Movies Like The Harder They Come (1972)

The Harder They Come is a 1972 crime, drama, music film from Perry Henzell with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Control and Straight Outta Compton.

Crime Drama Music

Control

2007

The story of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis, from his schoolboy days in 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.

7.5

MagicScore

Straight Outta Compton

2015

In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.

7.8

MagicScore

Chiko

2008

This is the story of Isa, who grows up in a Hamburg suburb. It might be one of the world's richest cities but every beast has its belly and here, in the very underbelly, Chiko lives in a world where violence, staking and keeping a claim, and drug taking are the norm. Where down is not an option, Chiko is determined to rise to the top, whatever and whomever it costs.

6.3

MagicScore

Rockers

1979

Horsemouth, a drummer living in a ghetto of Kingston, plans to make money selling records. After his prized motorcycle is stolen, his plans fall through and he's forced to adapt.

7.1

MagicScore

Cool Runnings

1993

When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican bobsled team.

7.0

MagicScore

High Fidelity

2000

After his long-time girlfriend dumps him, a thirty-year-old record store owner seeks to understand why he is unlucky in love while recounting his "top five breakups of all time".

7.1

MagicScore

Ray

2004

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

7.4

MagicScore

Dreamgirls

2006

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

6.7

MagicScore

Brown Sugar

2002

Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-hop on a New York street corner. Now some 15 years later, she is a revered music critic at a national magazine and he is a successful, though unfulfilled, hip-hop record company executive. Both come to realize that their true life passions will only be fulfilled by remembering what they learned that day on the corner.

6.6

MagicScore

#10

Havoc

2005

A wealthy Los Angeles teen and her superficial friends wants to break out of suburbia and experience Southern California's "gangsta" lifestyle. But problems arise when the preppies get in over their heads and provoke the wrath of a violent Latino gang. Suddenly, their role-playing seems a little too real.

5.3

MagicScore

#11

Marihuana

1936

A young girl named Burma attends a beach party with her boyfriend and after she smokes marijuana with a bunch of other girls, she gets pregnant and another girl drowns while skinny dipping in the ocean. Burma and her boyfriend go to work for the pusher in order to make money so they can get married. However, during a drug deal her boyfriend is killed leaving Burma to fend for herself. Burma then becomes a major narcotics pusher in her own right after giving up her baby for adoption.

3.6

MagicScore

#12

Super Dark Times

2017

Teenagers Zach and Josh have been best friends their whole lives, but when a gruesome accident leads to a cover-up, the secret drives a wedge between them and propels them down a rabbit hole of escalating paranoia and violence.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

Pick-up

1975

Sexy hippie chicks Carol and Maureen get more than they bargained for when they hitch a ride with groovy hippie dude Chuck in his nifty mobile bus home. The trio get lost in the Florida Everglades following a fierce rain storm and embark on a startling spiritual journey of self-discovery.

4.4

MagicScore

#14

Yardie

2018

Jamaica, 1973. When a young boy witnesses his brother’s assassination, a powerful Don gives him a home. But 10 years later, when he’s sent to London, his past catches up to him.

5.9

MagicScore

#15

A Prophet

2009

Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

Massacre on Aisle 12

2016

A hardware store employee's first night on the job is disrupted by the discovery of a dead body and a duffel bag full of cash. He and his co-workers soon descend into madness as they try to figure out a solution to their predicament in this unsettling horror comedy.

4.7

MagicScore

#17

Atlantic City

1980

In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.

6.8

MagicScore

#18

We Own the Night

2007

A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hitmen.

6.7

MagicScore

#19

The Hoarder

2015

Ella discovers a terrifying secret when she becomes trapped in an underground storage facility. To survive she must join forces with a group of strangers, each with something to hide.

4.4

MagicScore

#20

Detroit

2017

A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest citizens' uprisings in the history of the United States.

7.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Harder They Come?

The top films similar to The Harder They Come by MovieMagicScore are Control (7.5), Straight Outta Compton (7.8), Chiko (6.3). Each shares crime/drama/music themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Harder They Come worth watching?

The Harder They Come holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 116 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Harder They Come?

The Harder They Come (1972) is a crime, drama, music film directed by Perry Henzell, starring Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Harder They Come?

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 Control Movies like Straight Outta Compton Movies like Chiko Movies like Rockers Movies like Cool Runnings Movies like High Fidelity

About movies like The Harder They Come

This ranked list pairs The Harder They Come (1972), a crime and drama and music film from Perry Henzell, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jimmy Cliff 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 The Harder They Come