Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "war-on-drugs"

1. Snowfall (2017–2023)

TV-MA | 44 min | Crime, Drama

A look at the early days of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles during the beginning of the 1980s.

Stars: Damson Idris, Carter Hudson, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Isaiah John

Votes: 30,158

2. Narcos (2015–2017)

TV-MA | 50 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A chronicled look at the criminal exploits of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, as well as the many other drug kingpins who plagued the country through the years.

Stars: Pedro Pascal, Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Alberto Ammann

Votes: 470,786

3. Sicario (2015)

R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal

Votes: 477,205 | Gross: $46.89M

4. Miami Vice (1984–1989)

TV-14 | 48 min | Action, Crime, Drama

-Resplendent with authentic 1980s music, fashion, and vibe, "Miami Vice" follows two undercover detectives and their extended team through the mean streets of Miami, Florida.

Stars: Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Saundra Santiago, Olivia Brown

Votes: 30,233

5. Triple Frontier (2019)

R | 125 min | Action, Thriller

Loyalties are tested when five friends and former special forces operatives reunite to take down a South American drug lord, unleashing a chain of unintended consequences.

Director: J.C. Chandor | Stars: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund

Votes: 146,138

6. Traffic (2000)

R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jacob Vargas

Votes: 219,836 | Gross: $124.12M

7. Clear and Present Danger (1994)

PG-13 | 141 min | Action, Crime, Drama

CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, Joaquim de Almeida

Votes: 108,014 | Gross: $122.19M

8. White Boy Rick (2018)

R | 111 min | Crime, Drama

The story of teenager Richard Wershe Jr., who became an undercover informant for the FBI during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.

Director: Yann Demange | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Votes: 43,171 | Gross: $24.01M

9. A Scanner Darkly (2006)

R | 100 min | Animation, Comedy, Crime

An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Rory Cochrane

Votes: 117,176 | Gross: $5.50M

10. Snitch (I) (2013)

PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

A father goes undercover for the DEA in order to free his son, who was imprisoned after being set up in a drug deal.

Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Jon Bernthal, Rafi Gavron

Votes: 92,804 | Gross: $42.93M

11. New Jack City (1991)

R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A crime lord ascends to power and becomes megalomaniacal while a maverick police detective vows to stop him.

Director: Mario Van Peebles | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock

Votes: 38,855 | Gross: $47.62M

12. The Substitute (1996)

R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama

Shale's Mercenary team is retired after a (not so) covert mission in Cuba. He becomes a substitute teacher at his teacher fiancee's Miami high school to get those behind kneecapping her. His team helps him.

Director: Robert Mandel | Stars: Tom Berenger, Raymond Cruz, William Forsythe, Luis Guzmán

Votes: 15,693 | Gross: $14.75M

13. Miss Bala (2019)

PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama

Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.

Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Thomas Dekker, Vivian Chan, Barbarella Pardo

Votes: 12,748 | Gross: $15.01M

14. Deep Cover (1992)

R | 107 min | Action, Crime, Thriller

A uniformed police officer is recruited by the DEA to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring looking to expand its operation.

Director: Bill Duke | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Lira Angel, René Assa

Votes: 14,073 | Gross: $16.64M

15. 13th (2016)

TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales

Votes: 37,691

16. The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

R | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Music

Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she has a tumultuous affair.

Director: Lee Daniels | Stars: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Natasha Lyonne

Votes: 14,683

17. Fire Birds (1990)

PG-13 | 85 min | Action, Adventure

Elite Apache helicopter pilots are tasked with destroying powerful armed drug cartels operating in South America.

Director: David Green | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Young, Bryan Kestner

Votes: 7,188 | Gross: $14.76M

18. The Last Narc (2020)

TV-MA | 46 min | Documentary, Crime

Former cartel insiders divulge the bone-chilling details behind the notorious murder and kidnapping of DEA Agent "Kiki" Camarena.

Stars: Hector Berrellez, Geneva Camarena, Ramón Lira, Jorge Godoy

Votes: 2,874

19. Narco Wars (2020–2022)

Documentary, Crime, History

Explore how opportunistic smuggling networks in Latin America turned into powerful and ruthless drug cartels with unprecedented power.

Stars: Ioan Grillo, Chris Feistl, Jeremy McDermott, Jim Shedd

Votes: 334

20. Psychomagic, A Healing Art (2019)

Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary

Director Alejandro Jodorowsky unveils his theory of trauma therapy.

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Star: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Votes: 696

21. Undercover (2021)

121 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

French customs seize seven tonnes of cannabis in the heart of the capital. A former narcotics infiltrator claims to be able to demonstrate the existence of state trafficking led by Jacques Billard, a high-ranking French police officer.

Director: Thierry de Peretti | Stars: Roschdy Zem, Pio Marmaï, Vincent Lindon, Julie Moulier

Votes: 803

22. Drug Lords (2018)

TV-MA | 42 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime

Documentary series examining drug cartels and kingpins from around the world.

Stars: Quinn Dalton, Razor Rizzotti, Jordan Lawson, Winter Dunn

Votes: 1,538

23. The House I Live In (2012)

Not Rated | 98 min | Documentary

From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America's criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy.

Director: Eugene Jarecki | Stars: Eugene Jarecki, David Simon, Shanequa Benitez, William Julius Wilson

Votes: 5,396 | Gross: $0.21M

24. Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (2021)

TV-MA | 89 min | Documentary, Crime, History

In the early 1980s, the crack epidemic tore through America’s inner cities like a tsunami, ravaging all in its wake.

Director: Stanley Nelson | Stars: Elizabeth Hinton, Nelson George, Alan Charles, Felipe Luciano

Votes: 3,875

25. The Marijuana Conspiracy (2020)

124 min | Drama

In 1972, young women looking for a fresh start in life endure isolated captivity in a true 98-day human experiment studying the effects of marijuana on females.

Director: Craig Pryce | Stars: Julia Sarah Stone, Hannah Vandenbygaart, Daniel DeSanto, Craig Burnatowski

Votes: 205

26. White Boy (2017)

TV-14 | 82 min | Documentary, Crime

In 1980's Detroit, 17 year-old Richard Wershe, Jr. allegedly ran a sophisticated inner-city drug dealing operation. Now, journalists, police, federal agents and hit men are speaking for the first time about the legend of "White Boy Rick."

Director: Shawn Rech | Stars: Richard Wershe Jr., Scott M. Burnstein, Dana Hathaway, Joe Swickard

Votes: 2,261

27. The Two Escobars (2010)

104 min | Documentary, Biography, Sport

A look at how the lives of Colombian footballer Andres Escobar and drug lord Pablo Escobar were intertwined, alongside the mysterious events that led to Andres' murder in 1994.

Directors: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist | Stars: María Ester Escobar, Francisco Maturana, Alexis García V., Jaime Gaviria Gómez

Votes: 2,203

28. Locked Up: A Mother's Rage (1991 TV Movie)

93 min | Drama

A recently-divorced woman with children meets a man who seems nice and gives her some cash to hold for him. What she doesn't know is that he is a drug dealer being watched by authorities. ... See full summary »

Director: Bethany Rooney | Stars: Cheryl Ladd, Jean Smart, Dean Norris, Ariana Richards

Votes: 291

29. Grass is Greener (2019)

TV-MA | 97 min | Documentary

A look at America's complicated relationship with cannabis.

Director: Fab 5 Freddy | Stars: Harry J. Anslinger, Louis Armstrong, B-Real, Asha Bandele

Votes: 1,550

30. Aswang (2019)

85 min | Documentary

When Rodrigo Duterte is voted president of the Philippines, he sets in motion a machinery of death to execute suspected drug dealers, users, and small time street criminals. ASWANG follows ... See full summary »

Director: Alyx Ayn G. Arumpac | Stars: Ciriaco Santiago III, Jomari, Orly Fernandez, Vincent Go

Votes: 513

31. Kings of Coke (2022)

83 min | Documentary, Crime, History

A ragtag gang of Irish bank robbers from Montreal rose to become one of North America's most feared criminal organizations.

Director: Julian Sher | Stars: Dan Burke, David McGee, Kathy Dobson, D'Arcy O'Connor

Votes: 163

32. Deep Web (2015)

TV-MA | 90 min | Documentary

A feature documentary that explores the rise of a new Internet; decentralized, encrypted, dangerous and beyond the law; with particular focus on the FBI capture of the Tor hidden service Silk Road, and the judicial aftermath.

Director: Alex Winter | Stars: Ross Ulbricht, James Chaparro, Nicolas Christin, Cindy Cohn

Votes: 9,640

33. Dying to Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary (2014)

95 min | Documentary, Biography, History

Dying to Know is an intimate portrait celebrating two very complex controversial characters in an epic friendship that shaped a generation. In the early 1960s Harvard psychology professors ... See full summary »

Director: Gay Dillingham | Stars: John Perry Barlow, Dean Chamberlain, Ram Dass, Peggy Mellon Hitchcock

Votes: 489

34. Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target (1998)

R | 94 min | Action

The anti-terrorist Delta Force is called into action once again in this thriller, concerning a crazed genius who threatens to unleash a biological weapon with the power to kill everyone in New York City.

Director: Mark Roper | Stars: Jim Fitzpatrick, Bryan Genesse, Greg Collins, John Simon Jones

Votes: 2,419

35. Call of Juarez: The Cartel (2011 Video Game)

M | Action, Crime, Drama

An undercover team has been put together in order to investigate a bombing of an LAPD office.

Stars: Lombardo Boyar, Kim Compeau, Jesse Corti, John Cygan

Votes: 340

36. Grass (1999)

R | 80 min | Documentary, History

The history of the American government's war on marijuana in the 20th century.

Director: Ron Mann | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Harry J. Anslinger, George Bush, Cab Calloway

Votes: 3,631 | Gross: $0.31M

37. Singham (2019)

141 min | Action, Drama

After taking charge as the DSP of Singham Khurd, Dilsher Sikhon sets out to end the drug addiction among the youth of Punjab. This sets him against Bhuller, a vicious business tycoon with connections in high places.

Director: Navaniat Singh | Stars: Parmish Verma, Kartar Cheema, Sonam Bajwa, Sardar Sohi

Votes: 136

38. Big Night! (2021)

105 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller

The film follows Dharna/Panfilo Macaspac, Jr's quest, a gay beautician who is determined to clear his name after he found he was included in a drug watchlist.

Director: Jun Lana | Stars: Christian Bables, Gina Alajar, Nico Antonio, John Arcilla

Votes: 226

39. Escape from Ensenada (2017)

TV-MA | 83 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

Two Southern California College Students plot their escape after being kidnapped by a human trafficking ring while on Spring Break in Mexico.

Director: Brandon Slagle | Stars: Bronwyn Carrie-Wilson, Devanny Pinn, Louis Mandylor, Jonathan Goldstein

Votes: 1,168

40. Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston (2019 TV Movie)

TV-MA | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime

Overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds that life threw his way, Liston became heavyweight champion of the world when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in 1962. Eight years later, he died but friends questioned the cause of his death.

Director: Simon George | Stars: Nigel Collins, Helen-Jean Long, Jerry Izenberg, Mike Tyson

Votes: 427

41. Pablo Escobar: Countdown to Death (2017 TV Movie)

68 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime

Through rare interviews, images and wiretap audio, this documentary reconstructs the last nine years of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's life.

Director: Santiago Diaz Oso | Stars: María Isabel Santos, Sebastian Marroquín, Alba Marina Escobar, Germán Castro Caycedo

Votes: 265

42. Public Enemy Number One (2019)

70 min | Documentary

PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE looks at the war on drugs from 1968 until today and looks at trigger points in history that took cannabis from being a somewhat benign criminal activity into a self-perpetuating constantly expanding policy disaster.

Director: Robert Rippberger | Stars: Dan Baum, Wayward Bill, Peter Bourne, Dick Cole

Votes: 46

43. Pisaj (2004)

106 min | Horror, Thriller

After losing both her parents in a horrific tragedy, a young girl ends up with her aunt, a printing house owner and a part-time spiritual medium.

Director: Chookiat Sakveerakul | Stars: Pumwaree Yodkamol, Alexander Rendell, Ammara Assawanon, Theeradanai Suwannahom

Votes: 290

44. Our Guy in Colombia (2023)

Documentary

In his new travelogue series, we join Guy Martin in another far-flung destination, Colombia in South America. Guy will be exploring Colombia at street level to find out about the mysterious... See full summary »

Stars: Guy Martin, Shaun Dooley, Nicolas Escobar, Miguel Caballero

Votes: 37

45. The Buy Bust Queen (2022)

90 min | Action

In this true story-inspired narrative, the motto "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid" encapsulates the daily courage exhibited by PDEA agents. This tale centers on seven exceptional... See full summary »

Director: Jose R. Olinares Jr. | Stars: Phoebe Walker, Wilkins Villanueva, Ritz Azul, Maxine Medina

46. Peace Officer (2015)

Not Rated | 105 min | Documentary, Crime

A look at the increasingly militarized state of American police told through the story of "Dub" Lawrence, a former sheriff who established his state's first SWAT team only to see it kill his son-in-law in a standoff 30 years later.

Directors: Brad Barber, Scott Christopherson | Stars: Radley Balko, William 'Dub' Lawrence

Votes: 477 | Gross: $0.03M

47. The War on Drugs (2007)

99 min | Documentary

More than three decades have passed since Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs. Today, drug trafficking exceeds 7% of global trade. The film shows how the war is being waged by examining... See full summary »

Director: Sebastian J.F. | Stars: Sharanda Jones, Richard Paey, Jorge Enrique Botero, Kevin C. Whaley

Votes: 43

48. Carta Blanca (2021)

100 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A police officer lives between two worlds, dispensing justice under the "White Card" code and trying to avoid getting executed by the same system.

Director: Pedro Urrutia | Stars: Pepe Sierra, Héctor Aníbal, Damián Alcázar, Julio Bracho

Votes: 30

49. Curtis Snow, Chapter 3: Still on the Bluff (2020– )

Not Rated | 28 min | Reality-TV

Curtis Snow fights for ownership of his image and neighborhood while exposing personal dramas and triumphs to his loyal cult following via social media.

Stars: Brian Hightower, Big Rube, Snoop Dogg, Curtis Snow

Votes: 14

50. The Naked Queen (2007)

85 min | Documentary

A cultural critique of the mythic foundations of the war on drugs that has in essence become a war on cannabis.

Director: Daryl Verville | Stars: Bruce Alexander, Hilary Black, John Conroy, Carolyn DeMarco