Movies Like American Animals (2018)

American Animals is a 2018 crime, documentary, drama film from Bart Layton with a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Usual Suspects and Finding Steve McQueen.

Crime Documentary Drama

The Usual Suspects

1995

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

8.2

MagicScore

Finding Steve McQueen

2019

In 1972, a gang of close-knit thieves from Youngstown, Ohio attempt to steal $30 million in illegal contributions. Based on the true story of the biggest bank heist in US history.

6.1

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

Final Exam

1981

In a small college in North Carolina, only a select few students are left to take mid terms. But, when a killer strikes, it could be everyone's final exam.

5.1

MagicScore

The French Dispatch

2021

The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

7.0

MagicScore

The Staggering Girl

2019

Francesca, an Italian-American writer who lives in New York, must return to Rome to retrieve her aging mother. There, the ghosts of her childhood will come to her through her mother's art.

5.6

MagicScore

Wanda

1970

After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.

6.8

MagicScore

Wonder Boys

2000

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

6.8

MagicScore

tick, tick... BOOM!

2021

On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.

7.6

MagicScore

#10

Savage Messiah

1972

In the Paris of the 1910s, brash young sculptor Henri Gaudier begins a creative partnership with an older writer, Sophie Brzeska. Though the couple is 20 years apart in age, Gaudier finds that his untamed work is complemented by the older woman's cultural refinement. He then moves to London with Brzeska, where he falls in with a group of avant-garde artists. There, Gaudier encounters yet another artistic muse in passionate suffragette Gosh Boyle.

6.1

MagicScore

#11

Starter for 10

2006

In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching University Challenge, a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past.

6.4

MagicScore

#12

The Girl on the Train

2016

Rachel Watson, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.

6.4

MagicScore

#13

Special 26

2013

In the early 1980s India, a group of con artists rob businessmen and politicians by conducting fake raids, posing as officers of the CBI or Income Tax Department . They plan to execute their biggest con as a final job while a relentless cop is on their trail.

7.3

MagicScore

#14

Dhoom 2

2006

Jai and Ali return, this time on the trail of an international thief who steals priceless artifacts and has chosen Mumbai as his next target.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

That Sinking Feeling

1980

Ronnie, Wal, Andy and Vic are four bored, unemployed teens in dreary, rainy Glasgow. Ronnie comes up with a great idea. He has noticed that stainless steel sinks are worth a lot of money and comes up with a complicated scheme: to steal sinks from a warehouse dressed as girls and using a stop-motion-potion.

6.1

MagicScore

#16

Wasteland

2012

A young man recently released from prison recruits his three best friends to rob the local drug kingpin who is responsible for his incarceration.

6.7

MagicScore

#17

Bottle Rocket

1996

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

Soldier's Girl

2003

This true story, which takes place in Fort Campbell, KY, tells the heart-wrenching story of the life and tragic death of soldier Barry Winchell. His love for Calpernia Addams, a transgender nightclub performer, was misunderstood by his fellow soldiers and eventually led to his murder.

6.9

MagicScore

#19

Biggest Heist Ever

2024

Their crimes earned them the nickname Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde — and the story only gets weirder in this documentary about the most lucrative heist ever.

5.9

MagicScore

#20

Brideshead Revisited

2008

Artist Charles Ryder runs into aristocrat Julia Flyte and recalls his friendship with her eccentric family prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

6.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like American Animals?

The top films similar to American Animals by MovieMagicScore are The Usual Suspects (8.2), Finding Steve McQueen (6.1), Molly's Game (7.2). Each shares crime/documentary/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is American Animals worth watching?

American Animals holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10 from 1,159 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is American Animals?

American Animals (2018) is a crime, documentary, drama film directed by Bart Layton, starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner.

Where can I find more recommendations like American Animals?

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 The Usual Suspects Movies like Finding Steve McQueen Movies like Molly's Game Movies like Final Exam Movies like The French Dispatch Movies like The Staggering Girl

About movies like American Animals

This ranked list pairs American Animals (2018), a crime and documentary and drama film from Bart Layton, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Evan Peters 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.

← Back to American Animals