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Movies like The Hot Spot

Key Features:
Neo-noir, Small town, Drifter, Bank robbery, Femme fatale, Infidelity, Betrayal, Murder, Temptation, Greed, Moral ambiguity, Mystery, Crime, Deception
Tone:
serious, suspense-driven, gritty
Target Audience:
Noir fans, Crime thriller enthusiasts, Lovers of classic cinema, Viewers interested in morally complex characters
Emotional Arc:
Intrigue → Suspicion → Betrayal

The Hot Spot

1990-10-12
The Hot Spot Poster - Find Similar Movies

Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities — and the local women — after he robs a bank.

Genres
Romance, Crime, Thriller
Cast
Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, William Sadler, Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin, Leon Rippy, Jack Nance, Virgil Frye
Crew
Dennis Hopper, Charles Williams, Nona Tyson
Rating
6.2(289 votes)
The Hot SpotThe Hot Spot
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In a Lonely Place
7.6

A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.



Swelter
Swelter(2014)
5.062

Ten years after their casino heist, four escaped convicts trace their former partner to a desert town, where he is now a lawman with no memory of his criminal past.



High Plains Drifter

A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.



The Killing
7.649

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.



U Turn
U Turn(1997)
6.6

When a desperate man’s car breaks down in a bizarre desert town while evading vengeful bookies, he becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle. Caught between a married couple, he’s faced with deadly contracts to kill them both.



The Postman Always Rings Twice

The sensuous wife of a lunch wagon proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordidly steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.



The Town
The Town(2010)
7.2

Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.



Femme Fatale
6.1

A $10-million diamond rip-off, a stolen identity, a new life married to a diplomat. Laure Ash has risked big, won big. But then a tabloid shutterbug snaps her picture in Paris, and suddenly, enemies from Laure's secret past know who and where she is. And they all want their share of the diamond heist. Or her life. Or both.



The Killers
6.9

A hit man and his partner try to find out why their latest victim, a former race-car driver, did not try to get away.



Crime of Passion
6.1

Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.



Body Heat
Body Heat(1981)
7

During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.



Insomnia
Insomnia(2002)
6.955

Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.



Sharky's Machine
6.1

Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new 'machine' gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.



The Salton Sea
6.547

After the murder of his beloved wife, a man in search of redemption is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey, he befriends slacker Jimmy "The Finn", becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette from her own demons, and gets entangled in a web of deceit full of unexpected twists and turns.



The Big Combo
7

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond vies to bring a clever, well connected, and sadistic gangster to justice all the while obsessing over the gangster's girlfriend.



Charley Varrick
7.3

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.



Cut Bank
Cut Bank(2014)
5.75

25-year-old Dwayne McLaren, a former athlete turned auto mechanic, dreams of getting out of tiny Cut Bank, Montana the coldest town in America. But his effort to do so sets in motion a deadly series of events that change his life and the life of the town forever...



Hot Seat
Hot Seat(2022)
5.124

An ex-hacker is forced to break into high-level banking institutions, another man must try to penetrate the booby-trapped building to get the young man off the hot seat.



The Last Seduction
6.765

A devious femme fatale steals her husband’s drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.



Suddenly
Suddenly(1954)
6.3

The tranquility of a small town is marred only by sheriff Tod Shaw's unsuccessful courtship of widow Ellen Benson, a pacifist who can't abide guns and those who use them. But violence descends on Ellen's household willy-nilly when the U.S. President passes through town... and slightly psycho hired assassin John Baron finds the Benson home ideal for an ambush.



Kill Me Again
6.051

After Faye and her psychotic boyfriend, Vince, successfully rob a mob courier, Faye decides to abscond with the loot. She heads to Reno, where she hires feckless private investigator Jack Andrews to help fake her death. He pulls the scheme off and sets up Faye with a new identity, only to have her skip out on him without paying. Jack follows her to Vegas and learns he's not the only one after her. Vince has discovered that she's still alive.



Original Sin
6.1

A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.



Tokyo Drifter
7.1

After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.



The Fugitive Kind
6.8

Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.



The Minus Man
5.37

When the quiet and amiable Vann Siegert drifts into town, no one suspects the evil that lies beneath the surface. Despite his easy charm, Vann is merely a reflection of what those he encounters want him to be. Soon, as locals start to disappear, it becomes clear that an eerie subtraction is at work in the sleepy hamlet.



Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead

Five different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.



Armored Car Robbery
6.515

While executing an armored car heist in Los Angeles, icy crook Dave Purvis shoots policeman Lt. Phillips before he and his cronies make off with the loot. Thinking he got away scot-free, Purvis collects his money-crazy mistress, Yvonne, then disposes of his partners and heads out of town. What Purvis doesn't know is that Phillips' partner, tough-as-nails Lt. Cordell, is wise to the criminal's plans and is closing in on his prey.



Flashpoint
6.2

Two Texas border guards find a jeep buried in the desert, with a skeleton, a scoped rifle, and a box with $800,000 in cash. Before they decide whether to keep the money or report it, they privately investigate the clues and unravel a decades old mystery.



Bandits
Bandits(2001)
6.3

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.



Safe Haven
7.234

A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.



Small Town Killers
5.634

The two tradesmen Ib and Edward are tired of their lifeless marriages and dream of living the good life from the stash of money they've earned moonlighting for years. After a huge fight with their wives the two men get drunk and hire a Russian contract killer to do a hit on their spouses. But they have badly underestimated their wives, and this becomes the start of an absurd journey where Ib and Edward to their own horror end at the top of a kill list.



Boiling Point
4.94

Red is an aging scam-artist who's just been released from prison together with Ronnie, a young and not-so-bright hoodlum who is easily manipulated. Their new business is to organize fake-money sales and then kill the buyer to take his money; but when Ronnie kills an undercover secret service agent, his partner Jimmy Mercer vows revenge and is given one week to catch the killers before being transferred.



Sea of Love
6.6

Seen-it-all New York detective Frank Keller is unsettled - he has done twenty years on the force and could retire, and he hasn't come to terms with his wife leaving him for a colleague. Joining up with an officer from another part of town to investigate a series of murders linked by the lonely hearts columns he finds he is getting seriously and possibly dangerously involved with Helen, one of the main suspects.



The Grifters
6.5

A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.



Klute
Klute(1971)
6.733

A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.



Inferno
Inferno(1999)
6.1

Eddie Lomax is a drifter who has been in a suicidal funk since the death of his close friend Johnny. Riding his motorcycle into a small desert town where Johnny once lived, Lomax is confronted by a gang of toughs, who beat him and steal his bike. However, Lomax is not a man to take an injustice lying down, and soon he begins exacting a violent revenge on the men who stole his motorcycle, with local handyman Jubal Early lending a hand and several area ladies offering aid and comfort.



No Good Deed
5.4

While doing a friend a favor and searching for a runaway teenager, a police detective stumbles upon a bizarre band of criminals about to pull off a bank robbery.



Small Town Crime
6.366

Mike Kendall, a disgraced ex-cop, is fighting a losing battle with the bottle. When he finds a woman left for dead at the side of a road, Kendall turns private eye to track down her killers, taking one last shot at redemption.



Whirlpool
Whirlpool(1950)
6.4

The wife of a psychoanalyst falls prey to a devious quack hypnotist when he discovers she is an habitual shoplifter. Then one of his previous patients now being treated by the real doctor is found murdered, with her still at the scene, and suspicion points only one way.



$
$(1971)
6.052

A bank security expert plots with a call girl to rob the safety deposit boxes of three very different criminals from a high-tech bank in Hamburg.



Dark Country
5.385

Two honeymooners rescue a mysterious car crash survivor in the Las Vegas desert. But their decision to save the man becomes increasingly regrettable when he turns on them, forcing the newlyweds to do the unthinkable.



The Quick and the Dead

A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.



Heat
Heat(1995)
7.922

Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.



Red Rock West
6.742

When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialize in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money, and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.



Small Crimes
5.383

A disgraced former cop, fresh off a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder, returns home looking for redemption but winds up trapped in the mess he left behind.



Clay Pigeons
6.179

Clay is a young man in a small town who witnesses his friend, Earl, kill himself because of the ongoing affair that Clay was having with the man's wife, Amanda. Feeling guilty, Clay now resists the widow when she presses him to continue with the affair. Clay unknowingly befriends a serial killer named Lester Long who murders the widow in an attempt to "help" his "fishing buddy."



Erótica
Erótica(1979)
6.4

Two men commit a robbery. One is caught but the other escapes. He ends his escape on a lonely and deserted beach where he meets a beautiful woman named Erótica. They start a passionate love affair that is interrupted when the other con man escapes from prison and joins them. A sexual/sentimental love triangle begins leading to a violent confrontation between the two men.



Copshop
Copshop(2021)
6.3

On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station. However, when the hit man turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.



Don McKay
Don McKay(2009)
4.9

Everything appears off-kilter when a man returns to his hometown after 25 years to visit his former lover.



The Assignment
5.517

Ace assassin Frank Kitchen is double crossed by gangsters and falls into the hands of rogue surgeon known as The Doctor who turns him into a woman. The hitman, now a hitwoman, sets out for revenge, aided by a nurse named Johnnie who also has secrets.



Tequila Sunrise
6.053

In a seaside California town, best friends Mac and Nick are on opposite sides of the law. Mac is a former drug dealer trying to clean up his act, while Nick is a high-profile detective trying to take down a Mexican drug lord named Carlos. Soon Nick's loyalties are put to the test when he begins an affair with restaurateur Jo Ann -- a love interest of Mac's -- unwittingly leading his friend into a police-orchestrated trap.



Deadlock
Deadlock(1970)
6.17

After pulling off a bank robbery two bandits meet in a deserted mining town to divide their loot but an old miner tries to steal it from them.



The Breaking Point
7.1

A fisherman with money problems hires out his boat to transport criminals.



The Bikeriders
6.693

After a chance encounter, headstrong Kathy is drawn to Benny, member of Midwestern motorcycle club the Vandals. As the club transforms into a dangerous underworld of violence, Benny must choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.



Wrong Place
4.304

A methamphetamine cook hunts down the former police chief of a small town in order to silence him before he can deliver eyewitness testimony against his family, but ultimately finds himself up against more than he had bargained for.



The Asphalt Jungle
7.488

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.



The Stunt Man
6.6

A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.



Where Danger Lives
6.4

A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the death of her husband. They head for Mexico trying to outrun the law.



The Square
6.1

Ray, a construction worker trapped in an unhappy marriage, pursues an affair with his neighbor, Carla. Carla's husband, Greg, is a mobster who keeps large sums of drug money in their home. With this in mind, Carla comes up with a plan: She and Ray will steal Greg's money, burn down her house, convince Greg the money was lost in the fire and then run away together. Carla's scheme, however, doesn't go off as planned.



Atlantic City
6.8

In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.



Stakeout
Stakeout(1987)
6.5

Two detectives observe an escaped convict's ex-girlfriend, but complications set in when one of them falls for her.



Two Moon Junction

A young Southern débutante temporarily abandons her posh lifestyle and upcoming, semi-arranged marriage to have a lustful and erotic fling with a rugged drifter who works at a local carnival.



No Man's Land
5.9

A rookie cop goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of car thieves led by smooth and charming Ted. The rookie becomes too involved and starts to enjoy the thrill and lifestyle of the game, and becomes romanticly involved with the leaders sister.



The Hot Rock
6.5

Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...



Killing Them Softly

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.



The Train Robbers
6.3

A gunhand named Lane is hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe, to find gold stolen by her husband so that she may return it and start fresh.



Blood Simple
7.251

The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.



The American
5.968

Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, assassin Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him.



Palmetto
Palmetto(1998)
5.9

After spending two years in prison, framed for accepting a bribe, former newspaper reporter Harry Barber is released, bitter and disillusioned. Feeling like he were owed something for his loss of time, he proceeds to get himself involved in a simple kidnapping plot which turns out to be more complex than he imagined.



Phoenix
Phoenix(1998)
5.324

Gambling fever -- along with a brutal bookie -- leads three crooked cops into a double-dealing scheme that lands them in hot water way over their heads.



The Virtuoso
5.887

Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.



After the Sunset
6.2

An FBI agent is suspicious of two master thieves, quietly enjoying their retirement near what may - or may not - be the biggest score of their careers.



Innocents with Dirty Hands

Saint Tropez. Julie Wormser and her lover, writer and neighbour Jeff Marle, plan the murder of her wealthy husband Louis, an alcoholic impotent. She hits him, and leaves the rest of the task to Jeff. Julie finds herself alone the following day, and becomes therefore the prime suspect. Where is Louis' body? Where is Jeff? Is there any secret beyond a door?



Gasoline Alley
5

A man implicated in the triple homicide of three Hollywood starlets begins his own investigation. Needing assistance, he enlists the two detectives on his tail in order to expose a conspiracy more explosive than any of them imagined.



Kiss Me Deadly
7.2

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.



No Mercy
No Mercy(1986)
5.845

An unconventional undercover Chicago cop and his partner are recruited to commit the murder of a New Orleans criminal kingpin.



Wild Side
Wild Side(1996)
5.7

A bank accountant who moonlights as a high-priced call girl becomes embroiled in the lives of a money launderer, his seductive wife, and his bodyguard.



The Burned Barns
6.5

The body of a young woman is discovered near a farm. The judge, Larcher is in charge and thinks that the farmers have something to do with the murder.



Desert Saints
5.664

Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.



The Hired Hand
6.039

Harry Collings returns home to his farm after drifting with his friend, Arch. His wife, who had given up on him, reluctantly allows him to stay, and soon believes that all will be well again. But then Harry has to make a difficult decision regarding his loyalties and priorities.



White Sands
5.9

A small southwestern town sheriff finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation.



The Late Show
6.2

Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.



Human Desire
6.7

A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in a sordid affair with a co-worker's wife and murder. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, in 1997.



The Naked Kiss
7

A former prostitute works to create a new life for herself in a small town, but a shocking discovery could threaten everything.



Wedlock
Wedlock(1991)
5.8

A male prison escapee heads for his hidden loot, electronically attached to a female prisoner.



The Lookout
6.7

Chris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.



Five Corners
5.767

A psychotic young man returns to his old neighborhood after release from prison. He seeks out the woman he previously tried to rape and the man who protected her, with twisted ideas of love for her and hate for him.



The Hitcher
6.961

On a stormy night, young Jim, who transports a luxury car from Chicago to California to deliver it to its owner, feeling tired and sleepy, picks up a mysterious hitchhiker, who has appeared out of nowhere, thinking that a good conversation will help him not to fall asleep. He will have enough time to deeply regret such an unmeditated decision.



The Good Thief
6.072

An aging gambler on a losing streak attempts to rob a casino in Monte Carlo. But someone's already tipped off the cops before he even makes a move.



Violent Saturday
6.7

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.



The Blackout
5.775

A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together one wild night in Miami years earlier which remains a drug-induced blur, and soon finds out that some questions about his past are best left unanswered.



Pickup on South Street

In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.



99 River Street
6.8

A former boxer turned taxi driver earns the scorn of his nagging wife and gets mixed up with jewel thieves.



Dark Places
5.929

A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.



The Wild Goose Lake
6.65

A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse.



Bus Stop
Bus Stop(1956)
6.1

Cowboys Beauregard Decker and Virgil Blessing attend a rodeo in Phoenix, where Decker falls in love with beautiful cafe singer Cherie. He wants to take Cherie back to his native Montana and marry her, but she dreams of traveling to Hollywood and becoming famous. When she resists his advances, Decker forces Cherie onto the bus back to Montana with him, but, when the bus makes an unscheduled stop due to bad weather, the tables are turned.



Breathless
5.8

Jesse, a small-time criminal, high-tails it to Los Angeles to rendezvous with a French exchange student. Stealing a car and accidentally killing a highway patrolman, he becomes the most wanted fugitive in L.A.



Nadine
Nadine(1987)
5.448

Hairdresser Nadine Hightower wants to retrieve the risqué photos she once posed for, but when she visits the photographer at his office, he's murdered by an intruder. Nadine talks her estranged husband, Vernon, into going along when she returns to the office, where they stumble across plans for a less than legal construction project. But when Vernon tries to turn the documents into a cash windfall, he and Nadine are pursued by goons with guns.



The Driftless Area
5.1

Pierre Hunter, a bartender with unyielding optimism, returns to his tiny hometown after his parents' death. When he falls for the enigmatic Stella, Pierre is unknowingly pulled into a cat-and-mouse game that involves a duffel bag full of cash, a haphazard yet determined criminal, and a mystery that will determine all of their fates. A contemporary fable about the ways we struggle to control time and fate in a possibly predetermined universe.

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