Movies Like The Drowning Pool (1975)

The Drowning Pool is a 1975 mystery, thriller film from Stuart Rosenberg with a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Harper and Chinatown.

Mystery Thriller

Harper

1966

Harper is a cynical private eye in the best tradition of Bogart. He even has Bogie's Baby hiring him to find her missing husband, getting involved along the way with an assortment of unsavory characters and an illegal-alien smuggling ring.

6.6

MagicScore

Chinatown

1974

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

7.9

MagicScore

Night Moves

1975

Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.

6.7

MagicScore

Devil in a Blue Dress

1995

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.

6.5

MagicScore

Shattered

1991

Dan Merrick comes out from a shattering car accident with amnesia. He finds that he is married to Judith who is trying to help him start his life again. He keeps getting flashbacks about events and places that he can't remember. He meets pet shop owner and part time private detective Gus Klein who has supposedly done some work for him prior to the accident. Klein helps Merrick to find out more...

6.1

MagicScore

The Missing Person

2009

John Rosow drinks to forget. He is a former New York City cop turned Chicago-based private investigator. At the last minute, he is hired by someone he's never met to follow a middle-aged male subject on the soon-departing California Zephyr train to Los Angeles.

5.8

MagicScore

Hickey & Boggs

1972

Two veteran private eyes trigger a criminal reign of terror with their search for a missing girl. | Al Hickey (Cosby) & Frank Boggs (Culp) are two jaded private investigators who get hired to find a missing woman and quickly find themselves submerged in a world of murder and untruths.

5.7

MagicScore

Blood Simple

1985

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

7.2

MagicScore

El crack

1981

Private detective Germán Areta el Piojo gets a terminally ill client who wishes to see his long lost, runaway daughter before he dies.

7.1

MagicScore

#10

The Crack: Inception

2019

Madrid, Spain, 1975; shortly after the end of the Franco dictatorship. Six months after the mysterious death of his lover, a prestigious tailor, a married woman visits the office of the young Germán Areta, a former police officer turned private detective, to request his professional services.

6.7

MagicScore

#11

Motherless Brooklyn

2019

New York City, 1957. Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, tries to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend, armed only with vague clues and the strength of his obsessive mind.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Cold in July

2014

While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

The Late Show

1977

Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.

6.3

MagicScore

#14

The Two Jakes

1990

Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.

6.0

MagicScore

#15

8 Million Ways to Die

1986

Scudder is a detective with the Sheriff's Department who is forced to shoot a violent suspect during a narcotics raid. The ensuing psychological aftermath of this shooting worsens his drinking problem and this alcoholism causes him to lose his job, as well as his marriage.

5.4

MagicScore

#16

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1988

'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.

7.5

MagicScore

#17

Psycho

1960

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

8.4

MagicScore

#18

The Maltese Falcon

1941

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

7.7

MagicScore

#19

The Big Sleep

1946

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

7.6

MagicScore

#20

God's Crooked Lines

2022

Alice Gould, a private investigator, pretends to be mentally ill in order to enter a psychiatric hospital and gather evidence for the case she is working on: the death of a patient in unclear circumstances.

7.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Drowning Pool?

The top films similar to The Drowning Pool by MovieMagicScore are Harper (6.6), Chinatown (7.9), Night Moves (6.7). Each shares mystery/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Drowning Pool worth watching?

The Drowning Pool holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.3/10 from 130 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Drowning Pool?

The Drowning Pool (1975) is a mystery, thriller film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Drowning Pool?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more mystery recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Harper Movies like Chinatown Movies like Night Moves Movies like Devil in a Blue Dress Movies like Shattered Movies like The Missing Person

About movies like The Drowning Pool

This ranked list pairs The Drowning Pool (1975), a mystery and thriller film from Stuart Rosenberg, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Paul Newman take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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