If you’re a fan of crime, and of movies about crime, then you’re likely someone who has been well served at the movies through most of your life. In recent years, though, these kinds of crime stories have become less common on the big screen, although they still pop up regularly on streaming.
When you go looking for great crime dramas that are worth watching, either for the first time or the hundredth, you can be content knowing that Max has a number of great movie options to choose from. We’ve pulled out three absolute classics of the genre that you should check out this month.
Blood Simple (1984)
The Coen brothers’ debut feature still ranks among their more impressive efforts and features a lineup of talent they would continue to work with for decades. As would be the case with many of the Coens’ early efforts, the movie is set in Texas and tells the story of a murder for hire that goes terribly wrong.
The brilliance of the Coens, in addition to their mastery of style and sharp writing, is that they understand that each of their characters has their own motivations and reasoning. No one is a plot puppet in any Coens movie, and that’s especially true in Blood Simple. This is a great film, one that is just as excellent as Fargo, and it has an absolutely chilling ending.
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
Elaine May only made four films as a director, but each one of those films is beloved today. Mike and Nicky tells the story of two friends, one of whom is convinced that someone is going to kill him. When he calls on his friend for support, he has no idea that his friend is in on the plot to have him murdered.
What ensues is equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking as the two friends bond with one another over the course of a single evening in Philadelphia. In its way, Mikey and Nicky is deeply upsetting, but the movie is also a chance to watch Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, two great actors, bounce off each other for more than an hour.
Se7en (1995)
A movie that has been memed into oblivion, Se7en holds up as one of the very best thrillers of its kind ever made. The movie follows a pair of detectives, one young and brash and the other on the verge of retirement, as they attempt to track down a serial killer who is murdering people whom he feels have violated one of the seven deadly sins.
The intricacies of the case are fascinating in and of themselves, but what really helped Se7en leave a lasting legacy was its explosive conclusion, which was shocking to those who saw it for the first time. Se7en announced David Fincher as a major directorial talent, and he has lived up to that hype ever since. If you want more, watch his 2023 movie The Killer, which reunited him with his Se7en screenwriter, Andrew Kevin Walker.
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