Highest-Rated Movies about 'Criminal Investigation'

Memories of Murder (2003), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Mystic River (2003), American Gangster (2007), Mississippi Burning (1988), The Boondock Saints (1999), The French Connection (1971), Zodiac (2007) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Criminal Investigation movies.

#1. Memories of Murder (2003)

Storyline: In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. Detective Park Doo-Man and Detective Cho Yong-koo, two brutal and stupid local detectives without any technique, investigate the murder using brutality and torturing the suspects, without any practical result. The Detective Seo Tae-Yoon from Seoul comes to the country to help the investigations and is convinced that a serial-killer is killing the women. When a third woman is found dead in the same "modus-operandi", the detectives find leads of the assassin.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: neo noir, serial killer, based on true story, serial murder, suspect, policeman, police investigation ...

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#2. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Storyline: Detective Virgil Tibbs is caught up in the racial tension of the US South when he is arrested after the murder of a prominent businessman. Tibbs was simply waiting for his next train at the station in Sparta, Mississippi and the confusion is soon resolved but when local police chief Gillespie learns that Tibbs is the Philadelphia PD's number one homicide expert, he reluctantly asks for his assistance. The murdered man, Mr. Colbert, had come to Sparta from the North to build a new factory and his wife and business associates immediately point the finger at Endicott, the most powerful man in the county and the one who had the most to lose if a major new employer comes to the area. Tibbs' life is clearly in danger but he perseveres in a highly charged and racially explosive environment until the killer is found.

Plot Keywords: african american, racial tension, small town, southern u.s., abortion, racism, prejudice ...

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#3. Mystic River (2003)

Storyline: In the summer of 1975 in a neighborhood in Boston, three kids, Dave Boyle and two of his friends, Jimmy Markum and Sean Devine, are playing on the sidewalk when Dave gets abducted by two men and endures several days of sexual abuse. Eventually, Dave escapes traumatized throughout adulthood. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con and a father of three, whose daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum), is found dead, and Dave (Tim Robbins) becomes the number one suspect. Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a homicide detective, investigating Katie's murder, ends up finding himself faced with past and present demons as more is uncovered about Katie's murder. Learning Katie had a boyfriend, ballistics later turn up a gun belonging to the father, which then puts her boyfriend as the suspect. Will Sean find out who killed Katie? Will Jimmy make it through the investigation? And will Dave ever find out what really happened when he was abducted?

Plot Keywords: based on novel, boston massachusetts, police investigation, irish american, child molester, childhood friend, sexual abuse ...

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#4. American Gangster (2007)

Storyline: Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.

Plot Keywords: drug trafficking, ghetto, nipples, mobster, mob boss, gangster, criminal syndicate ...

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#5. Mississippi Burning (1988)

Storyline: Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his former Sheriff partner.

Plot Keywords: 1960s, based on true story, southern u.s., deep south, ku klux klan, small town, investigation ...

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#6. The Boondock Saints (1999)

Storyline: Two Irish brothers accidentally kill mafia thugs. They turn themselves in and are released as heroes. They then see it as a calling by God and start knocking off mafia gang members one by one. Willem Dafoe plays the detective trying to figure out the killings, but the closer he comes to catching the Irish brothers, the more he thinks the brothers are doing the right thing.

Plot Keywords: gay slur, cauterizing a wound, gay, nose ring, nonlinear timeline, lord's prayer, latex gloves ...

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#7. The French Connection (1971)

Storyline: William Friedkin's gritty police drama portrays two tough New York City cops trying to intercept a huge heroin shipment coming from France. An interesting contrast is established between 'Popeye' Doyle, a short-tempered alcoholic bigot who is nevertheless a hard-working and dedicated police officer, and his nemesis Alain Charnier, a suave and urbane gentleman who is nevertheless a criminal and one of the largest drug suppliers of pure heroin to North America. During the surveillance and eventual bust, Friedkin provides one of the most gripping and memorable car chase sequences ever filmed.

Plot Keywords: based on true story, organized crime, car chase, drug smuggling, new york city, smuggling, heroin ...

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#8. Zodiac (2007)

Storyline: A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970's case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's book, the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.

Plot Keywords: serial killer, year 1970, year 1969, investigation, reporter, female stockinged feet, female stockinged legs ...

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#9. Inside Man (2006)

Storyline: Composed and meticulous, the soft-spoken and ingenious bank robber, Dalton Russell, has orchestrated the perfect heist--shortly, the Manhattan bank at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway along with dozens of hostages will be his to command. Try as he might, the rough hostage negotiator, Keith Frazier, is always one step behind the criminal mastermind--and what is more disheartening--the institution's silver-haired founder, Arthur Case, recruits the intelligent problem-fixer, Madeline White, to retrieve something of paramount importance. However, the thieves seem to procrastinate intentionally, when they should be rushing into action. Will Arthur and Madeline get what they want this time?

Plot Keywords: bank robber, bank, hostage, mysterious man, neo noir, bank employee, female thief ...

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#10. Tell No One (2006)

Storyline: The pediatrician Alexandre Beck misses his beloved wife Margot Beck, who was brutally murdered eight years ago when he was the prime suspect. When two bodies are found near where the corpse of Margot was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes suspect again. The mystery increases when Alex receives an e-mail showing Margot older and alive.

Plot Keywords: tied up, skinny dipping, nude swimming, voyeurism, murder, memory, lesbian kiss ...

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#11. A Time to Kill (1996)

Storyline: In Canton, Mississippi, 10-year-old Tonya Hailey is viciously brutalized by two white racist rednecks -- James Louis "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Almost immediately after Tonya is found and rushed to a hospital, Pete and Billy Ray are found at a roadside bar, where they had been bragging about what they did to Tonya. Tonya's understandably distraught and enraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, remembers a case from a year ago, when four white men raped an African-American girl in a nearby town, and got acquitted. Carl is determined to not let that happen in this case. While deputy Dwayne Powell Looney is escorting Pete and Billy Ray up a flight of stairs to a court room, Carl emerges from the building's basement with an assault rifle, and he kills Pete and Billy Ray for what they did to Tonya. Carl is later arrested at his house by African-American sheriff Ozzie Walls, and Carl is scheduled to be placed on trial. Despite the efforts of the NAACP and local African-American leaders to ...

Plot Keywords: title spoken by character, infidelity, redemption, righteous rage, tragedy, courtroom, bigot ...

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#12. Promising Young Woman (2020)

Storyline: Pushing thirty, and defined by a hideous crime involving her bosom friend, Nina, emotionally scarred medical school dropout, Cassie, knows firsthand that some wounds never heal. Leading an uneventful existence, still living with her parents, waiting tables at a cheap coffee shop to earn a living, Cassie has found the perfect way to deal with the painful past. Dressed to kill, at night, Cassie frequents the local bars and nightclubs, pretending to be dead-drunk, utterly helpless and vulnerable. And, every week, lethally beautiful Cassie is on the prowl for all sorts of nocturnal predators and other wolves in sheep's clothing, who are unaware that, sometimes, the hunter can become the prey. Then, Ryan, a kindly and caring old classmate who is the bee's knees, enters the picture, and just like that, Cassie wants out. However, everybody knows that breaking bad habits is easier said than done. Could Ryan be the one?—Nick Riganas

Plot Keywords: revenge, female protagonist, rape and revenge, rape, gender in title, hypocrisy, title directed by female ...

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#13. The Bamboo Prison (1955)

Storyline: Police Lt. Diamond is told to close his surveillance of suspected mob boss Mr. Brown because it's costing the department too much money with no results. Diamond makes one last attempt to uncover evidence against Brown by going to Brown's girlfriend, Susan Lowell.—Norman L Cook <cook@ssdgwy.mdc.com>

Plot Keywords: gay character, homosexual subtext, organized crime, cult film, police detective, murder, gangster ...

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#14. Flight (2012)

Storyline: Whip Whitaker is a commuter airline pilot. While on a flight from Orlando to Atlanta something goes wrong and the plane starts to fly erratically. With little choice Whip crashes the plane and saves almost all on board. When he wakes up in the hospital, his friend from the airline union introduces him to a lawyer who tells him there's a chance he could face criminal charges because his blood test reveals that he was intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine. He denies being impaired, so while an investigation is underway, he is told to keep his act together. However, letting go of his addiction is not as easy as it seems...

Plot Keywords: stewardess, alcoholism, hangover, airplane trip, airplane crash, airplane pilot, title spoken by character ...

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#15. Insomnia (2002)

Storyline: In Nightmute, Alaska, seventeen year old resident Kay Connell is found murdered. As a favor to the local Nightmute police chief, two Los Angeles Robbery Homicide police detectives, Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart, are called in to assist in the investigation. Although renowned in the police world, both Dormer and Eckhart are facing some professional issues back in Los Angeles. In Nightmute, Dormer has a major case of insomnia due to a combination of the incessant midnight sun and from a secret he is carrying. This insomnia is causing him to be delusional. Something he is not dreaming about is that the murderer has contacted him, informing him all about the murder and the fact that he knows everything that is going on with Dormer. They begin a symbiotic relationship in keeping secrets for each individual's benefit. But ambitious young local detective, Ellie Burr, might piece the story together on her own.

Plot Keywords: murder investigation, lying, book, evidence, murder of a police officer, dog, confession of crime ...

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