Movies Like The Big Sleep (1946)

The Big Sleep is a 1946 crime, mystery, thriller film from Howard Hawks with a MovieMagicScore of 7.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Harper and The Maltese Falcon.

Crime 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

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

Angel Heart

1987

A down-and-out Brooklyn detective is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.

7.1

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

Gone Baby Gone

2007

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

7.3

MagicScore

The Maltese Falcon

1931

A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

6.3

MagicScore

Murder, My Sweet

1944

After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.

7.2

MagicScore

The Body

2012

A woman’s body disappears mysteriously from the morgue without a trace. Police inspector Jaime Peña investigates the strange occurrence with the help of Álex Ulloa, the widower of the missing woman.

7.5

MagicScore

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

#10

Luther: The Fallen Sun

2023

A gruesome serial killer is terrorizing London while brilliant but disgraced detective John Luther sits behind bars. Haunted by his failure to capture the cyber psychopath who now taunts him, Luther decides to break out of prison to finish the job by any means necessary.

6.6

MagicScore

#11

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

#12

Inherent Vice

2014

In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.

6.5

MagicScore

#13

Kiss the Girls

1997

Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

6.5

MagicScore

#14

The Long Goodbye

1973

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

7.4

MagicScore

#15

8MM

1999

A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery

2008

When the residents of a neighborhood are offered huge sums of money to sell their homes to a developer, the only ones to refuse are an elderly lesbian couple. Soon after, the couple's home is besieged by anti-gay vandalism, but Don suspects that the attack is motivated by big-business rather than homophobia.

5.4

MagicScore

#17

Laura

1944

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

7.6

MagicScore

#18

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

#19

The Nice Guys

2016

A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

A Kiss Before Dying

1956

A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.

6.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Big Sleep?

The top films similar to The Big Sleep by MovieMagicScore are Harper (6.6), The Maltese Falcon (7.7), Angel Heart (7.1). Each shares crime/mystery/thriller themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Big Sleep worth watching?

The Big Sleep holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.6/10 from 1,104 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Big Sleep?

The Big Sleep (1946) is a crime, mystery, thriller film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Big Sleep?

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 Harper Movies like The Maltese Falcon Movies like Angel Heart Movies like Devil in a Blue Dress Movies like Gone Baby Gone Movies like The Maltese Falcon

About movies like The Big Sleep

This ranked list pairs The Big Sleep (1946), a crime and mystery and thriller film from Howard Hawks, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Humphrey Bogart 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 Big Sleep