Movies like Detective Story: 20 to watch next

If you loved Detective Story (1951) — a crime and drama film directed by William Wyler — these 20 movies are the closest matches.

The first picks are what fans of Detective Story most often go on to watch; the rest share its genres and themes like marriage crisis, suppressed past and detective. 9 of them are streaming in India right now — each entry shows where.

Where to watch Detective Story →·Get picks for your whole taste →

1
Brooklyn's Finest 2010★ 6.3
Shares: Crime, Drama
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 wrong.
Stream in India on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
2
Reptile 2023★ 6.7
Shares: Crime, Drama
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
Stream in India on Netflix
3
Crime of Passion 1956★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Crime
Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
4
The Big Combo 1955★ 7.0
Shares: Drama, Crime
Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.
Stream in India on JustWatch TV Beta, Artiflix, Plex
5
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done 2010★ 6.1
Shares: Crime, Drama
Brad has committed murder and barricaded himself inside his house. With the help of his friends and neighbours, the cops piece together the strange tale of how this nice young man arrived at such a dark place.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
6
Prisoners 2013★ 8.1
Shares: Drama, Crime
After his six-year-old daughter is abducted, a desperate father takes justice into his own hands when he loses faith in the detective leading the investigation, setting both men on a collision course as the search descends into obsession and moral compromise.
Stream in India on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Movie Sphere+
7
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers 1946★ 7.1
Shares: Drama
Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.
Stream in India on Artiflix, Brew, JustWatch TV Beta
8
Shadow of a Doubt 1943★ 7.5
Shares: Crime
In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
9
Havoc 2025★ 6.4
Shares: Crime, Drama
When a drug heist swerves lethally out of control, a jaded cop fights his way through a corrupt city's criminal underworld to save a politician's son.
Stream in India on Netflix
10
China Moon 1994★ 6.1
Shares: Crime
Detective Kyle Bodine falls for Rachel Munro who is trapped in a violent marriage. After she shoots her husband, Kyle relucantly agrees to help hide the body, but his partner is showing an unusual flair for finding clues.
Stream in India on MGM Plus Amazon Channel
11
Black and Blue 2019★ 6.8
Shares: Crime
Rookie cop Alicia West, an Army veteran, inadvertently captures the murder of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realizing that the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the one person from her community who is willing to help her as she tries to escape both the criminals out for revenge and the police who are desperate to destroy the incriminating footage.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
12
Gone Baby Gone 2007★ 7.3
Shares: Crime, Drama
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.
Stream in India on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
13
Hollywoodland 2006★ 6.1
Shares: Crime, Drama
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
14
Crown Vic 2019★ 6.2
Shares: Crime, Drama
One memorable night in the life of veteran patrol officer Ray Mandel and his trainee, ambitious rookie cop Nick Holland in the LAPD's Olympic Division. With two cop killers on the loose and hunting for more targets, Mandel and Holland must contend with a city about to boil over, as well as Jack VanZandt, an unhinged rogue cop out for payback running wild in their patrol zone.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
15
In Too Deep 1999★ 6.4
Shares: Drama, Crime
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
16
Jesse Stone: No Remorse 2010★ 6.8
Shares: Drama, Crime
Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
17
McQ 1974★ 6.1
Shares: Crime, Drama
Police Lieutenant Lon McQ investigates the killing of his best friend and uncovers corrupt elements of the police department dealing in confiscated drugs.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
18
Changeling 2008★ 7.6
Shares: Crime, Drama
Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, her quest for truth exposes a world of corruption.
Stream in India on JioHotstar
19
L.A. Confidential 1997★ 7.8
Shares: Crime
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.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
20
Blindfire 2020★ 6.8
Shares: Crime, Drama
A police officer who while responding to a violent hostage call, kills the African American suspect only to later learn of his innocence. Sensing this was a set-up, and facing repercussions, he must track down the person responsible while examining his own accountability and the ingrained racism which brought him to this point.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now