32 Best Drug Lords Movies: The Highest Rated Films

Drugs, money, power and death. This is a simple formula describing lives of most drug-dealing criminals. Involvement in drug business rules out the possibility of long life. The best movies about drug lords and the fates of their real-life counterparts prove it.

Table of contents

Narcos

Rating IMDB – 8.8
Genre: Crime, drama
Production USA, Colombia / 2015
Directed by Andres Bays, Joseph Wladyka, Fernando Coimbra
Cast: Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal, Joanna Christie, Maurice Comte, Alberto Ammann, Paulina Gaitan, Juan Murcia

This is a Netflix crime drama about the life and death of Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord and leader of the Medellin Cartel. Starting with small shipments of drugs, the Colombian criminal managed to flood Miami with them first, and then had the entire nation of the USA addicted to his product.

Colombia’s police cannot find a way to get rid of Escobar, and the Colombian government, knee-deep in corruption, fears him. To stop the flow of illegal drugs, one of DEA’s best agents, Steve Murphy, arrives in Bogota.

The series is based on real events. By the end of 1980, Pablo Escobar controlled 80% of the world cocaine market.

Snowfall

Rating IMDB – 8.2
Genre: Drama, сrime
US production / 2017
Directed by Alonso Alvarez, Logan Keebens, Carl Seaton
Cast: Demson Idris, Carter Hudson, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Isaiah John, Amin Joseph, Angela Lewis, Michael Hiatt, Kevin Carroll, Emily Rios, Rain Edwards

The story of this multi-part drama takes place in Los Angeles in 1983. It was the year that cheap crack from the Dominican Republic flooded the city. The epidemic of drug use literally turned South Central Los Angeles into a war zone, and the CIA also had a hand in it.

Franklin Sainte, a young drug dealer, makes a kind of “revolution”. He figures out how to sell the most expensive drug in the poorest neighborhoods. The desire to turn the drug trade into a business unites the fates of a young drug dealer, Mexican wrestler Gustavo, CIA operative Teddy McDonald and the niece of criminal mastermind Lucia Villanueva.

The plot of the series is based on real events that took place in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

The Gentlemen

Rating IMDB – 7.8
Genre: Crime, comedy, thriller
Production UK, USA / 2019
Budget: $22,000,000
Worldwide gross: $115 171 795
Director Guy Ritchie
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Jason Wong, Colin Farrell, Lyn Rene

This is a stylish crime comedy by the acclaimed Guy Ritchie and one of the best movies about drug lords. The plot of The Gentlemen follows several characters at once, elegantly folding their stories into a clear and comprehensible narrative.

It all revolves around an American guy named Mickey Pearson, who has gone a long way from a poor student into an English marijuana kingpin. Over time, Pearson contemplates retiring and selling his drug empire.

Director Guy Ritchie actively used this movie to promote some of his businesses. One of the scenes has a van with the title “Gritchie Brewery” written on it – this is the name of Ritchie’s brewery located in Dorset. The beer glasses read “Lore of the Land”, the name of a London pub co-owned by Guy Ritchie and David Beckham.

Narcos: Mexico

Rating IMDB – 8.4
Genre: Drama, сrime
US production / 2018
Directed by Andres Bays, Amat Escalante, Alonso Ruizpalacios
Cast: Diego Luna, Michael Peña, Tenoch Huerta, Alyssa Diaz, Joaquin Cosio, Jose Maria Jaspik, Matt Letscher, Ernesto Alterio, Alejandro Edda, Fernanda Urrejola

During the 1980s, former policeman Felix Gallardo decided to put the Mexican drug trade on the business rails. Gallardo finds a way to unite the scattered drug dealers into a powerful cartel. He begins by growing marijuana, and after that he reaches out to Colombian drug lords.

Mexico becomes the main transit point between Colombia and the United States of America. Opposing Gallardo is Kiki Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. This fight between the two irreconcilable rivals would go on for many years.

In 1989, Felix Gallardo was arrested for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. He is currently serving a 37-year sentence.

El Chapo

Rating IMDB – 7.8
Genre: Drama, biography, crime
US production / 2017
Directed by Ernesto Contreras, Hammoudi Al-Rahmoun Font, Carlos Moreno
Cast: Marco De La O, Humberto Busto, Diego Vazquez, Alejandro Aguilar, Hector Holten, Ivan Aragon, David Ohalvo

This is a TV show following the story of Mexican drug dealer Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman (“El Chapo” means “Shorty” in Spanish). Guzman began his criminal career as a driver for Felix Gallardo, who soon put him in charge of supplying drugs from Colombia. After his boss’s unexpected arrest, El Chapo became head of the Sinaloa Cartel.

El Chapo was arrested several times and managed to escape twice, including the prison break from the maximum-security facility. In 2016, Mexican authorities tracked him down and re-arrested the drug lord after he was interviewed by actor Sean Penn. In 2019, El Chapo was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in the United States.

Blow

Rating IMDB – 7.6
Genre: Drama, crime, biography
Production USA, Mexico / 2001
Budget: $53,000,000
Worldwide gross: $83,282,296
Directed by Ted Demme
Cast: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths, Paul Reubens, Jordi Molla, Cliff Curtis, Miguel Sandoval, Ethan Supli, Ray Liotta

Drug trading can get one rich quickly. Drug trading can also make one lose it all just as fast. A regular guy from a poor American family, George Jung, figured out how to conquer America. All you have to do is learn how to import cocaine on an industrial scale.

It all started spinning and George’s life was rapidly changing: meeting with Escobar, rooms full of money, beautiful women, luxury. And then inevitably came the downside of such lifestyle: arrest, separation from family, betrayal and imprisonment.

The movie is based on the real events from the life of the notorious George Jacob Jung, nicknamed “Boston George”. Jung was the major cocaine supplier in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. He was arrested in 1994. After a long prison sentence, he was released in 2014 and died on May 5, 2021.

Breaking Bad

Rating IMDB – 9.4
Genre: Crime, drama, thriller
US production / 2008
Director Michelle McLaren, Adam Bernstein, Vince Gilligan
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitty, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, Steven Michael Quesada

One of the best modern series focuses on the story of Walter White, a low-paid chemistry teacher, who gradually transforms into a cynical and calculating cold-blooded criminal.

Walter White tried to live right, but he was “rewarded” for it with inoperable lung cancer, a disabled son, and endless financial problems. Determined to make money for his family’s future, White decides to get into the drug business.

Bryan Cranston, the lead actor of the show, was a suspect in murder case when he was young. An employee of the restaurant where the young Cranston worked was murdered. Bryan, meanwhile, had gone on an unplanned trip, which seemed very strange to the police. Subsequently, all charges against the future actor were dropped.

Crisis

Rating IMDB – 6.2
Genre: Thriller, drama
Production Canada, Belgium / 2020
Worldwide gross: $1,099,426
Directed by Nicholas Jarecki
Cast: Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Lily-Rose Depp, Guy Nadon, Veronica Ferres, Scott Mescudi

Drugs, like any absolute evil, can enter everyone’s home as shown in Crisis. This drama shows the intertwined fates of a drug dealer trying to smuggle illegal substances, a recovering female architect looking for her missing son, and a professor who wants to prevent the drug that is supposedly not addictive from reaching the market.

The film is based on true events. The opioid epidemic is an ever-increasing death toll from opioid analgesics, which became widely used in the USA in the 1990s as painkillers. In 2017, overdose on such medications was recognized as a national problem in the USA.

Layer Cake

Rating IMDB – 7.3
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production UK / 2004
Budget: £4,000,000
Worldwide gross: $11,850,214
Director Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, Michael Gambon, Jason Flemyng, Tom Hardy, Ben Whishaw, Dexter Fletcher, George Harris

As we all know, drug trafficking is a profitable business, but also a deadly one. This crime comedy in the vein of Guy Ritchie’s films demonstrates this clearly. An unnamed drug mafia dealer, identified in the credits as XXXX, is given two tasks by his boss: to buy a shipment of ecstasy and to find his friend’s missing daughter. XXXX wants to give up the illegal business and agrees to do these tasks, not knowing yet that it will lead to his doom.

The word “fuck” is used 201 times in this film.
The prosthetic severed head of actor Jamie Foreman, playing the role of a drug dealer, has already been used in another movie, where his character was also decapitated.

American Gangster

Rating IMDB – 7.8
Genre: Drama, crime, biography
US, UK production / 2007
Budget: $100,000,000
Worldwide gross: $266,465,037
Director Ridley Scott
Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Limari Nadal, Josh Brolin, Armand Assante, Roger Guenveur Smith, Ruby Dee, John Ortiz, Ted Levine

A quiet driver of a Harlem crime boss, Frank Lucas, turned his dreams of building his own criminal empire into reality. Being in the criminal circles for quite a few years, Frank knew too well how the blood and drug business worked.

During the Vietnam War, he arranged the heroin supply from Southeast Asia into the United States through the coffins with dead American soldiers. To make the business flourish, he simply offered lower prices for a higher quality product. But the anti-hero is opposed by an honest cop, Richie Roberts.

The movie was based on the real story of gangster Frank Lucas and policeman Richie Roberts, who both participated in the script writing.

Maria Full of Grace

Rating IMDB – 7.4
Genre: Drama, сrime
Production Colombia, Ecuador, USA / 2004
Budget: $3,000,000
Worldwide gross: $12,450,821
Directed by Joshua Marston
Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Virgina Ariza, Yeni Paola Vega, Rodrigo Sanchez Bororquez, Charles Albert Patiño, Wilson Guerrero, Joanna Andrea Mora, Fabricio Suarez, Mateo Suarez, Evangelina Morales

Growing up in one of the poorest countries in Latin America, sometimes the only chance to make money is the drug trade. Some people choose to become “mules”, live containers transporting illicit drugs. Poverty, lack of education and hopelessness push the simple girl Maria Alvarez to the criminal path, and the young woman flies to New York with a stomach full of cocaine.

The Colombian film was praised by critics. The lead actress Catalina Moreno was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress. This drama won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival for Best Actress and was also ranked among the five best foreign films of 2004 by the US National Board of Review.

The Pusher Trilogy

Rating IMDB – 7.4
Genre: Thriller, crime
Production Denmark / 1996
Budget: DKK 6 000 000
Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn
Cast: Kim Bodnia, Zlatko Buric, Laura Drasbek, Slavko Labovic, Mads Mikkelsen, Peter Andersson, Vanja Bajicic, Lizabet Rasmussen, Levino Jensen, Thomas Bo Larsen

This is a Danish film trilogy about drug dealers. The first movie follows Frank, a small-time drug dealer also known as a pusher. After a police raid, he loses the goods he borrowed and now owes $180,000 to Milo, his supplier.

The second film revolves around Tonny, Frank’s best friend. The guy’s father is a big-time gangster who doesn’t respect him at all. Thus, Tonny’s ultimate goal is to earn his father’s trust.
The third and final part of the trilogy is dedicated to Milo, a major drug dealer. The aging criminal is trying his best to stay afloat.

At the time of the first movie’s release, Danish director Nicholas Refn, known for his distinguished artistic style, was only twenty-five years old.

Queen of the South

Rating IMDB – 8.0
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production Mexico, USA, Spain, Colombia / 2011
Directed by Mauricio Cruz, Walter Döhner, Sebastian Iriart
Cast: Kate del Castillo, Humberto Surita, Alejandro Calva, Carmen Navarro, Agatha Erranz, Raoul Bova, Christian Tappan, Cuca Escribano

These are two TV adaptations of the famous novel by Spanish writer Arturo Perez-Reverte. Both series follow the rise of Teresa Mendoza, a Mexican woman, to the top of the drug cartel.
After the murder of her drug-dealing boyfriend, Teresa flees the country. Without anyone’s help, she moves steadily toward the building of her own criminal drug distribution ring.

Both TV shows are based on the life of Sandra Avila Bertrand, the leader of a Mexican drug cartel nicknamed “The Queen of the Pacific.” She was arrested in 2007, spent seven years in prison, and was released in 2015.

Paulette

Rating IMDB – 6.6
Genres: Comedy, crime, drama
Production France / 2012
Worldwide gross: $14,656,687
Directed by Jerome Enrico
Cast: Bernadette Lafont, Carmen Maura, Dominique Lavanan, Françoise Bertin, André Penverne, Ismael Drame, Jean-Baptiste Anumon, Axel Lafont, Paco Boublard

This is a French black comedy about the drug trafficking filled to the brim with politically incorrect humor. It follows the story of grumpy and constantly dissatisfied Paulette, the former restaurant owner. Her daughter married a black policeman and had a black grandson. Her restaurant is now run by the Chinese, and the Arabs live behind the wall. But grandma found a business that breathed life into the dull gray of everyday routine. She became the most successful weed dealer in the neighborhood.

The director came up with the idea for this comedy after learning a true story about an old lady who got involved in a marijuana venture to pay her bills.

The Mule

Rating IMDB – 7.0
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production USA, Canada / 2018
Budget: $50,000,000
Worldwide gross: $174,804,407
Director Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, Andy Garcia, Alison Eastwood, Taissa Farmiga, Ignacio Serricio, Lauren Dean

This is a masterfully told story about the world’s oldest drug mule. To pay for the wedding of his beloved granddaughter, 88-year-old Korean War veteran Earl Stone becomes a drug courier.
No one can suspect the gray-haired elderly gentleman of criminal intentions as he successfully smuggles illegal drugs for colossal amounts of money through Illinois.

The film is based on the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran. He was a famous florist and bred 182 varieties of lilies. He was invited by the White House administration to decorate the garden of the U.S. President’s residence with flowers. After his capture and trial, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined half a million dollars, while his estimated income was about one and a half million dollars. He served his time and lived peacefully to the age of 92.

American Made

Rating IMDB – 7.2
Genre: Action, drama, comedy, crime
Production USA, Japan, Colombia / 2017
Budget: $50,000,000
Worldwide gross: $134,866,593
Directed by Doug Liman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Lola Kirk, Jayma Mays, Alejandro Edda, Benito Martinez, E. Roger Mitchell

The story follows a pilot named Barry Seal, who played a very dangerous game both with the mafia and the secret services. After being caught while smuggling, young Barry accepts the offer of a CIA agent and becomes engaged in aerial photography in Latin America.

During one of his runs, the Medellin Cartel caught up with him, and Barry, taking advantage of his special position, begins to supply drugs to the USA. But now the FBI and DEA are on Barry’s tail.

American Made is easily one of the best drug lord movies ever made. This is quite accurate portrayal of the real-life adventurer Adler Berriman Seal, a known drugs and guns smuggler. He worked for the Medellin Cartel for several years, was recruited by the CIA and became an FBI and DEA informant. He was killed by the Mexican drug cartel in 1984.

The Infiltrator

Rating IMDB – 7.0
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime, biography
Production USA, UK / 2016
Budget: $28,000,000
Worldwide gross: $21,011,110
Director Brad Furman
Cast: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt, Diane Kruger, Juliette Aubrey, Amy Ryan, Joseph Gilgun, Ruben Ochandiano, Yul Vasquez, Simon Andreu

Is it possible to remain a good guy while painstakingly playing the part of a bad one? Federal agent Robert Mazur has been working undercover all his life, uncovering drug and arms supply channels.
The quiet family man has to pretend a lot: to drive expensive cars, smoke thick cigars and visit notorious entertainment facilities. After offering to retire, Mazur accidentally stumbles upon a clue that could lead the FBI to Pablo Escobar himself.

This crime thriller is based on Robert Mazur’s autobiographical book titled The Infiltrator: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel.

Mama Weed

Rating IMDB – 6.3
Genres: Drama, comedy, crime
Production France, Belgium / 2020
Worldwide gross: $5,426,360
Directed by Jean-Paul Salome
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jan Sandberg, Mikael Louchard, Rafael Kenard, Munir Kateb, Hippolyte Girardot, Lilian Rover, Farida Ushani, Dominique Jair, Iris Brie

Patience is a humble interpreter working for the police and assisting in the investigation of crimes committed by Arab immigrants. Patience’s life is monotonous and dreary, she barely makes ends meet, but now she has a chance to get rich.

Listening to yet another conversation in Arabic, Patience learns about the delivery of a large drug batch. The intelligent old woman puts on a hijab to disguise herself and becomes the owner of one and a half tons of hashish, which must be sold.

The screenplay for this French film is based on the novel The Godmother by the famous criminal lawyer Hannelore Cayre.

Body Brokers

Rating IMDB – 6.3
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
US production / 2020
Worldwide gross: $13,472
Directed by John Swob
Cast: Jack Kilmer, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jessica Roth, Alice Englert, Peter Green, Frank Grillo, Melissa Leo, Thomas Dekker, Sam Cortin, Renée Willett

The story of this criminal thriller revolves around a criminal scheme based on the pseudo-rehabilitation of drug addicts. It turns out that one can make money not only by getting people hooked on illegal drugs, but also by supposedly helping them overcome their addiction.

A young drug addict Utah gets into a rehabilitation clinic, where he becomes a recruiter of new clients for pseudo-treatment. The rehabilitation program turns out to be just a cover for a cunning financial pyramid scheme.

This drama is based on the memories and experiences of friends of the writer and director of the film, John Swab, who was an addict in his youth and was treated in a rehab clinic.

The Shadow of Violence

Rating IMDB – 6.9
Genre: Drama, сrime
Production UK, Ireland / 2019
Worldwide gross: $103,162
Director Nick Rowland
Cast Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, Neve Algar, Ned Dennehy, Kiljan Moroni, David Wilmot, Liam Carney, Brian Doherty, Simone Kirby, Royshne O’Neill

This is a drama about the worthless life of former boxer Douglas “Arm” Armstrong, who is forced to work for a family of drug dealers. The young man lives with his employers being treated as a member of the family.

Arm has an ex-wife, who he is still deeply in love with, a son with autism. His wife wants to send their son to an institution for people with special needs, but this requires a large sum of money. Arm decides to go against the family who provided him with shelter and a job.

Cosmo Jarvis, playing the leading role in this Irish thriller, is an English musician, actor and film director of Armenian origin.

Running with the Devil

Rating IMDB – 5.4
Genre: Crime, thriller, action, comedy, drama
Production USA, Colombia / 2019
Worldwide gross: $111,218
Director Jason Cabell
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Barry Pepper, Leslie Bibb, Cole Hauser, Adam Goldberg, Peter Facinelli, J.T. Holmes, Marie Wagenman, Tate Fletcher

How does “angel dust” travel from a plantation in Latin America to a nightclub toilet in New York City? The seemingly well-oiled drug supply chain from Mexico through the U.S. to Canada fails. A large shipment of cocaine mysteriously disappears, so the drug cartel boss entrusts his employees, the Cook and the Man, to find out what happened.

The Cook is a respectable man, an undercover restaurant owner working for the mafia. The Man is a playboy, a womanizer and a drug addict. Their mission is challenged by a federal agent, whose goal is to get to the boss of the drug mafia.

This crime action thriller was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Bogota, Colombia.

Loving Pablo

Rating IMDB – 6.3
Genre: Biography, drama, crime
Production Spain, Bulgaria, USA / 2017
Worldwide gross: $17,535,962
Directed by Fernando Leon De Aranoa
Cast: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Juliet Restrepo, Oscar Jaenada, Freddy Yat, Ricardo Niño, Pedro Calvo, Giovanni Alvarez, David Valencia

Pablo Escobar’s criminal charm and strong masculine energy worked without a hitch with the famous journalist, the beautiful Virginia Vallejo. This romance began beautifully as Pablo knew how to woo women. Mutually beneficial relationship of lovers lasted four years. Vallejo solidified her journalistic fame, and Escobar gained access to television, which helped him become a recognizable politician.

The drama was based on a book by Colombian journalist Virginia Valejo, Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar, which became a bestseller among the Latin American readers. Following the book’s publication, the Colombian Supreme Court reopened the cases of the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice in Bogotá and the 1989 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan.

Cocaine Grandmother

Rating IMDB – 5.6
Genre: Drama, crime, biography
US production / 2017
Directed by Guillermo Navarro
Cast: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jenny Pellicer, Alejandro Edda, Warren Christie, Juan Pablo Espinoza, Jose Julian, Raul Mendez, Matteo Stefan, Spencer Borgeson

This is a biopic about one of Colombia’s most bloodthirsty drug baronesses, Griselda Blanco. Griselda was never spoiled by life, her mother forced her into prostitution and her husband was cruel to her. The young woman, the mother of four sons, decides to take matters into her own hands and gradually becomes the head of a powerful criminal gang.

Griselda Blanco, also known as “The Black Widow” and “The Godmother” became the world’s first criminal who earned a billion dollars. She was notable for her brutality; she was responsible for up to two hundred murders, including those of three spouses. She was shot dead in 2012 at the age of 69.

Wasp Network

Rating IMDB – 5.9
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production France, Brazil, Spain, Belgium / 2019
Worldwide gross: $1,569,970
Directed by Olivier Assayas
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana de Armas, Wagner Moura, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nolan Guerra, Ausdemi Pastrana, Tony Plana, Julian Flynn

This is a spy political drama about the high tensions between the two countries, Cuba and the USA. The story takes place in the 1990s and follows two Cuban pilots, Rene Gonzalez and Juan Pablo Roque, finding their way into the United States. At home, they are considered traitors, as the men actively work for anti-communist organizations.

The pilots help the dissidents escape from the socialist island, distribute propaganda leaflets, and smuggle drugs with weapons. But their families and friends have no idea that Rene and Juan Pablo are double agents infiltrated by Cuban intelligence.

The film shows the real story of Cuban mole agents who pretended to be victims of the Castro regime.

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)

Rating IMDB – 7.9
Genre: Drama, melodrama, comedy, crime
Production Germany / 2019
Directed by Arnie Feldhusen, Lars Montag, Mia Spangler
Cast: Maximilian Mundt, Danilo Kamber, Lena Klenke, Damian Hardung, Leoni Veselov, Roland Riebeling, Jolina Amelie Trinks, Luna Baptiste Schaller, Lena Urzendowski, Ruben Brinkman

This is a German TV series produced by Netflix. A teen comedy drama follows the unpopular geek Moritz Zimmermann deciding to become a drug dealer to win back his high school love. As the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war.

The events of the show echo the story of 18-year-old Maximilian Schmidt, who in 2013 organized a large-scale trade of illegal substances from his childhood room in his parents’ home. Maximilian sold more than 900 kilograms of hashish, cocaine and ecstasy. The police had not been able to trace him for a year, and he was discovered by pure chance after having left a package of drugs in the common hallway.

The Drug King (2018)

Rating IMDB – 6.2
Genre: Biography, crime, drama
Production South Korea / 2018
Budget: $13,000,000
Worldwide gross: $14,446,477
Director Woo Min-ho
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Cho Jung-suk, Bae Doon-na, Lee Sung-min, Yoon Jae-moon, Kim So-jin, Kim Dae-myung, Lee Hee-jun, Cho Woo-jin, Yoo Jae- myung

This is a South Korean take on the formation of drug empires. The story takes place in Korea during the 1970s. A small-time crook named Lee Doo-sam happened to divert a shipment of drugs to Japan and made a pretty penny out of it. Having analyzed the situation, ambitious Lee Doo-sam decides to establish permanent drug trafficking to Japan.

He decides to produce drugs in Busan. A small business gradually grows into an empire, and young aspiring prosecutor Kim In-goo begins to take interest in Lee Doo-sam’s activities.

The Drug King is based on a true story. The movie’s tagline is “He was a criminal and a patriot”.

Escobar: Paradise Lost

Rating IMDB – 6.5
Genre: Crime, thriller, drama
Production France, Spain, Belgium, Panama / 2014
Budget: $17,000,000
Worldwide gross: $5,552,496
Directed by Andrea Di Stefano
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson, Claudia Traisac, Brady Corbet, Carlos Bardem, Ana Girardo, Mike Moreno, Tenoch Huerta, Laura Londoño, Manuel Antonio Gomez

No one gets away from Pablo Escobar. Simple American kid Nick comes to Colombia to curb the perfect wave on the surf. Instead, he wins the heart of local girl Maria, while succumbing to her charms.

Their love affair develops without any troubles right until the moment Maria decides to introduces Nick to her family. The Colombian girl’s loving uncle turns out to be Pablo Escobar, who must have confidence in everyone surrounding his family.

Pablo Escobar was indeed very sensitive about his family, especially his children. It was his conversation with his son that allowed the authorities to figure out his whereabouts. Knowing he was being listened to by the intelligence agents, Escobar spoke to his son for more than five minutes.

Savages

Rating IMDB – 6.5
Genre:: Thriller, crime
US production / 2012
Budget: $45,000,000
Worldwide gross: $82,966,152
Director Oliver Stone
Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch, Demian Bichir, Joel Moore, Shea Whigham

Chon and Ben have a lucrative business, growing the best marijuana on the coast. In addition to business, the friends share love – they have one girlfriend, Ophelia.

The drug business of Chon and Ben cannot stay under the radars for long and they are offered a partnership by a Mexican drug cartel. The mobsters react instantly to the guys’ refusal and kidnap Ophelia. They do not realize that the buddies will do anything for love, which makes them especially dangerous.

The Mexican cartel in this action movie is headed by the beautiful Helena heavily resembling the real cartel member, Mireya Moreno Carreon, who was in charge of all distribution points in Mexico.

Easy Money

Rating IMDB – 6.7
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production Sweden, Germany, Denmark, France / 2010
Worldwide gross: $8,369,756
Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic, Lisa Henney, Mahmut Suvaksi. Jones Danko, Lia Stoyanov, Dejan Cukic, Miodrag Stojanovic, Joel Spira

Johan, an ordinary student, tries by hook or by crook to get into the elite of Swedish society. He is short of money and works as a cab driver for an Arab criminal gang.

Johan’s boss, Abdulkarim, offers him a job selling cocaine, and the young man agrees. Everything, it would seem, is going well, but the Serbian mafia considers the Swedish territory as theirs and there is no place for competitors there.

The film was coproduced by Sweden, Germany, Denmark and France. The Serbian mafioso is played by Dragomir Mrsic, who was a bank robber in the past. There are two sequels made by the Swedish filmmakers. They are titled Easy Money II: Hard to Kill and Easy Money III: Life Deluxe.

Mr. Nice

Rating IMDB – 6.4
Genre: Drama, comedy, crime, biography
Production UK, Spain / 2010
Worldwide gross: $45,849
Directed by Bernard Rose
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Chloe Sevigny, David Thewlis, Luis Tosar, Crispin Glover, Omid Djalili, Christian McKay, Elsa Pataky, Jack Huston, Jamie Harris

This is a biopic following the life of legendary Welsh drug dealer Dennis Howard Marks. He was studying at Oxford when he first tried some easy drugs. After forming a friendship with a dealer, Howard set himself on the criminal path once and for all. Over twenty years, he smuggled vast quantities of marijuana into the United Kingdom.

Howard Marks was England’s most wanted criminal. After the arrest, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but was released after 7 years. The lead actor, Rhys Ivans accepted the role with Howard’s permission and is still friends with him and his second wife.

Narc (2002)

Rating IMDB – 7.1
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime, detective
Production Germany, Canada, USA / 2002
Budget: $6,500,000
Worldwide gross: $12,633,747
Director Joe Carnahan
Cast: Jason Patric, Ray Liotta, Busta Rhimes, Dan Lace, Lloyd Adams, Megan Isa, Lina Felice, Alan S. Peterson, Karen Robinson, Chi McBride

The story takes place in the industrial districts Detroit, starting with a murder of Michael Calvess, a cop successfully infiltrated into a drug trafficking gang. Experienced cops, Henry Oak and Nick Tellis, investigate the circumstances of the murder.

Nick sees it as a chance to fix his career, ruined as a result of unsuccessful arrest of the criminal. For Henry, it is a case of a personal nature, since Calvess was his friend. The more the detectives delve into the case, the more the picture of the crime is distorted, and the less trust is left between them.

A word “narc” is an American slang both for “narcotics agent” and “drug courier”.

Traffic

Rating IMDB – 7.6
Genre: Thriller, drama, crime
Production USA, Mexico, Germany / 2000
Budget: $48,000,000
Worldwide gross: $207,515,725
Director Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Don Cheadle, Dennis Quaid, Erica Christensen, Jacob Vargas, Miguel Ferrer, Steven Bauer, Clifton Collins Jr.

This is a brilliant movie by Steven Soderbergh. The film combines a close to documentary story about gangsters and cops, a family drama and a political detective. The plot follows the lives of the head of the DEA and his daughter, a drug addict, a Mexican policeman and the wife of a major drug lord.

This is of the best movies about drug lords and drug cartels. The film won four Oscars in 2000: for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Screenplay.