Movies Like Hotline Miami: Ranked

I've looked at various forums, discussions on Steam and lists from blogs, sites or whatever and listed all the suggestions (and added some of my own). I've been watching them all and ranking them on how much Hotline-Miami-Like they are (considering both games) in terms of setting, story, storytelling and action.
This is not about masked slasher or generic action movies, Hotline Miami goes way deeper than that.

And of couse, this is biased by my personal understanding, so If you think i missed one or disagree with any ranking, please share your toughts in the comments.
I will continue to update this as i watch more movies suggested in the comments when i can (and possibly change some rankings too).

Duration: 1h 40min
Metascore: 79

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A stunt driver who does some shady gigs on the side ends up in trouble with the mafia.

How it relates:
If Hotline Miami 1 was a movie, this is it. This movie relates in every single aspect, the protagonist is literally jacket, it was a clear inspiration for the game, the devs even mention it.

Trivia:
There's an easter egg of this movie in Hotline Miami 1

(There are currently 5 movies)
Duration: 1h 41min
Metascore: 68

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
John Wick is a former hitman for the russian mob who tries to leave his criminal life behind and live a peaceful life, but the criminal underworld keeps dragging him back.

How it relates:
This one is pretty obvious but, the entire franchise has Hotline Miami written all over it. The setting, the story, the action, often color scheme and soundtrack too. Watching these movies feels just like playing Hotline Miami.

Trivia:
Jacket meets John Wick in Payday 2.
In John Wick 4 there's a whole scene that looks like a Hotline Miami gameplay.

Duration: 1h 53min
Metascore: 86

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
After being forced to work for a crime boss, a young driver finds himself involved in a heist destined to fail.

How it relates:
Young boy forced to do crime work, awesome action scenes, big importance to soundtrack and a story that is like a bomb just waiting blow up. The protagonist is heavily relatable to Richter and the Writer, while the crew also gives some fans vibes.

Duration: 1h 44min / 1h 47min
Metascore: 55 / 67

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
These two are pretty much the same movie, one is newer the other is older, both are equally good. Different criminal groups are trying to get a big diamond, they all end up in a crossfire and everything goes to ♥♥♥♥. A great combination of comedy, cleaverness and action.

How it relates:
The crossfire between some lower criminals, high mafia and normal people who got dragged into this, all descending into chaos. And of course, some good action. Might wanna watch both, if you do, one of them will feel like the Biker post-game sequence in HLM 1.

Duration: 2h 34min
Metascore: 95

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
The lives of two mafia hitmen, a boxer, a mafia lord and his wife, and a couple of bandits intertwine in four stories of violence and redemption.

How it relates:
Crime underworld, crossed stories between the mafia, lower criminals and some randos, some unhappy endings, action, the storytelling is kinda similar too.

Duration: 5 Seasons, 62 episodes, around 40min per episode, one spin-off movie
Metascore: 87

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to secure his family's future.

How it relates:
I haven't seen anyone pointing this out as similar to Hotline Miami and i don't know why, so i'll give it 4 roosters instead of 5 to make up for my bias. This is one of the first shows that comes to my mind in this topic. Personally i think this story and maybe the spin-offs too could SO EASILY fit within Hotline Miami universe. A simple teacher falls into the world of organized crime and digs his dirty way up in the mafia power scale, lots of action, tension, excitement and chaos. The way the story goes, the setting and the characters are all so much like Hotline Miami. I could easily picture Walter White hallucinating Richard asking him "For whom are you doing this?".

Original Korean title: Oldeuboi
Duration: 2h
Metascore: 78

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, and discovers that he has 5 days to find his kidnapper.

How it relates:
This was a hot one in the Hotline-Miami-Like topic. At the same time it shares so many features with Hotline Miami, the resemblance does grow weaker in the end as it takes another mood, but overall it's right on point. A normal man who gets dragged into extreme violence, there are some nice punching and melee action scenes and the story only goes downwards just the way we like it.

Duration: 2h 50min
Metascore: 65

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
In Miami in 1980, a Cuban refugee starts to make a living off a drug cartel.

How it relates:
Well it is relatable, it's the crime underworld in Miami afterall, the setting is in check, story flow is similar and there's some action. It's just only focused on the mafia, there's nothing that relates to jacket, the fans, pardo or the writter. Still i think it's worth 4 roosters.

Trivia:
Jacket meets Tony in Payday 2.

Duration: 1h 54min
Metascore: 94

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A mentally unstable war veteran works nights as a cabbie in New York City, where the decadence and scorn he sees every night fuels his desires for violence.

How it relates:
There's little action but the whole story of a normal man (and ex-military) descending into crazy violence while some politics happen in the background does give some Hotline Miami vibes.

Duration: 2h 14min
Metascore: 53

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
After some marriage problems and a very weird meeting, a Jazz musician slowly goes insane and ends up in jail, after which things get even crazier.

How it relates:
A lot of people pointed this movie as similar to Hotline Miami, personally i don't think it's very relatable and i think it lacks some features, but i still see why many have made this connection. It's mostly about the crazy storytelling, the entire movie feels like those Richard and Beard encounters mixed with The Butcher sequences. It has little action but is one of those movies that leaves you with more questions than answers. So i'll give it one extra rooster to make up for my bias.

Duration: 1h 36min
Metascore: 51

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A cyborg-super-soldier-man seeks revenge on a mafia-lord-super-villain with super powers and we see it all in first person.

How it relates:
This one is mostly about the action that pretty much doesn't stop, it's like a sequence of Hotline Miami levels in first person. The story is kinda cartoonish, there's some sci-fi, it's very exciting and funny, but it touches on some similar themes as HLM and gets serious some times.

Trivia:
Jacket meets Jimmy in Payday 2.

Duration: 1h 49min
Metascore: 45

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
Different criminals, hired killers and some badass cops are all after the same guy, they all end up in a crossfire and everything goes to ♥♥♥♥.

How it relates:
Same reasons as Snatch and Pulp Fiction but it's a completely different story and storytelling. Criminals, mafia and cops in a crossfire. There's plenty of action, some comedy and some drama, descent into chaos and people going insane.

Duration: 2h 2min
Metascore: 92

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
Violence and chaos erupt when a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars worth of stolen goods near the Rio Grande.

How it relates:
While it is a slow movie, the setting is slightly different, and there is no soundtrack at all, the story is so fckn ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ like Hotline Miami. There's some action too but this story makes you feel the same way HLM's story makes you feel. I'd give it 5 roosters just for the story but it does lack some features to be more relatable.

Duration: 1h 30min
Metascore: 78

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
After the murderer of his parents is released from jail, Dwight feels a need to take revenge. Proving to be an amateur killer, he finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his relatives.

How it relates:
There's some relation in the kind of story it is, a simpleton falls into a cycle of violence that only leads to more violence. There's an ok amount of action but could share more features.

Duration: 1h 33min
Metascore: 44

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risk for Elliot, a down-on-his-luck salesman. The game promises ever-increasing rewards for completing tasks, each more sinister than the last.

How it relates:
A guy receiving misterious phone calls telling him to do things and everything slowly turns into absolute chaos.

Duration: 1h 49min
Metascore: 73

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
After an unfortunate event, a citizen, a detective and a murderer are caught in a spiral of lies and violence, while confronting their own inner psyches.

How it relates:
This movie was mentioned some times, it does have some Hotline-Miami-ness to it in terms of story, but i think i lacks more than it relates, some cool action happens too. Well, if it wasn't on this list i wouldn't even think of it, but if you watch it with this mindset it may have some resemblance.

Duration: 2h 3min
Metascore: 78

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
An experienced safe-cracker is trying to pull off one last big heist for the mob before he can retire.

How it relates:
It has some relation, however this movie is really slow and calm with a few moments of excitement. There's very little action, mostly towards the end and that's when the mood gets more Hotline-Miami-ish, but that's about it.

Duration: 1h 57min
Metascore: 76

Spoiler-Free synopsis:
A thief desperate to find work, falls into the world of crime-journalism and he's willing to go as far as it's needed to get some good footage.

How it relates:
There's little action, mostly it's the post-action. Personally i think it lacks some Hotline Miami features but we could say it has some resemblance on the way the story goes, it only gets worse and eventually resembles a specific sub-plot of the second game.

The Guest (2014)
This one was mentioned more than once but I don't think it is relatable at all. It's just a generic action/slasher movie, it doesn't relate in the setting, story or action style. It's is a super-soldier guy on the loose and he kills some random dudes. One could argue that because he is an ex-military, kills people, 50 blessing, etc, but than we could throw pretty much any Stallone movie in here with that logic. In this case, I think i'm right and everyone else is wrong and i'm going to die on this hill.
- However this movie does share one track with Hotline Miami as pointed in the comments.







Hobo With a Shotgun (2011)
This movie is unbeliavably dumber than it sounds. Also saw it being mentioned more than once (with some disagreeing replies) and i can't fathom what exactly makes someone think of this when Hotline Miami is mentioned. It's about a hobo that goes into a city somehow worse than Gotham with cartoonish villains, grabs a shotgun and starts killing them. The action isn't good, the setting and story aren't relatable even considering we have a hobo going nuts and killing some crime lords. This is one of those purposely trash movies that make you cringe and laugh at the same time, kinda like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. Worth the watch for some laughs but don't think you'll get any Hotline Miami here (unless we're talking about those community-made meme campaigns).

- Death Sentence (2007)
- Enter the Void (2009)
- The Loner (1987)
- Only God Forgives (2013)
- The Raid (2011)
- Point Break (1991)
- Boondock Saints (1999)
- The Big Heist (2001)
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

I'll need to watch again:
- Polar (2019)
- Fight Club (1999)
- First Blood (1982)
- Kill Bill (2003)

Series:
- Cocaine Cowboys (2006) (documentary)
- Miami Vice (tv show)
- Moonbeam City (tv show)

Suggestions from this comment section:
- To Live And Die In LA (1985)
- Green Elephant Calf (1999)
-^ First Blood (1982)
-^ Death Sentence (2007)
-^ Kill Bill (2003)
- Monkey Man (2024)
-^ Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
- Bad Bad Lieutenant (1992)
- You Were Never Really Here (2017)
- Brother (1997), Brother 2 (2000)