It took three seasons to wrap up the narrative of Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar on Narcos. But instead of calling it quits, the producers of the hit Netflix crime drama pivoted to another cartel hot spot south of the American border: Mexico. Closing in on the criminal activity associated with legendary cartels of the 1980s, Narcos: Mexico premiered its newest season on Netflix on February 13. And if you're anything like us, you've binged the entire season already—and crave something new to watch.
From big-studio productions like Traffic and Scarface to shoestring independent films like Maria Full of Grace and City of God, the stories of battles at the border and illegal drug trade often make for the best projects. Sure, the majority of movies and TV shows on this list are mostly fictional, but they are also based on and inspired by real-life cartels and the cycles of violence they’ve spawned. Not to mention, we include a guerilla-style documentary, Cartel Land, which drops you off at ground zero, the U.S.-Mexico border. Happy bingeing!
1
American Made
IMDb
Love him or not so much, Tom Cruise has redefined what it means to be an action hero. Read: no stunt doubles. Whether he’s hanging by a finger off a mountain in Moab, Utah, or defying gravity atop the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Cruise has given us mild panic attacks with his daredevilry. So, of course, when he signed on to play Barry Seal, an American pilot-turned-Colombian cartel drug smuggler for the CIA, you can bet all the stunts, nosedive piloting included, were performed by him.
2
Cold Pursuit
IMDb
Liam Neeson, who has become Hollywood’s go-to senior action hero, stars in another bang-bang thriller about a family man seeking revenge on the drug cartel who killed his son. Laura Dern and Emmy Rossum co-star in the snowy turf war.
3
Miss Bala
IMDb
Not to be confused with the 2019 film starring Gina Rodriguez, the original Miss Bala from 2011 is a superb movie with heart-pulsing action that thrusts a Mexican beauty queen into the crosshairs of Mexican drug cartels and the U.S. narcs hunting them. As Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho said, “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
4
Scarface
IMDb
Say hello to our favorite little Al Pacino movie: The Brian De Palma classic from the ’80s that has cemented Tony Montana, his little machine gun friend, and Michelle Pfeiffer’s stunning slip dresses in cinema history. Scarface stars Pacino as the indelible gangster and charts his rise as a Cuban immigrant-turned-cocaine cartel captain.
5
Traffic
IMDb
Nominated for five Oscars in 2001—four of which it won—Steven Soderbergh’s film is an ambitious crime drama that unfurls through several intertwined narratives, each revealing the ripple effects and devastating aftermath of illegal drug trade as it pertains to the dealers, enforcers, traffickers, politicians, and everyone else wrapped up in its clutches.
6
Queen of the South
IMDb
Hell hath no fury like a woman whose drug-runner lover is murdered. Alice Braga of I Am Legend fame stars as Teresa Mendoza, said girlfriend who flees Mexico for Dallas, Texas, only to get yanked into season after season of cartel wars and bloody revenge. She knows the only way she can escape a life of crime is to become the Queen of the South.
7
Sicario
IMDb
While it’s typical for the female characters in cartel crime dramas to be seen as subservient toys for their ruthless kingpin lovers, this isn’t that type of film. Emily Blunt stars as the badass Kate Mercer, an FBI agent who’s recruited for a covert operation on the U.S.-Mexico border. And from the second the film touches down in Arizona to the moment the final credits roll, the white-knuckle tension doesn’t let up.
8
Blow
IMDb
Johnny Depp in Blow or Al Pacino in Scarface? Except for a shared Hawaiian shirt swagger, the two are nearly incomparable, and yet it’s a question that received much debate in the early aughts. But, hey, why choose? After Scarface, queue up Depp's portrayal of George Jung’s rise to the top of the American cocaine market supplied by none other than Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
9
Inherent Vice
IMDb
If you crave the bizarre, then this ’70s mystery from Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love director Paul Thomas Anderson is a must-watch. Plus, it’s stacked with a stellar cast (Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix, Maya Rudolph, Josh Brolin, Michael Kenneth Williams) and a warped (in the best way) soundtrack.
10
Ozark
Netflix
Jason Bateman manages to seamlessly mix domesticity with a drug lord’s dirty laundry in this Netflix series, in which he stars in and directs. Starring Laura Linney, Julia Garner, and Peter Mullan, the show is a little Bloodline, a little Top of the Lake, and it’s all worth it.
11
City of God
IMDb
With City of God, you’re whisked away to the slums of Rio de Janeiro, where a cycle of violence and gangland wars rage, and where the paths of a would-be photographer and a wannabe kingpin are about to converge. A four-time Oscar nominee in 2002, it’s a kinetic and wild coming-of-age ride.
12
End of Watch
IMDb
Prisoners, Enemy, Nightcrawler, Okja, Donnie Darko: Is Jake Gyllenhaal not the best character actor working today? That’s a rhetorical question because the answer is clearly, yes, he absolutely is. End of Watch, a cop thriller told documentary style about two buddies whose regular shift goes bust when they get “greenlit” by the cartel, is another stage for Gyllenhaal to do what he does best. Michael Peña is fantastic as his partner.
13
Cartel Land
IMDb
This immersive documentary thriller isn’t for the faint of heart. Guerilla-style filmmaker Matthew Heineman uses his camera to take viewers right into the lion’s den, or in this case, the U.S.-Mexico border. You’ll follow along as vigilante groups take on Mexican cartels, the body count south of the border piles up, and questions about what officials on both sides of the border are doing to keep their countries secure go unanswered. Prepare to shake your head the entire way.
14
Savages
IMDb
Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) stars opposite Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) as the bait in a drug tug-of-war. The two guys play a couple of small-time “botanists” who take on the Mexican Baja Cartel to get their lovely lady back. Featuring Salma Hayek, John Travolta, and Benicio Del Toro, it’s silly and over the top.
15
Bad Boys for Life
IMDb
As narcotics officers Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence), these two besties are no strangers to cartels running streams of illegal substances through Miami’s many ports. In the latest installment of the BB franchise, however, they’re facing their fiercest enemy yet: Isabel Aretas and her son, Armando Armas, the wicked capo of a diabolical drug cartel.
16
Maria Full of Grace
IMDb
The indie looks at the human side of the cartel business. Leading lady Catalina Sandino Moreno (The Affair) takes us on an unflinching journey through Kennedy Airport via her title character, a pregnant drug mule just trying to ensure a better future for herself and her unborn baby. In doing so, Moreno earned an Oscar nod in 2005.
17
Breaking Bad
IMDb
Primo golden age TV, Breaking Bad is five supreme seasons of neo-western crime drama action with one of the small screen’s greatest antiheroes at its core. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) is a chemistry teacher-turned-meth kingpin who with the help of his dimwit student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) rejiggers the meth trade with his crystal-blue cook—all to make as much as he can for his family before he dies of cancer.
18
Better Call Saul
Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
Better Call Saul is devoted entirely to telling the story of how Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), a morally ambiguous attorney, becomes Saul Goodman, the dirty lawyer connected to the sordid characters affiliated with the Juarez cartel. To describe this series with every positive descriptor there is still wouldn’t do it justice. Get ready for season 5 premiering February 23.
19
Power
IMDb
For six seasons, this Starz drama kept audiences enthralled with the double-life saga surrounding James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick). Co-starring 50 Cent, Joseph Sikora, Ana de la Reguera, and La La Anthony, Power spends its episodes awash in the neon lights of New York’s nightclubs but also under the influence of the Jimenez cartel. And it all begins with the Truth. You’ll see what we mean.
DeAnna JanesDeAnna Janes is a freelance writer and editor for a number of sites, including Harper’s BAZAAR, Tasting Table, Fast Company and Brit + Co, and is a passionate supporter of animal causes, copy savant, movie dork and reckless connoisseur of all holidays.
