Movies like Léon: The Professional (1994)

Name: Léon: The Professional
Released: 1994

10 films to watch after Léon: The Professional, ranked by how well they match its tone — not just its genre.

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

1

Performance. (1970)

Fit 68%

Shares Crime and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

In underworld terms, Chas Devlin is a 'performer,' a gangster with a talent for violence and intimidation. Turner is a reclusive rock superstar. When Chas and Turner meet, their worlds collide—and the impact is both exotic and explosive.
2

Payback (1999)

Fit 68%

Shares Action, Drama and Crime with Léon: The Professional.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
3

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Fit 67%

Shares Drama and Crime with Léon: The Professional.

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
4

American Gangster (2007)

Fit 66%

Shares Drama and Crime with Léon: The Professional.

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.
5

Paid in Full (2002)

Fit 65%

Shares Action, Crime and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

Ace is an impressionable young man working for a dry cleaning business. His friend, drug dealer Mitch, goes to prison. In an unrelated incident, he finds some cocaine in a pants pocket. Soon, Ace finds himself dealing cocaine for Lulu. Via lucky breaks and solid interpersonal skills, Ace moves to the top of the Harlem drug world. Of course, unfaithful employees and/or rivals conspire to bring about Ace's fall.
6

Insomnia (1997)

Fit 62%

Shares Crime with Léon: The Professional.

Detectives Jonas and Erik are called to the midnight sun country of northern Norway to investigate a recent homicide, but their plan to arrest the killer goes awry, and Jonas mistakenly shoots Erik. The suspect escapes, and a frightened Jonas pins Erik's death on the fugitive. Jonas continues to pursue the killer as he seeks to protect himself; however, his mounting guilt and the omnipresent sun plague him with an insomnia that affects his sanity.
7

Dead Man Down (2013)

Fit 61%

Shares Action, Crime and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
8

House of Games (1987)

Fit 59%

Shares Crime and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
9

Clean (2022)

Fit 58%

Shares Crime, Action and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

Tormented by a past life, garbage man Clean attempts a life of quiet redemption. But when his good intentions mark him a target of a local crime boss, Clean is forced to reconcile with the violence of his past.
10

The Yards (2000)

Fit 54%

Shares Crime and Drama with Léon: The Professional.

In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.