Film

The Kitchen

Other titles called The Kitchen: the 1961 film.

Three Hell's Kitchen wives take over their imprisoned husbands' mob operations in 1978. It's a revenge thriller dressed as a crime caper, with dark humour and genuine violence. Glossy and propulsive, it asks what happens when people with nothing to lose discover they're better at crime than the men who taught them.

TMDb rating3.1

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Widows2018

Heist thriller with similar DNA—women inheriting a criminal empire and outthinking everyone around them. McQueen's direction is immaculate and the ensemble cast is phenomenal.

But Slower paced and much more interested in character psychology than action beats. Takes itself dead seriously.

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Ocean's Eight2018

That same energy of capable women orchestrating something ambitious and fun. Lighter in tone but with genuine stakes and excellent chemistry between leads who actually seem to like each other.

But It's pure entertainment with no depth, and some of the heist mechanics don't quite hold up to scrutiny.

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GoodFellas1990

The masterclass in how to make mob life seductive and kinetic. If The Kitchen owes a style to anywhere, it's here—the music, the swagger, the voiceover immersion in a criminal world.

But Three and a half hours, and the women are largely decorative. A different era of filmmaking in how it sees its female characters.

GoodFellas poster

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Something you would not have found on your own.

The Long Good Friday1980

Both films are about organized crime when everything goes wrong at once. The Kitchen's housewives and Hoskins' ganglord discover that their old world rules don't apply anymore, and they have to improvise under pressure.

Bob Hoskins as a London gangster facing his empire's collapse in real time. It's a tightly coiled pressure cooker about power, loyalty, and how quickly things unravel. The Irish-British mob crossover and the female characters here are treated with real seriousness.

But Slow-burn and quite grim, with an ending that leaves you unsettled rather than satisfied. The 1980 British crime world is very much its own thing.

The Long Good Friday poster
More like this (8)

Justified2010

Crime drama with real bite and humour, where competent people solve problems with cunning as much as violence. Raylan and Boyd's cat-and-mouse game has the same tactical intelligence.

But A six-season commitment. The early seasons are stronger than the later ones, and it's more interested in dialogue than action.

Justified poster

American Animals2018

Another film about ordinary people discovering capability through crime. It's audacious formally and asks searching questions about why people do reckless things.

But Meta and self-conscious in a way that disrupts tension. Not an action film despite what the premise suggests.

American Animals poster

Bound1996

Wachowskis' debut: two women outmaneuvering the mob through intelligence and nerve. Erotic, stylish, and the heist logic is bulletproof.

But Very much a '90s thriller in pacing and some of the filmmaking choices feel dated now. Also, only 109 minutes and no franchise cache.

Bound poster

In Bruges2008

Crime drama with unexpected darkness and genuine character work underneath the genre mechanics. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have the kind of rapport that makes you believe their relationship.

But More of a character study than a plot-driver. The Bruges setting is beautiful but can feel static if you wanted propulsion.

In Bruges poster

The Irishman2019

Scorsese's meditation on mob life and consequences, with a stellar ensemble cast. A different approach to gangster storytelling—reflective rather than triumphalist.

But Over three hours of measured pacing. It's elegiac and slow, and the de-aging effects are genuinely distracting at times.

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Out of Sight1998

Crime romance with style and intelligence. Soderbergh directing Clooney and Lopez with real chemistry, and the heist plotting is clever without being show-offy.

But Almost thirty years old now. The late-'90s aesthetic is strong, and some viewers find heist films hollow if they're mostly about charm.

Out of Sight poster

Gomorra: La Serie2014

Both follow people running organized crime who are not traditionally powerful. Gomorrah removes all romance from the situation; The Kitchen finds a kind of feminist triumphalism. Together they're two opposite answers to the same question: what does it look like to be in charge?

Neapolitan mafia series that treats criminal operations as brutal, unglamorous work. Outstanding ensemble cast, and it doesn't flinch from what organized crime actually costs people. Completely absorbing and structurally inventive.

But In Italian with subtitles. Deeply dark, often bleak, and the pacing is European—patient and unhurried. Some seasons are stronger than others across five seasons.

Gomorra: La Serie poster

Selena1997

Both films center on women (and a female-led ensemble) and their ambition, loyalty, and what they're willing to do to protect their positions. One is a crime thriller, one is a music biography, but they're both about women claiming power in worlds that weren't built for them.

Jennifer Lopez in a biographical drama about power, family loyalty, and being betrayed by someone you trust. It's about a woman moving through a male-dominated world and the personal cost of that. Gregory Nava directs with warmth and real emotional weight.

But It's a biopic from 1997, and biopics are their own genre with its own limitations. If you're not interested in Selena's life, the scaffolding will show.

Selena poster

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