I wanted to take a moment to recommend some world crime flicks that you may have missed in 2023. As of this writing, these are all easily available through the main streaming services. I won’t sit here and tell you that these are the best world crime movies of the year because I haven’t seen them all and some high profile movies aren’t readily available yet. They are simply some of my favorites and I do recommend all of these films.

I still have a small list of titles that I want to get to for possible inclusion in this type of round-up. I think for sanity sake I’m going to cut off my watchlist on the last day of the 2023. If the titles on the top of my world crime watchlist merit the attention, I will create a part 2 post and link to it here. 

Radar Screen

Before we jump into that, let’s pull up the radar screen and mention some titles currently being monitored. I look forward to checking them all out once they hit streaming. Also, because I haven’t seen them yet, I’m guessing at their crime film status

First, here’s a couple 2023 titles that I’m waiting to hit streaming: Concrete Utopia (South Korea), Smugglers (South Korea), The Coldest City (China), Anatomy of a Fall (France), The Goldfinger (China/Hong Kong)

Second, Since the radar screen is up and running, here’s a 2024 release I’m looking forward to: Rob n Roll (Hong Kong)

Favorite 2023 World Crime Films

Bad City (2022)

Language: Japanese

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: Gangster, action, political intrigue, corruption

Letterboxd Rating: 3.3 / 5

My Rating: 4/5

Streaming: Hoopla, Prime

Synopsis: “When a corrupt businessman decides to run for mayor and starts eliminating opponents from the rival mafia, a former police captain serving time for murder is secretly released and put in charge of a special task force to arrest him.”

Japanese gangster films can be complex and the  plot of Bad City falls in that tradition. I mean, we’re not talking Battles Without Honor and Humanity levels of complexity here but there are still convoluted machinations that create a quicksand pull of shifting loyalties and motives across varying factions of police, government, gangsters, and business which all lead to unexpected temporary unions for the climax. And what a climax! These are brutal, brawling fight scenes with top notch action choreography. It’s a little overlong, especially as it’s all wrapping up, but this is still one of the better crime flicks of the year

Holy Spider (2022)

Language: Persian (Farsi)

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: Serial Killer, procedural, investigative, social critique

Letterboxd Rating: 3.6/5

My Rating: 4/5

Streaming: Netflix

Synopsis: “A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called “Spider Killer”, who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.”

Holy Spider isn’t a thrilling genre piece played for excitement but instead is a hard look at the death of sex workers on the margins of a society steeped in religious belief. This isn’t a whodunit and we see the man who is killing these women, his regular family life, and the great lengths he goes to in committing these acts. With the protagonist being a journalist, we have a detached view of the crimes and all the layers of society that they cut through. By the end Holy Spider is a full-throated howl of condemnation against a corrupt system. 

iNumber Number: Jozi Gold (2023)

Language: Zulu/Southern Sotho/Afrikaans

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: Undercover, action, righting social wrongs, Robin Hood style justice, heist

Letterboxd Rating: 2.75/5 (estimated)

My Rating: 3.5/5

Streaming: Netflix

Synopsis: “When an undercover cop is tasked with investigating a historic gold heist in Johannesburg, he’s forced to choose between his conscience and the law.”

This is a fun buddy cop, South African crime flick with a Michael Bay style and a good location shots that add to the story and show the city off.

The story is pretty tropey but cultural elements unique to South Africa elevate it. For example, you’ll see an angry police Captain telling off her rogue police detective subordinates in a clicking Zulu dialect. Or when our pair of cops get sent to the basement as a punishment to work with the fuck up squad which is comprised entirely of post-Apartheid white Afrikaans.

The camera is constantly in motion and swinging around. The story is a little overstuffed, and there are a couple of elements that I wonder about the politics of within the South African culture, but this was fun overall.

Iratta (2023)

Language: Malayalam

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: Procedural, whodunit, locked room, sins of the past

Letterboxd Rating: 3.5/5

My Rating: 4/5

Streaming: Netflix

Synopsis: “After a cop is found dead, a policeman’s investigation sparks a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past.”

During a crowded public event a shot rings out and a problematic and hated police officer is dead. The victim’s estranged twin brother, a well respected senior detective, is brought in to aid in the investigation. The area is locked down so everyone can be questioned. What the hell happened in that room?

Iratta starts off as a procedural then shifts into a character study of a bad man trying to change (and managing to do so, just a little, for just a bit), before coming back as a detective story, and finally locking all the little pieces into place, and delivering one final blow to the audience.

One of the questions at the heart of the story is can a man change? Can the sins of the father/past and lingering trauma be overcome? There are no tidy answers. 

Joju George does a wonderful job of subtly differentiating between the two brothers in the dual lead roles.

There is one movie that Iratta is being compared to but I won’t name it here because the comparison may be unfair and it also would lessen the effect of the final moments of the film with potential spoilers. 

The Murderer (2023)

Language: Thai

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: comedy, procedural, horror, non-linear

Letterboxd Rating: 3.3/5

My Rating: 3.5/5

Streaming: Netflix

Synopsis: “WITNESS INTERROGATIONS GONE WILD. WHAT THE HECK HAS HAPPENED?

After a series of deaths in a small provincial town, a determined detective attempts to uncover the killer — and British expat Earl is the prime suspect.”

A British expat goes home with his wife to spend some time with her family. A storm is coming and they want to help her family prepare for it. All hell breaks loose one night and a bunch of people are dead. Being the odd man out, Earl is the prime suspect.

The Murderer is a disjointed story told in a non-linear way. It opens in media reis in a horror movie tone with Earl in the dark, covered in blood, holding an axe. He’s confused and scared and we’re effectively dropped right into the middle of things. Then we jump back earlier in time. All of these moments are peppered with interrogation sequences conducted by a detective who isn’t as scary or smart as he thinks he is.

The Murderer is filled with scary moments, violent moments, suspenseful moments, and comedic and funny moments. Tonally it flutters all over the place with whiplash turns through comedy and horror, action and melodrama, slapstick and violence (often in the same scene). The Murderer is wrapped in a candy-colored exterior, featuring lush colors and bright visuals to counterbalance the violence on screen and highlight the comedy. 

Partway through, I thought that this reminded me of Tears of the Black Tiger (2000), a western that pinballs between serial, telo-novela melodrama and ultraviolence. Turns out this is by the same director!

Wingwomen (2023)

Language: French

Genre: Crime

Sub-genres: Comedy, hang-out, heist, buddy, action

Letterboxd Rating: 3.1/5

My Rating: 4.5/5

Streaming: Netflix

Synopsis: “Tired of life on the run, a pro thief decides to retire — but not before one easy last job with her partner in crime and a feisty new getaway driver.”

Wingwomen has fairly mixed reviews but I absolutely loved it. I think it’s being judged on what it isn’t. The story sets up certain action packed, genre thrills expectations that it mostly just doesn’t deliver on. Because it isn’t that kind of movie. This isn’t an action movie (tho there is action) and is only partly a heist movie (tho heists take place). This is a movie where a getaway driver is hired onto the team then never does any actual getaway driving.

Wingwomen is first and foremost a buddy film/hangout movie. It’s not about what these characters do. Because they are very good at their jobs the jobs are always finished and even when things go sideways, these characters always prevail. So the what they do part is covered. This is about who they are. What are they like in their downtime? What are their relationships with each other? It’s about their banter and their closeness and the absolute fun that they have together. If you aren’t ready to coast on those vibes, this won’t be for you. 

A story like Wingwomen lives and dies by the audience’s desire to hang out with these characters and the chemistry between the actors. The chemistry between the characters, especially Mélanie Laurent and Adèle Exarchopoulos, is off the charts.

Laurent’s direction here is gorgeous.

I am aware of this movies faults but its positive qualities far outweigh them. Let me make this clear, Wingwomen is the coolest and sexiest crime flick of the year and I would gladly take 4 more of these movies

Y’all can go to hell with the 3.1 Letterboxd average rating. I’ll be over here swooning for everyone involved.

Honorable Mentions (kind of)

As I was writing this two movies that I was going to include dropped from the streamers that I watched them on. This speaks to the fickle nature of streaming in general but specifically streaming content from other countries. If anything here or on your watchlist looks interesting, jump on it before it goes away. Especially Indian content. I gave each of these films a 4/5 rating.

Those two movies were:

Vaalvi (2023), a Marathi language crime comedy with a 3.6/5 rating on Letterboxd

“A man and the woman he’s having an affair with concoct an elaborate clockwork plan to kill the man’s wife so they can be together. When it comes time to execute the plan, Murphy’s Law kicks in. Mishaps after mishaps pile up in a farcical way in this darkly funny crime comedy.”

Viduthalai pt.1 (2023), a Tamil language crime, period procedural with a 3.9/5 rating on Letterboxd. Part 2 is due out in 2024. One of my favorite crime films of 2023.

“A young, naive, well intentioned police officer is enlisted as part of a team to capture the leader of a separatist group living in a mountainous region. He slowly becomes disillusioned with the police and their tactics and starts to sympathize with the so-called “terrorists”. He is conflicted by these opposing feelings.

Paired Recommendations

The Delinquents (2023, Spanish, Mubi) & Pacifiction (2022, French, Mubi)

I paired these together because they are both ostensibly crime films filmed in a Slow Cinema style. A kind of polarizing Slow Cinema crime double feature that some will vibe with and others will loathe with no middle ground

It might be best to briefly quote the Wiki definition: Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterized by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.

In the Delinquents, a bank employee does the math and comes up with a plan. He is surrounded by co-workers stuck in time, people who have worked at the bank for decades. If he walks out of the bank with hundreds of thousands of dollars, hides the money with a friend, does his couple of years of jail time, he will have made more money than working his entire life and the rest of his life would be freed up to pursue life however he wanted. And he does exactly that. Much of the movie is spent with his friend who holds the money for him.

The bank appears to be stuck in the 70’s and much of the movie feels unstuck in time. An investigator from The State shows up and questions everyone. This lends a slight procedural element to that section of the film but again, this isn’t a film with genre elements on its mind. Just the lives of two characters being lived in the aftermath of a financial crime.

The Delinquents is beautifully shot and I found the grounded, ordinary lives of the characters as they pass through the years fascinating. My Rating: 3.5/5

In Pacifiction, the character De Roller is a French official on the Island of Tahiti. He’s a man in the know. He’s plugged in with everyone on the island and all of its coming and goings. Until he isn’t. Strange things start to happen. Rumors are circulating. A submarine is off the shore. The geo-politics of the area may be changing. Strangers are showing up on the island that aren’t what they seem. All this plot description of the movie probably conveys more than actually happens.

What does happen is disorienting, atmospheric, and lushly captured. If you click with its wavelength, it’s a hypnotic, seductive, disorienting and charming movie. It’s a Vibes movie. My Rating: 4/5

Pathaan (2023, Hindi, Netflix) & Jawan (2023, Hindi, Netflix)

2023 was Shah Rukh Khan’s year. After some doubts about his career he came roaring back in 2023 with three movies. Two of them, Pathaan and Jawan, are mass entertainer action movies that perfectly showcase his star power while being fun thrill rides also. Pathaan is a spy thriller and Jawan is a crime thriller. I had fun with Pathaan but I loved Jawan. If you like action movies, India has some of the best in the world at the moment and if you want to see an international superstar that you may have been previously unaware of at the top of his game, SRK will dazzle you here. My Rating: Pathaan 3.5/5 & Jawan 4.5/5

Crime Adjacent

Project Wolf Hunting (2022) – Project Wolf Hunting is a South Korean Horror, action movie with some crime elements and criminal characters. It’s currently streaming on Hoopla and Hi-yah. It’s essentially Con Air on a ship, in the middle of the sea, with a monster. A specially designed cargo ship is transporting the worst prisoners. They escape. In the lower levels of the ship the lab results of a special project are also being transported. It escapes also. All hell breaks loose. This is a bloody, messy exercise in pure genre excess. 

It could use a cleaner set-up and not everything works but once the action kicks in who cares? Should become a cult horror classic down the road. My Rating: 4/5

Naga (2023) – Naga is an Arabic language film with crime, horror, and adventure elements that is currently streaming on Netflix.

Naga is about a young Saudi woman who goes out with her boyfriend to a party in the desert to do a little drugs and have some fun. Her very strict father has set a firm curfew for her. She’s convinced she can have fun and make it back in time. Spoiler alert: Things don’t go as planned. 

Naga is a One Crazy Night story filtered through a Saudi Arabian cultural landscape and perspective. A little overstuffed in a couple of places, especially in its final moments, and a couple of plot points that I didn’t quite get, but much of this is tense, chaotic, and energetic. Oh, and there’s a psycho camel in the middle portion! My Rating: 4/5

Jiggarthanda Double X (2023) – Jiggarthanda Double X is a Tamil language film that is hard to contain to one genre. One of the main characters is a gangster and there are certainly gangster story elements present, especially in the first half. It is currently on Netflix.

Jiggarthanda Double X is so multi-faceted and complex that I struggle to reduce it to just a few words here. But let me say this clearly, it is one of the best movies that I saw in 2023 and one of my favorites. It’s an action movie, a gangster movie, a drama, a cop movie, a western. It’s about corruption, land rights, politicians crushing the poor to take their land for real estate deals, and the power of art and cinema. 

A Clint Eastwood film loving gangster wants a movie made about his life. A disgraced police officer goes undercover as a film director as part of a plot to kill the gangster and get reinstated. Along the way, the detective will discover the power of cinema and become a real director and the gangster will discover his true potential as a leader of his people. This is just the tip of the iceberg and no simple synopsis will do this movie justice. 

While this becomes the spine of the movie, it doesn’t start there. We get the stories of not just the two primary players, but other players in the story and other satellite characters. We get their conflicts, rivals, aspirations, and factions. We see their backgrounds and motivations. At first, these elements of the story seem disparate. But this broader tapestry does coalesce into the central movie making story, which is richer for having all of that earlier context. 

Not only is this one of the best Indian movies of the year, it’s one of the best movies of the year period. My Rating: 5/5

Watchlist

These movies are the rest of my watchlist of world crime films from 2023. I hope to get to them soon. If enough of these warrant another piece, I’ll compile a part 2.

The Beasts (2022, Spanish, Mubi)

Devils (2023, Korean, Hoopla)

Hard Days (2023, Japanese, Netflix)

Hidden Blade (2023, Chinese, Prime, Hoopla)

Hurricane Season (2023, Spanish, Netflix)

Jailer (2023, Tamil, Prime)

Kill Boksoon (2023, Korean, Netflix)

Leo (2023, Tamil, Netflix)

Miss Shampoo (2023, Thai, Netflix)

The Squad: Home Run (2023, French, Hulu)

Ten Little Mistresses (2023, Tagalog, Prime)

Thinuvu (2023, Tamil, Netflix)