Movies Like Compulsion (1959)

Compulsion is a 1959 crime, drama, history, thriller film from Richard Fleischer with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Rope and Primal Fear.

Crime Drama History Thriller

Rope

1948

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

7.9

MagicScore

Primal Fear

1996

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

7.7

MagicScore

The Third Murder

2017

A lawyer tasked with defending a robbery-and-murder suspect begins developing doubts about what truly happened.

6.6

MagicScore

Just Mercy

2019

The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.

7.9

MagicScore

Argentina 1985

2022

In the 1980s, a team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina's bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time.

7.8

MagicScore

Shepherds and Butchers

2017

A lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.

6.3

MagicScore

Molly's Game

2017

Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.

7.2

MagicScore

Shahid

2013

A story based on real-life human-rights and criminal lawyer, Shahid Azmi, who was slain while defending the wrongly accused by the law in terrorist activities.

7.2

MagicScore

The Lincoln Lawyer

2011

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.

7.2

MagicScore

#10

Inherit the Wind

1960

Schoolteacher Bertram Cates is arrested for teaching his students Darwin's theory of evolution. The case receives national attention and one of the newspaper reporters, E.K. Hornbeck, arranges to bring in renowned defense attorney and atheist Henry Drummond to defend Cates. The prosecutor, Matthew Brady is a former presidential candidate, famous evangelist, and old adversary of Drummond.

7.7

MagicScore

#11

The Social Network

2010

In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.

7.4

MagicScore

#12

Witness for the Prosecution

1957

An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

8.2

MagicScore

#13

Anatomy of a Murder

1959

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

7.8

MagicScore

#14

Dark Waters

2019

A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.

7.5

MagicScore

#15

Presumed Innocent

1990

Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.

6.8

MagicScore

#16

Midnight Express

1978

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

7.5

MagicScore

#17

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

2020

Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.

6.6

MagicScore

#18

Rampage

1987

Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.

5.9

MagicScore

#19

Killers of the Flower Moon

2023

When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

7.4

MagicScore

#20

12 Angry Men

1957

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

8.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Compulsion?

The top films similar to Compulsion by MovieMagicScore are Rope (7.9), Primal Fear (7.7), The Third Murder (6.6). Each shares crime/drama/history/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Compulsion worth watching?

Compulsion holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 154 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Compulsion?

Compulsion (1959) is a crime, drama, history, thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Dean Stockwell, Bradford Dillman, Orson Welles.

Where can I find more recommendations like Compulsion?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Rope Movies like Primal Fear Movies like The Third Murder Movies like Just Mercy Movies like Argentina 1985 Movies like Shepherds and Butchers

About movies like Compulsion

This ranked list pairs Compulsion (1959), a crime and drama and history and thriller film from Richard Fleischer, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Dean Stockwell 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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