Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keywords "desperation", "police-investigation"
- Movies or TV
- Genres
- Keywords
- IMDb Rating
- Instant Watch Options
- In Theaters
- Release Year
1. Bones (2005–2017)
TV-14 | 40 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth teams up with the Jeffersonian's top anthropologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to investigate cases where all that's left of the victims are their bones.
Stars: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne
Votes: 176,160
2. Prisoners (2013)
R | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo
Votes: 809,124 | Gross: $61.00M
3. Falling Down (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 206,595 | Gross: $40.90M
4. Code 8 (2019)
Not Rated | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A super-powered construction worker falls in with a group of criminals in order to raise the funds to help his ill mother.
Director: Jeff Chan | Stars: Kari Matchett, Robbie Amell, Penny Eizenga, Lawrence Bayne
Votes: 52,216
5. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 212,226 | Gross: $14.38M
6. American Hustle (2013)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama
A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence
Votes: 500,266 | Gross: $150.12M
7. Megan Is Missing (2011)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Two teenage girls encounter an Internet child predator.
Director: Michael Goi | Stars: Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn, Dean Waite, Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer
Votes: 15,453
8. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin
Votes: 116,175 | Gross: $10.73M
9. Safe Haven (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons
Votes: 116,157 | Gross: $71.35M
10. American Gigolo (1980)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Los Angeles escort is accused of a murder which he did not commit.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, Nina van Pallandt
Votes: 29,428 | Gross: $23.00M
11. Triple 9 (2016)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul
Votes: 77,079 | Gross: $12.63M
12. Animal Kingdom (2010)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Bryce Lindemann
Votes: 60,485 | Gross: $1.04M
13. The Informer (2019)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ex-convict working undercover intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison.
Director: Andrea Di Stefano | Stars: Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Mateusz Kosciukiewicz
Votes: 42,065
14. Jigsaw (I) (2017)
R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Bodies are turning up around the city, each having met a uniquely gruesome demise. As the investigation proceeds, evidence points to one suspect: John Kramer, the man known as Jigsaw, who has been dead for over 10 years.
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig | Stars: Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell, Callum Keith Rennie, Hannah Emily Anderson
Votes: 92,214 | Gross: $38.05M
15. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.
Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun
Votes: 75,119 | Gross: $0.05M
16. Mother (2009)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Goo, Yun Je-mun
Votes: 71,619 | Gross: $0.55M
17. Pieces (1982)
Not Rated | 85 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.
Director: Juan Piquer Simón | Stars: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Frank Braña, Edmund Purdom
Votes: 12,815 | Gross: $2.03M
18. Takers (2010)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of bank robbers find their multi-million dollar plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective.
Director: John Luessenhop | Stars: Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Michael Ealy
Votes: 65,776 | Gross: $57.74M
19. Don't Say a Word (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he's horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman who knows a secret...
Director: Gary Fleder | Stars: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Brittany Murphy, Skye McCole Bartusiak
Votes: 57,065 | Gross: $55.00M
20. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
GP | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An American expatriate in Rome attempts to unmask a serial killer he witnessed in the act of an attempted murder - and is now hunting him and his girlfriend.
Director: Dario Argento | Stars: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno, Eva Renzi
Votes: 24,080 | Gross: $0.42M
21. Pet (I) (2016)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A man bumps into an old crush and holds her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works.
Director: Carles Torrens | Stars: Dominic Monaghan, Ksenia Solo, Jennette McCurdy, Da'Vone McDonald
Votes: 18,815 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Bad Samaritan (2018)
R | 110 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A pair of burglars stumble upon a woman being held captive in a home they intended to rob.
Director: Dean Devlin | Stars: David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Kerry Condon, Carlito Olivero
Votes: 26,087 | Gross: $3.44M
23. Temple (2019–2021)
TV-MA | 665 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
UK version of the Norwegian show about a surgeon who is determined to save his dying wife to the point of agreeing to treat criminals and others for cash in his highly illegal secret underground clinic.
Stars: Mark Strong, Carice van Houten, Daniel Mays, Catherine McCormack
Votes: 4,079
24. Sleepless (III) (2017)
R | 95 min | Action, Thriller
A cop with a connection to the criminal underworld scours a nightclub in search of his kidnapped son.
Director: Baran bo Odar | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Dermot Mulroney, Gabrielle Union
Votes: 34,189 | Gross: $20.78M
25. First Kill (2017)
R | 97 min | Action, Thriller
A Wall Street broker is forced to evade a police chief investigating a bank robbery as he attempts to recover the stolen money in exchange for his son's life.
Director: Steven C. Miller | Stars: Bruce Willis, Hayden Christensen, Ty Shelton, Megan Leonard
Votes: 12,439
26. B: The Beginning (2018–2021)
TV-MA | 25 min | Animation, Action, Crime
In this anime series, scientists hope "new humans" will create universal peace, but they're kidnapped by an evil group with very different plans.
Stars: Asami Seto, Hiroaki Hirata, Yûki Kaji, Hiroki Tôchi
Votes: 5,566
27. What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)
R | 107 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A teacher who is having an affair with one of his students is reluctant to present an alibi when his lover witnesses the first in a series of murders connected to their school.
Director: Massimo Dallamano | Stars: Fabio Testi, Karin Baal, Cristina Galbó, Joachim Fuchsberger
Votes: 5,922
28. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
PG-13 | 87 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Two decades after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.
Director: Justin Barber | Stars: Florence Hartigan, Luke Spencer Roberts, Chelsea Lopez, Justin Matthews
Votes: 6,997 | Gross: $3.60M
29. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)
Not Rated | 87 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Matsu is sheltered by an incestuous prostitute on her run from the police, her ex-prison mate and a cop whose arm she hacked off.
Director: Shun'ya Itô | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Reisen Ri, Yayoi Watanabe
Votes: 2,103
30. Alien Nation (1989 TV Movie)
Unrated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A bigoted human policeman in the L.A. of the future and his alien partner learn to live with each other's differences while attempting to solve a drug conspiracy hidden in the subculture of... See full summary »
Director: Kenneth Johnson | Stars: Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, Lauren Woodland
Votes: 1,263
31. Never Let Go (1960)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A cosmetic salesman sets out to prove to himself and his wife that he is not a failure.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Richard Todd, Peter Sellers, Elizabeth Sellars, Adam Faith
Votes: 1,691
32. Graceland (I) (2012)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Thriller
When a kidnapping goes wrong, a desperate father risks everything to save his daughter from the men who hold her captive.
Director: Ron Morales | Stars: Arnold Reyes, Menggie Cobarrubias, Dido de la Paz, Leon Miguel
Votes: 1,706 | Gross: $0.02M
33. Night of Fear (1973)
54 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
Insane sadistic hermit stalks and captures those who get lost in his part of the woods. A young woman whose car broke down is about to find out what he does with them next.
Director: Terry Bourke | Stars: Norman Yemm, Carla Hoogeveen, Mike Dorsey, Briony Behets
Votes: 655
34. Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway (2008 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 83 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man kidnaps two girls in Oregon triggering the Amber Alert system throughout many surrounding states.
Director: George Mendeluk | Stars: Tom Berenger, Torri Higginson, Britt McKillip, Genevieve Buechner
Votes: 185
35. Captive Wild Woman (1943)
Passed | 61 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
An insane scientist doing experimentation in glandular research becomes obsessed with transforming a female gorilla into a human...even though it costs human life.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Lloyd Corrigan
Votes: 1,038
36. One Dangerous Night (1942)
Approved | 77 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A "Lone Wolf" advenure. The Lone Wolf tries to clear himself of a charge of murdering a blackmailer.
Director: Michael Gordon | Stars: Warren William, Eric Blore, Marguerite Chapman, Mona Barrie
Votes: 191
37. The President's Mystery (1936)
Approved | 80 min | Drama
A millionaire with a crumbling personal life comes up with an idea on how he can disappear, start a new life without anyone knowing who he is and be able to take all his money with him.
Director: Phil Rosen | Stars: Henry Wilcoxon, Betty Furness, Sidney Blackmer, Evelyn Brent
Votes: 209
38. His Night Out (1935)
Approved | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
When a meek purchasing agent is told by a quack doctor that he only has three months to live, he gets involved with a bank robbery and kidnapped by the gang.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Edward Everett Horton, Irene Hervey, Jack La Rue, Robert McWade
Votes: 24
39. The Man Who Returned to Life (1942)
Passed | 61 min | Action, Crime, Drama
David Jamieson, a Northerner, is forced to flee from a Maryland town where he is suspected of murdering the girl who attempted to force him to marry her on the eve of his wedding to another... See full summary »
Director: Lew Landers | Stars: John Howard, Lucile Fairbanks, Ruth Ford, Marcella Martin
Votes: 26
40. The Charlatan (1929)
Passed | 60 min | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
A woman goes to a sideshow fortune-teller to have her fortune told, and is astonished when the man looks into his crystal ball and goes into great detail about events in her past that few ... See full summary »
Director: George Melford | Stars: Holmes Herbert, Margaret Livingston, Rockliffe Fellowes, Philo McCullough
Votes: 49
41. A Desperate Adventure (1938)
Passed | 67 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Much ado about a painting of a made-up woman a French painter has visualized. When an American heiress who looks like the woman turns up, there is a possible scandal and a scramble to find the canvas, which has since disappeared.
Director: John H. Auer | Stars: Ramon Novarro, Marian Marsh, Margaret Tallichet, Eric Blore
Votes: 43