Film
Live by Night
Ben Affleck directs and stars in this Prohibition-era crime drama about Boston gangsters who relocate to Florida seeking fortune and fresh starts. It's a handsome, measured affair—closer to literary adaptation than pulp—that trades the kinetic energy of its genre peers for introspection and moral weight. For those who want their gangster stories intimate and contemplative rather than explosive.
If you liked this
The Godfather Part II1974
The template for how organized crime can be both intimate family drama and sweeping historical tableau. Corleone's rise parallels Joe's trajectory, and both films understand that power is often about loneliness.
But Nearly three and a half hours, deliberately paced. The deliberation is the point, but it asks patience most modern films don't.

Lawless2012
Tom Hardy and Guy Pearce in a Depression-era Virginia moonshine war. Visually sumptuous, morally murky, and absolutely committed to the period without feeling like homework.
But Violent and brutal in ways that can feel gratuitous. Some find Hardy's mumbling performance impenetrable rather than intense.

The Killers1946
A stylish noir with moral ambiguity baked into its DNA. Like Live by Night, it's interested in why decent men become criminals, and what they lose in the process.
But Black and white and 103 minutes old. If you need immediate gratification or colour, move on.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Red Right Hand2024
Both are meditative crime stories where the real action is internal—watching a man see clearly what he's become, set against gorgeous cinematography that distances you from the brutality.
A modern noir about an aging Melbourne hitman confronting mortality and legacy. Like Live by Night, it's a character study dressed in crime-film clothing, asking what accumulating power actually costs.
But Australian, darkly funny in ways that might undercut the drama for some. Very slow. If you need plot momentum, this isn't your film.

More like this (6)
Hail, Caesar!2016
Same year as Live by Night but opposite temperament—a comedy about control and faith in 1950s Hollywood that shares the period-piece craft and moral questioning.
But Aggressively clever. Some find the Coen Brothers' winking exhausting, and the plot is deliberately slight.

Miller's Crossing1990
Prohibition gangsters in an unnamed city, written and directed by the Coen Brothers. Stylized but rooted, violent but thoughtful, funny but not at the characters' expense.
But The dialogue is baroque and sometimes impenetrable on first viewing. Requires active attention and probably a rewatch.

Peaky Blinders2013
Post-WWI Birmingham gangsters navigating family, ambition, and the cost of survival. Handsomely shot, morally complex, with extraordinary ensemble acting across five seasons.
But Takes a season or two to find its rhythm. The dialect work is thick, and some viewers find the violence gratuitous.

Once Upon a Time in America1984
Sergio Leone's final film: Jewish gangsters from youth through middle age, told in fragments. A meditation on friendship, betrayal, and the American dream's cost.
But Nearly four hours and deliberately non-linear. Dreamlike pacing will test anyone wanting straightforward narrative momentum.

A Prophet2009
A young man's rise through a French prison system. Like Live by Night, it's about transformation through immersion in a violent world, with extraordinary craft and moral clarity.
But Subtitled. Claustrophobic and bleak—there's no romance to this world, only survival.

The Grifters1990
Con artists and small-time criminals in sunlit Los Angeles. A tight, stylish chamber piece about family and self-interest, with Annette Bening and John Cusack at their best.
But Slight plot and deliberately cool tone. If you want emotional catharsis or big narrative stakes, look elsewhere.

People
Cast
Ben AffleckJoe Coughlin
Elle FanningLoretta Figgis
Remo GironeMaso Pescatore
Brendan GleesonThomas Coughlin
Robert GlenisterAlbert White
Matthew MaherRD Pruitt
Chris MessinaDion Bartolo
Sienna MillerEmma Gould
MiguelEsteban Suarez
Zoe SaldañaGraciella Suarez
Chris CooperChief Irving Figgis
Titus WelliverTim Hickey
Directing
- Ben AffleckDirector
- David WebbFirst Assistant Director
Writing
- Dennis LehaneNovel
- Ben AffleckScreenplay
Production
- Armando PizzutiCasting
- Carolyn PickmanCasting
- Lora KennedyCasting
- Mindy MarinCasting
- David WebbCo-Producer
- Chay CarterExecutive Producer
- Chris BrighamExecutive Producer
- Dennis LehaneExecutive Producer
- Ben AffleckProducer
- Jennifer DavissonProducer
- Jennifer ToddProducer
- Leonardo DiCaprioProducer
- Madison AinleyProducer