1. The Raid: Redemption (2011) 🇮🇩
Director/Creator: Gareth Evans
Plot: A S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement building run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers. The film is a relentless showcase of Pencak Silat martial arts and claustrophobic gunplay that barely pauses for a breath from start to finish.
IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Where to Watch: Hulu / Max (HBO)
2. Hard Boiled (1992) 🇭🇰
Director/Creator: John Woo
Plot: A tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew. It features some of the most choreographed and explosive “gun-fu” sequences in cinema history, including a legendary, non-stop hospital shootout.
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Where to Watch: Criterion Channel / Amazon Prime Video
3. Sicario (2015) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Denis Villeneuve
Plot: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. The film’s incredible sound design and cinematography create an atmosphere of constant, lurking dread.
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Where to Watch: Hulu / Paramount+
4. Heat (1995) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Michael Mann
Plot: A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the pressure from the L.A.P.D. when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. This crime epic is famous for its hyper-realistic sound design and a street shootout that defines the genre.
IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
Where to Watch: Netflix / Amazon Prime Video
5. Uncut Gems (2019) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Plot: A charismatic New York City jeweler, always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. The overlapping dialogue and frantic energy make it one of the most anxiety-inducing films ever made.
IMDb Rating: 7.4/10
Where to Watch: Netflix / Max (HBO)
6. Victoria (2015) 🇩🇪
Director/Creator: Sebastian Schipper
Plot: A young Spanish woman who has recently moved to Berlin finds her night out with a group of locals turning into a bank robbery. The entire film was shot in a single, continuous 138-minute take, providing an unbroken, heart-pounding experience.
IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video / Mubi
7. The French Connection (1971) 🇺🇸
Director/Creator: William Friedkin
Plot: A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a massive drug smuggling job with a connection in France. It features one of the most celebrated and pulse-pounding car chase sequences in movie history.
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Where to Watch: Max (HBO) / Tubi (Free)
8. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010) 🇧🇷
Director/Creator: José Padilha
Plot: After a bloody prison riot, a veteran captain of a special police operations squad in Rio de Janeiro is caught in a bloody political dispute involving government officials and paramilitary groups in this high-velocity look at systemic corruption.
IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video / Tubi (Free)
9. The Chaser (2008) 🇰🇷
Director/Creator: Na Hong-jin
Plot: A disgraced ex-policeman-turned-pimp finds himself in a desperate race against time to save one of his girls from a serial killer when the authorities prove to be incompetent. It is a grueling, visceral masterpiece of suspense.
IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
Where to Watch: Hulu / Peacock
10. A Bittersweet Life (2005) 🇰🇷
Director/Creator: Kim Jee-woon
Plot: A high-ranking mobster is assigned to shadow his boss’s mistress to see if she is having an affair. When he shows her mercy, he is brutally cast out by his own organization and begins a one-man war of vengeance against them.
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video / Tubi (Free)