The Top 50 British Crime Movies Ranked - Part Five

The Top 50 Best British Crime Movies – Part 5:

Counting down 10 to the number one spot

10 – Brighton Rock (1948)

Graham Greene’s Shocking Thriller of the RAZOR GANGS!

Crime | Drama | Thriller

IMDb: 7.3

RT Audience: 8.5

Letterboxd: 7.48

7.76 /10

DIRECTED BY: John Boulting

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as “Pinkie” – the film’s main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.

9 – The Gentlemen (2019)

Criminal. Class.

Crime | Action | Comedy

IMDb: 7.8

RT Audience: 8.4

Letterboxd: 7.22

7.81 /10

DIRECTED BY: Guy Ritchie

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

American expat Mickey Pearson has built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

8 – Eastern Promises (2007)

Every sin leaves a mark.

Thriller | Crime | Mystery

IMDb: 7.6

RT Audience: 8.3

Letterboxd: 7.56

7.82 /10

DIRECTED BY: David Cronenberg

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

The film tells the story of Anna (Naomi Watts), a Russian-British midwife who delivers the baby of a drug-addicted 14-year old Russian prostitute who dies in childbirth. After Anna learns that the teen was forced into prostitution by the Russian Mafia in London, the leader of the Russian gangsters (Armin Mueller-Stahl) threatens the baby, and Anna is warned off by a strong-arm man (Viggo Mortensen).

7 – The Long Good Friday (1980)

Who lit the fuse that tore Harold’s world apart?

Crime | Drama | Mystery

IMDb: 7.6

RT Audience: 8.9

Letterboxd: 7.76

8.09 /10

DIRECTED BY: John Mackenzie

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

6 – Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)

He’s in all of us.

Crime | Drama | Thriller

IMDb: 7.6

RT Audience: 9.1

Letterboxd: 7.62

8.11 /10

DIRECTED BY: Shane Meadows

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

The story details the return of Richard to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire, in the Peak District, England, after serving as a paratrooper in the British Army. Richard and his younger, mentally impaired brother, Anthony, camp at an abandoned farm near the town. Flashbacks reveal Anthony’s abuse by a group of drug dealers in the town; Richard vows to take revenge.

5 – Scum (1979)

In Borstal, Survival Rules

Crime | Drama

IMDb: 7.6

RT Audience: 9.1

Letterboxd: 7.76

8.15 /10

DIRECTED BY: Alan Clarke

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

The film tells the story of a young offender named Carlin as he arrives at the institution and his rise through violence and self-protection to the top of the inmates’ pecking order, purely as a tool to survive. Beyond Carlin’s individual storyline, the film also serves as an indictment of the borstal system’s flaws with no attempt at rehabilitation. The warders and convicts alike are brutalised by the system. The film’s controversy arose over its graphic depiction of racism, extreme violence, rape, suicide, many fights and very strong language

4 – This Is England (2006)

Run with the crowd, stand alone, you decide.

Crime | Drama

IMDb: 7.7

RT Audience: 9.0

Letterboxd: 7.84

8.18 /10

DIRECTED BY: Shane Meadows

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who lost his father in the Falklands War, earns the respect of skinheads when he stand up to their teasing. He becomes part of the gang and enjoys hanging out with his new friends. Trouble starts with the return of Combo (Stephen Graham), a racist ex-convict. With the gang divided into two factions, Shaun sides with Combo and, unfortunately, finds in him a father figure.

3 – In Bruges (2008)

Shoot first. Sightsee later.

Comedy | Crime | Drama

IMDb: 7.9

RT Audience: 8.7

Letterboxd: 8.00

8.20 /10

DIRECTED BY: Martin McDonagh

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

After a particularly difficult job, hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) head to Belgium to hide out until things cool down. Ray hates the medieval city they land in, but Ken finds its beauty and peacefulness enchanting. Their experiences become increasingly surreal and possibly life-changing as they encounter tourists, locals, an American dwarf and a potential romance for Ray.

2 – Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

A Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.

Comedy | Crime

IMDb: 8.2

RT Audience: 9.3

Letterboxd: 7.64

8.38 /10

DIRECTED BY: Guy Ritchie

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

Eddy (Nick Moran) convinces three friends to pool funds for a high-stakes poker game against local crime boss Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty). Harry cheats and Eddy loses, giving him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds or hand over his father’s pub. Desperate, Eddy and his friends wait for their neighbors to rob some drug dealers, then rob the robbers in turn. After both thefts, the number of interested criminal parties increases, with the four friends in dangerously over their heads.

1 – Snatch (2000)

Stealin’ stones and breakin’ bones.

Comedy | Crime

IMDb: 8.2

RT Audience: 9.3

Letterboxd: 7.80

8.43 /10

DIRECTED BY: Guy Ritchie

TOP BILLED CAST:

SYNOPSIS:

Illegal boxing promoter Turkish (Jason Statham) convinces gangster Brick Top (Alan Ford) to offer bets on bare-knuckle boxer Mickey (Brad Pitt) at his bookie business. When Mickey does not throw his first fight as agreed, an infuriated Brick Top demands another match. Meanwhile, gangster Frankie Four Fingers (Benicio del Toro) comes to place a bet for a friend with Brick Top’s bookies, as multiple criminals converge on a stolen diamond that Frankie has come to London to sell.

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