genres in film. The audience is allowed to live vicariously through tense bank robberies, high-speed car chases, and dangerous murder investigations. In recent years, crime movies have continued to incorporate new genres or use the platform for social commentary while still delivering a thrilling experience to the audience.
With so many exciting recent crime movies to choose from, we’ll take a look at the best crime movie from every year of the last decade. These are the crime movies that gave new voices a chance to shine, the genre to be pushed in exciting new directions, and antiheroes the opportunity to be the heroes of their own stories.
10 'Sicario' (2015)
Kate stands in tactical gear while looking concerned in Sicario.Image via Lionsgate
In Sicario, Emily Blunt stars as Kate Macer, an FBI agent who is invited to join a task force with the directive of apprehending a high-ranking drug cartel lieutenant. Kate is dedicated to the cause, but as she witnesses the increasingly brutal methods used by the task force, she begins to question the merit of her involvement. Torn between two sides that begin to look eerily similar, Kate must determine how far she’s willing to go.
Sicario is not only the best crime movie of 2015 — it’s a strong candidate for best crime movie of the decade. Blunt, along with Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, does some of the best work of their career in a relentlessly tense and gripping film. Sicario was the first script written by Taylor Sheridan, and the success of the film played a large role in propelling the writer-producer into superstardom with multiple hit movies.
9 'Hell or High Water' (2016)
Chris Pine as Toby and Ben Foster as Tanner in 'Hell or High Water'Image via Lionsgate Films
Two brothers rob banks for a good cause in the neo-Western Hell or High Water. With their ranch facing foreclosure, brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) begin robbing banks in West Texas to protect a future for their families. The brothers’ success draws the attention of Texas Rangers Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto (Gil Birmingham), who work to stop the heists before more damage is caused.
Taylor Sheridan struck again with Hell or High Water, writing another script that proved Sicario wasn’t a fluke occurrence of thrilling, nuanced storytelling. Beautifully acted, Hell or High Water gives the audience characters who all have understandable motives, challenging the concept of “good versus bad” in a genre such as a Western, where the distinction is usually clearly defined. Hell or High Water was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and, unsurprisingly, Best Original Screenplay.
8 'Baby Driver' (2017)
Ansel Elgort behind the wheel in Baby DriverImage via Sony Pictures
In Baby Driver, “Baby” (Ansel Elgort) is the getaway driver any lawbreaker is lucky to have, possessing an almost supernatural skill behind the wheel. When he falls in love with a sweet waitress named Debora (Lily James), Baby begins to imagine a life away from police chases and death-defying stunts. However, Baby still owes a debt to dangerous people, and he won’t be going anywhere until those debts are paid.
Baby Driver is a lean, slick crime movie that ranks as one of the greatest car chase movies ever made. Director Edgar Wright once again applied his signature ability to infuse aspects of other genres to give a gangster narrative romance, humor, and, of course, music. Each scene plays to its own melodic rhythm, whether it be tense or carefree, resulting in a crime movie that doesn’t look or sound quite like any other.
7 'BlacKkKlansman' (2018)
Laura Harrier and John David Washington in BlackkklansmanImage via Focus Features
An unlikely police officer infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan in director Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. John David Washington stars as Ron Stallworth, the first Black officer reporting for duty in the Colorado Springs Department, who manages to gain the KKK’s trust via phone calls where he pretends to be someone interested in joining. By partnering with white detective “Flip” Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to show up to meetings in person, the two become an undercover threat to a growing operation of hate.
Despite the film taking place in the '70s, BlacKkKlansman felt timely upon its release in 2018, especially with its unexpected but thought-provoking ending. Lee pairs bold visual choices with strong performances from Washington and Driver to deliver razor-sharp commentary on racism and its continued prevalence in modern society. BlacKkKlansman received widespread acclaim, winning multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
6 'Knives Out' (2019)
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc looking surprised in Knives OutImage via Lionsgate
Writer-director Rian Johnson gave audiences a new detective to fall in love with in Knives Out. The modern-day whodunit follows private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he unravels a mystery surrounding the murder of famed mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Although the death may appear to have an obvious solution, Blanc will discover layers of deception only the most observant detective could see.
Johnson took all the pieces of a whodunit that audiences were familiar with and restructured them into a new viewing experience that excited audiences. Knives Out felt fresh and classic at the same time, combining a retro aesthetic, an Agatha Christie sensibility, and witty social commentary into one. The combination worked, leading Knives Out to make over $300 million worldwide and kick off a series of sequels featuring Detective Blanc.
5 'The Kid Detective' (2020)
Adam Brody in 'The Kid Detective'Image via Woods Entertainment
A once-celebrated child detective does not transition smoothly into adulthood in The Kid Detective. Adam Brody stars as Abe Applebaum, a former boy detective who, now at 32, runs a failing private investigation agency, unable to live down the failure to find a missing girl when he was still an adolescent. When high schooler Caroline (Sophie Nelisse) approaches Abe about solving a murder, he sees a chance to redeem himself and fix his life.
An underrated and lesser-known gem, The Kid Detective begins as an almost whimsical satire of the detective genre before turning into a darker character study. The Kid Detective cleverly subverts expectations by playing against well-known tropes of detective stories while still laying out clues that lead our heroes to unpleasant discoveries. A witty and sometimes painful exploration of perspective and self-awareness, The Kid Detective has the makings of a cult classic.
4 'Nobody' (2021)
A closeup of Hutch getting punched in the face for the Nobody poster.Image via Universal Pictures
Bob Odenkirk became an unlikely but effective star of an action movie in Nobody. Hutch (Odenkirk) is not an imposing man at first glance, but there’s more to the affable father and husband than meets the eye. After a home invasion triggers instincts he’s repressed for years, a violent escalation between Hutch and the criminal underworld soon comes to pass.
Audiences have seen many variations of Nobody premiere in recent years, but none captured the same balance of humor, action, and humanity. A fun and pulpy spin on the action crime movies in the style of John Wick, Nobody struck a chord with audiences by giving them a relatable lead to cheer for. Odenkirk’s easy and natural charm is the most important ingredient in Nobody’s successful recipe, and even when the film transitions into an absurdly over-the-top finale, everyone is along for the ride at that point.
3 'The Batman' (2022)
It’s not often that a superhero movie qualifies as an outstanding crime film, but The Batman falls into that rare dual category. Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) is in the early stages of making his presence known in Gotham City as Batman, establishing a reputation of fear and brutality. Elsewhere, The Riddler (Paul Dano) also wants to clean up corruption, but his methods are more lethal than the Caped Crusader.
The Batman leans into the comic book hero’s detective roots, giving him the perfect villain who compulsively leaves clues. Structured more as a crime thriller that runs closer to Se7en than it does Batman Forever, The Batman focuses more on crime-solving than large-scale brawls. And all of it is set against a Gotham City that is an exciting and fully realized world where every shot is noir perfection, and the worst crime within the city limits is how long it takes to make a sequel.
2 'Killers of the Flower Moon' (2023)
Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart and Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart in 'Killers of the Flower Moon'Image via Apple TV+
Martin Scorsese reteams with two of his most iconic stars in the epic historical crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart, a World War I veteran who colludes with his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro) to steal money from the oil-rich Osage community. By marrying the Osage woman Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Ernest places himself in line to receive her fortune and gain the trust of a community he hopes to exploit.
In terms of scale, performance, and vision, Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the best historical dramas made in recent years. DeNiro is captivatingly slimy, DiCaprio is stripped of his movie star charm as the manipulative Ernest, and Gladstone is a force to be reckoned with as Mollie. The fact that Killers of the Flower Moon is a recreation of true events makes the story an even more heartbreaking display of greed, which caused so many innocent people to die.
1 'The Order' (2024)
Jude Law, sitting on a church pew, as Terry Husk in The OrderImage via Vertical
In The Order, a white supremacist group led by Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) begins preparing for a coordinated and deadly terrorist attack against the government. A few steps behind them is FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law), who recently relocated close to the terrorist group's base of operations. With the aid of local law enforcement, Husk will obsessively follow the trail of Mathews to prevent a large-scale loss of human life.
Based on true events, The Order does an admirable job of avoiding melodrama and allowing the tragedy of the case to speak for itself. The themes explored in The Order, such as the obsession with a cause or a case to the point of self-destruction, aren’t new ideas, but the film tackles them earnestly. The Order benefits greatly from Hoult and Law, who each bring intensity as two determined forces moving closer to a fatal collision.
The Order (2024) Official Poster
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Release Date
December 5, 2024
Runtime
120 Minutes
Director
Justin Kurzel
Writers
Zach Baylin, Kevin Flynn, Gary Gerhardt
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Marc Maron
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