Finding a movie that hits the same notes as Martin Scorsese’s 2006 masterpiece is a surprisingly tall order. You want that specific brand of paranoia. You want the Boston accents—even the bad ones—and that constant, nagging feeling that every single person on screen is lying to everyone else. Honestly, most "crime thrillers" just don't cut it. They’re too clean. They lack the frantic, sweat-stained desperation of Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio trying to out-maneuver one another while Jack Nicholson chews the scenery until there’s nothing left but sawdust.
The thing about movies like The Departed is that they aren't just about cops and robbers. They're about identity. They're about the crushing weight of living a double life until you forget which version of yourself is the real one.
Scorsese didn't just stumble into this. He was remaking a Hong Kong classic, Infernal Affairs, and he infused it with his own obsession with Catholic guilt and tribal loyalty. If you’re looking for that same high-stakes tension, you have to look for films that understand the "mole" dynamic isn't just a plot device—it's a psychological death sentence.
Start with the Source: Infernal Affairs (2002)
It is weird how many people have seen The Departed but haven't touched the original. You have to watch this. If you want the purest hit of this specific trope, Infernal Affairs is the blueprint. Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, it’s tighter than the remake.
Clocking in at just about 100 minutes, it doesn't have the sprawling Boston subplots. It’s lean. Tony Leung and Andy Lau are icons for a reason. While Scorsese focused on the blooming rot of the city, the original focuses on the existential crisis of the two men. It’s more poetic, maybe a bit more tragic. You get to see the rooftop scene in its original form, which feels less like a gritty confrontation and more like a fated meeting between two ghosts.
If you've ever felt like The Departed was a bit too "loud," this is your corrective. It’s quiet, stylish, and devastating.
The Boston Connection: The Town and Mystic River
You can't talk about this vibe without staying in Massachusetts for a minute. Ben Affleck’s The Town (2010) gets a lot of love, and it should. It captures that same "neighborhood as a prison" feeling. Jeremy Renner is a live wire in that movie, playing the kind of loose cannon that would make Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello look like a stable businessman.
But if you want the emotional weight—the heavy, suffocating atmosphere of a neighborhood where everyone knows your sins—you go to Mystic River (2003).
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Directed by Clint Eastwood, it’s not a "mole" movie, but it shares the DNA of The Departed in how it treats trauma and local loyalty. Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, and Tim Robbins play three childhood friends reunited by a murder. It’s bleak. It’s the kind of movie that stays in your bones for a week. It reminds you that in these tight-knit communities, the truth isn't something that sets you free. It’s something that ruins you.
Heat: The Relentless Professionalism of the Hunt
Michael Mann’s Heat (1995) is often cited as the greatest heist movie ever made, and honestly, it’s hard to argue.
Why does it belong on a list of movies like The Departed? Because of the mirror.
In The Departed, Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan are two sides of the same coin. In Heat, Neil McCauley (De Niro) and Vincent Hanna (Pacino) are the same person born into different lives. One is a master thief, the other a master hunter. They both have failing personal lives. They both prioritize "the work" over everything else.
The famous diner scene—the first time De Niro and Pacino shared the screen—is the spiritual ancestor to the tension in Scorsese’s film. It’s two professionals acknowledging that they will eventually have to kill each other, even if they’re the only ones who truly understand each other.
The sound design in the shootout? Incredible. It’s loud, raw, and terrifying. It makes most modern action scenes look like cartoons.
Why This Genre Is Hard To Get Right
Most directors fail at the "mole" story because they focus on the "who" instead of the "how." We know who the rats are in The Departed almost immediately. The tension doesn't come from a mystery; it comes from the proximity to discovery.
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It’s the scene where Sullivan is looking through the files and Costigan is right there.
Donnie Brasco (1997) gets this. Johnny Depp plays Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who gets way too deep into the Bonanno crime family. The genius here is Al Pacino’s character, "Lefty" Ruggiero. He’s not a mastermind. He’s a sad, aging mobster who takes Pistone under his wing.
The horror of Donnie Brasco isn't just that Joe might get caught. It’s that Joe actually starts to love the man he’s destined to betray. It’s a gut-punch of a movie. It shows the psychological toll of the undercover life—the way you start to lose your own accent, your own values, and your own soul.
The Gritty Korean Alternatives
If you haven't looked into South Korean cinema for your crime fix, you're missing out on the best the genre has to offer right now.
- New World (2013): This is essentially the Korean Departed. A deep-cover cop is caught in a power struggle within the country’s biggest crime syndicate after the boss dies. It’s violent, corporate, and incredibly cynical.
- The Man from Nowhere (2010): While more of an action-thriller, it carries that dark, urban atmosphere where the line between the law and the underworld is basically non-existent.
The "Internal Affairs" Factor
There is a specific sub-genre of movies like The Departed that focuses on the corruption within the police department itself.
Training Day (2001) is the obvious one. Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris is a different kind of monster than Frank Costello. Costello is a father figure/devil; Alonzo is a predator who thinks he’s a king.
Then there's L.A. Confidential (1997). This is a masterpiece of plotting. It takes three very different cops—the straight-arrow (Guy Pearce), the thug (Russell Crowe), and the celebrity (Kevin Spacey)—and forces them into a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top. It’s 1950s Los Angeles, but it feels as dirty and modern as any 21st-century thriller.
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The way the plot threads slowly weave together is a masterclass in screenwriting. If you love the "everything is connected" aspect of Scorsese's work, this is mandatory viewing.
Eastern Promises and the Underworld of Identity
David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises (2007) is a fascinating companion piece. Viggo Mortensen plays Nikolai, a driver for the Russian Mafia in London.
Like The Departed, it’s a film about tattoos, symbols, and what it takes to "belong" to a criminal organization. There is a specific scene—the bathhouse fight—that is more brutal than anything Scorsese has ever filmed. It’s raw, naked, and desperate.
It explores the idea of the "vory v zakone" (thief in law) and the rigid, terrifying codes of the Russian underworld. Mortensen’s performance is so controlled that when the cracks finally show, it’s electric.
The Actionable Binge List
If you’re sitting there wondering what to watch tonight, don't just scroll through Netflix indefinitely. Pick a "vibe" and lean into it.
- For the "Mole" tension: New World or Infernal Affairs.
- For the Boston grit: Mystic River or The Friends of Eddie Coyle (a 70s classic that influenced everyone).
- For the psychological toll: Donnie Brasco.
- For the grand scale: Heat or L.A. Confidential.
Most of these films are available on major streaming platforms or for digital rental. If you’ve never seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle, start there. It’s older, but it’s the most authentic look at the Boston underworld ever put to film. Robert Mitchum is incredible as a low-level gunrunner just trying to avoid more jail time. It’s not flashy, but it’s real.
The real key to enjoying these movies is to stop looking for a "twist." The best crime films aren't about the surprise at the end; they're about the slow, inevitable car crash that you can't look away from. You know how it has to end. You just want to see how much damage is done before the credits roll.
Next Steps for the Hardcore Fan
If you've exhausted the movies, it’s time to move to prestige television. Giri/Haji on Netflix is a brilliant, underrated cross-cultural crime drama that moves between London and Tokyo. It captures that same sense of divided loyalty and familial duty. Or, if you want something that feels like the "street level" version of the Costello crew, watch The Wire.
Stop searching for "cop movies" and start searching for "identity thrillers." That’s where the real gold is buried. Go find The Friends of Eddie Coyle first—it’s the secret ingredient to understanding where the whole Boston crime genre started.