Film

The Hit

Name: The Hit
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: 1984
Cast: John Hurt, Terence Stamp, Tim Roth, Laura del Sol, Bill Hunter

A tense road-trip thriller about a mafia informer being driven to his execution by two assassins. Stephen Frears directs with restraint and dark humour—the violence arrives suddenly, never cheaply. It's a character study disguised as a hitman movie, driven by performances rather than plot mechanics. For viewers who prefer moral complexity to spectacle.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like road movies where the talk does most of the work, with a sour, sardonic take on betrayal and the long shadow an old crime casts over the people who committed it.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting or a warm lead, since the mood stays cold and the humour is bitter enough to sting, and the pace rarely hurries to please you.

What it asks of you: Under two hours of unhurried road talk and waiting, with the menace building quietly rather than in bursts, so patience pays off more than quick reflexes do.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

In Bruges2008

Two hitmen hiding out after a job gone wrong, wrestling with conscience and consequences. It has The Hit's gallows humour and character focus, but Colm Farrell and Brendan Gleeson give it more overt emotional weight.

But The tonal shifts between comedy and violence can feel mannered. Some find it tries too hard to be clever about its own darkness.

The Long Good Friday1980

Bob Hoskins as a London gangster watching his world collapse in a single night. Like The Hit, it's a compact thriller that trusts actors over exposition, with real menace beneath the surface.

But The plot turns on information viewers don't have. Some find the pacing frustratingly slow in the middle act.

Sexy Beast2001

Ray Winstone as a retired criminal in Spain whose life implodes when Ben Kingsley arrives as a psychopathic intruder. Surreal, unsettling, built entirely on performance and mood rather than plot momentum.

But The surrealism and lack of conventional narrative will alienate viewers wanting a straightforward story. It's deliberately difficult.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Prophet2009

Both are about moral men—or men who once had morals—being consumed by systems that exploit them. The Hit shows this in miniature and movement; A Prophet shows it in time-lapse, in a man's soul.

French prison drama following a young man's brutal education in incarceration. Structurally similar to The Hit—a journey into darkness with few heroes—but entirely internal. The moral decay happens to the watcher, not just observed from outside.

But It's French, subtitled, and demands close attention. At 150 minutes it doesn't rush. Violence is presented without mercy or distance.

Miller's Crossing1990

Coen Brothers crime film with interlocking double-crosses and morally compromised characters. The dialogue is sharp, the violence sudden, and nobody here is remotely heroic.

But The plot is genuinely difficult to follow. Rewatching is almost mandatory, which some resent on first viewing.

Thief1981

Michael Mann's film about a professional criminal trying to go straight, starring James Caan. Stylish, propulsive, with real emotional stakes beneath the heist plotting.

But The romance subplot feels dated. The synth score, while iconic, can feel mannered to modern ears.

Get Carter1971

Michael Caine as a London enforcer returning home to avenge his brother's death. Savage, economical, with none of the glamour usually applied to crime. British crime fiction at its hardest.

But It's grim without relief. Some find the misogyny and brutality alienating rather than morally interesting.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle1973

Robert Mitchum as a small-time criminal caught between the mob and the FBI. Quiet, unglamorous, about the exhaustion of a life spent on the margins. Deeply humane.

But Almost nothing happens. It's a film about stasis and defeat, which can read as boring if you're expecting momentum.

Killing Zoe1993

Roger Avary's debut: an American drifter in Paris caught in a bank heist that spirals into violence and betrayal. Frenetic, stylish, with real moral rot beneath the cool surface.

But The violence is graphic and the female characters are treated poorly. It can feel like style overwhelming substance.

Shaft1971

Gordon Parks' blaxploitation classic: a private detective navigating Harlem's criminal underworld. Isaac Hayes' theme is legendary, and it's a briskly entertaining thriller with real social texture.

But Some of the characterisation feels dated. If you're not in the mood for 1970s camp aesthetics, it won't hold you.

Johnny Handsome1989

Both films use physical journey (or in this case, bodily transformation) as metaphor for moral impossibility. You cannot run from what you are.

Walter Hill's film noir about a criminal released from prison with reconstructive surgery, trying to rebuild his life. Visually stylised, morally baroque, with Mickey Rourke giving a performance of real vulnerability.

But The plot is pulpy and the social realism is thin. It's more interested in aesthetic and atmosphere than in how crime actually works.

Memories of Murder2003

Both are about how systems—criminal, legal, institutional—fail individuals. Both find dark humour in that failure. Both trust you to sit with moral ambiguity rather than resolve it.

Bong Joon-ho's serial killer thriller set in 1980s South Korea. A police procedural that becomes increasingly nightmarish, built on performance and spatial intelligence rather than plot. Devastating about power, futility, and complicity.

But It's long, in Korean with subtitles, and does not provide narrative satisfaction. The ending will frustrate viewers wanting closure.