Film

The Business

Name: The Business
Genre: Drama, Action, Thriller, Crime
Released: 2005
Cast: Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Geoff Bell, Georgina Chapman, Eddie Webber

Gangster

A 1980s crime thriller about a young London lad who flees to the Spanish coast and gets pulled into a gangster's orbit of fast cars, hedonism, and casual violence. It's slick, propulsive, and utterly amoral—a film that loves the seediness of its world without pretending it's anything but destructive. For anyone who finds the glamour of crime genuinely compelling.

TMDb rating

3.1

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Sexy Beast2001

Ben Kingsley's terrifying crime boss arrives in Spain and dismantles a life of sun-soaked leisure with pure menace. Gorgeously shot, darkly funny, and ruthlessly intelligent about paradise corrupted.

But It's more psychological horror than action—long stretches of dread punctuated by violence rather than propulsive thrills.

In the Soup1992

Early Tarantino energy: a young hustler gets tangled with a charismatic criminal in New York. Scrappy, witty, and absolutely alive with the thrill of being around someone dangerous and magnetic.

But Shot on a shoestring and deliberately crude; it rewards patience and doesn't always look clean or polished.

Scarface1983

The template for every "immigrant criminal rises and falls" story. De Palma's baroque excess, Pacino's savage hunger, mountains of cocaine. Pure intoxication as cinema.

But Nearly three hours of increasingly unhinged behavior; the excess can tip from thrilling into numbing if you're not in the mood.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Business

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Trainspotting1996

Both track young men convinced that abandoning their hometown for sensation and consumption is liberation; both are unflinching about where that path ends.

Another tale of young men chasing oblivion in a foreign landscape, but with heroin instead of coke and Edinburgh instead of Spain. Boyle's kinetic direction, the soundtrack, the moral vertigo—it's about intoxication as escape, not ascent.

But The drug use is graphic and the film doesn't glamorize it; it's punishing in ways that the glitzy crime world isn't. Some find it dated.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998

London criminals, overlapping schemes, sudden violence, and dark comedy. It has the same DNA as The Business but earlier, tighter, and Ritchie's direction makes the chaos feel balletic.

But The overlapping plots can feel more clever than consequential; characters blur together when the style dominates the story.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster

GoodFellas1990

The gold standard: a man seduced into organized crime, narrated in real-time as the rush becomes paranoia. Scorsese's energy never flags, and the film understands why the life is so intoxicating.

But Three and a half hours; by design it demands your full attention and doesn't let you coast.

In the Name of the Father1993

Daniel Day-Lewis as a young man caught between worlds, charisma and rage. An IRA thriller with tremendous emotional weight and genuine stakes beyond the hedonism.

But Heavier and more explicitly political than you might expect; the violence carries real consequences.

Donnie Brasco1997

An undercover cop infiltrates the Mob and falls genuinely in love with the life and with Al Pacino's aging capo. It's about seduction and loyalty in equal measure, and surprisingly tender.

But It's slower and more introspective than its premise suggests; some find it melancholic rather than thrilling.

Blow2001

Johnny Depp as a cocaine trafficker who lived the dream and paid the price. Stylish, sad, and genuinely interested in the interior life of someone seduced by excess.

But Depp's accent is distracting and the film doesn't hide that it's a tragedy; there's no real fun in the corruption.

A Prophet2009

A young man rises through prison hierarchy with intelligence and ruthlessness. Gripping, morally complex, and genuinely exciting—the kind of crime film that earns its tension.

But French dialogue and subtitles; it's slower to unfold than genre conventions would suggest, and the protagonist isn't likeable.

Gomorrah2008

Both show crime as an economic system, not a moral choice. The difference: The Business is seduced; Gomorrah is documenting the trap from inside.

A Neapolitan crime epic structured like interconnected short stories, each showing a different angle of organized crime—from street dealers to construction contracts. Mateo Garrone's direction is ice-cold and absolutely hypnotic.

But It's in Italian with subtitles; deeply pessimistic about social mobility; violence is sudden and consequence-rich rather than stylish. Long and demanding.