A ruthless kingpin builds an empire on heroin, while a determined detective hunts him through a gritty, atmospheric city.
Epic and suspenseful. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy. Based on true events.
It stays inside its R, with moderate sex and nudity, and strong violence.
How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.
Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.
No. Brace yourself.
The Godfather (1972)Gritty · full attention · brutal violence · graphic goreA crime family saga unfolds with measured, gritty suspense, building an epic and melancholy atmosphere.
The Godfather Part II (1974)Gritty · full attention · brutal violence · graphic goreA crime family's epic saga unfolds with melancholy, as a son expands the empire his father built.
Peaky Blinders (2013)Gritty · full attention · brutal violence · graphic goreA gangster family in 1919 Birmingham rises through the criminal underworld with gritty, suspenseful ambition.
GoodFellas (1990)Dark satire · gritty · full attention · brutal violenceA Brooklyn kid's rise through the Mafia is a relentless, gritty, and darkly satirical crime epic.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)Melancholy · full attention · brutal violence · graphic goreA sprawling crime saga unfolds with melancholic grit as a gangster confronts his past in a slowly burning epic.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)Gritty · comfort watch · strong violence · emotionally devastatingAn innocent man's integrity and unquenchable hope shine through decades of gritty prison life.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)Dry wit · gritty · full attention · strong violenceA grieving mother's darkly comedic quest for justice ignites a small-town war with measured, gritty suspense.
Taxi Driver (1976)Gritty · full attention · brutal violence · graphic goreA disturbed cabbie navigates a bleak city, his measured descent into violence feeling intensely intimate.American Gangster is on our Mob and gangsters, Set in New York, True crime, True stories and Apple TV+ lists.
Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.
Lists with the same feel: Epics.
Say the mood. Five picks with where they stream, right here.
Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.
