Best Brazilian crime movies

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.

After a bloody invasion of the BOPE in the High-Security Penitentiary Bangu 1 in Rio de Janeiro to control a rebellion of interns, the Lieutenant-Colonel Roberto Nascimento and the second in command Captain André Matias are accused by the Human Right Aids member Diogo Fraga of execution of prisoners. Matias is transferred to the corrupted Military Police and Nascimento is exonerated from the BOPE by the Governor.

Set in Brazil, three kids who make a discovery in a garbage dump soon find themselves running from the cops and trying to right a terrible wrong.

Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.

An impoverished teen seeking to escape the clutches of a human trafficker must weigh living up to his moral code against his struggle to survive.

In a dog-eat-dog world, Raimundo Nonato has found an alternative way to move ahead: he cooks. No matter what social strata this deceptively innocent young man inhabits, he hones his skills and sharpens his knives—and then he falls in love. Jorge's nimble comic fable provides a smartly constructed gastronomic allegory for ambition and survival.

A young photocopier operator becomes infatuated with his neighbor and, unable to afford anything from her shop, turns to shady schemes to make money.

Based on one of the most shocking and gruesome murder cases in Brazil, the film presents Daniel Cravinhos's point of view of the events that led to the death of Marísia and Manfred von Richthofen, his girlfriend’s parents.

Based on one of the most shocking and gruesome murder cases in Brazil, the film presents de Suzane von Richthofen's point of view of the events that led to the death of her parents.

Love turns to hate and panic breeds suspicion as two parents deal with the kidnapping of their child.

An independent private security firm arrives at a middle-class neighborhood in Recife, Brazil.

10-year-old Pixote endures torture, degradation, and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of its members are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old trans hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape and they start to make their living by a life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death.

The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

Edgar is a young upper-middle class man, close to completing 30 years old, he lives a full life crisis and is in a position common to the vast majority of Brazilians. On the one hand the power, represented by a corrupt state, abusive and absent in their taxes before their obligations. On the other, crime increasingly organized violence became a constant in the lives of citizens in large cities. Edgar responds to all this as a modern vigilante. With the help of ingredients such as technology, counter-information and manipulation, Edgar concocts a brilliant plan, using the greed of their opponents as the reason for its destruction. As the plot unfolds, we know more about the dark past of each character as Edgar fit the pieces together in an intriguing puzzle that makes up the film's plot.

Bruceuilis, a policeman from the countryside, is assigned to rescue Celestina, a goat considered heritage of his small city, and travels to São Paulo. There, he meets police clerk Trindade, who decides to venture out into the field, even though it is not his specialty.

When João goes to Brazil in search of a better life, he meets punk music enthusiast Maria and falls in love with her. But his involvement in the local drug trade makes him the target of a vicious drug lord.

Documentary depicts what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12th 2000, when bus 174 was taken by an armed young man, threatening to shoot all the passengers. Transmitted live on all Brazilian TV networks, this shocking and tragic-ending event became one of violence's most shocking portraits, and one of the scariest examples of police incompetence and abuse in recent years.

Sandro was a boy who loved to sing rap, to kiss, to stare the statue of Christ the Redeemer and dreamed to go visit Copacabana. Growing up on streets, the story culminates at the infamous episode of 12th June 2000, when Sandro hijacked bus 174.

At the age of nine, Rebeca is sold by her grandmother to the bookseller who ran Rocinha. Disputed by bicheiros and drug dealers, the community is going through changes in power. Rebeca becomes the wife of the chief drug dealer and, with the death of her partner, his successor. The electrifying trajectory of crime, violence, drugs and love of a female drug kingpin in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s.

"The Baron" wanted to commit the perfect heist involving 3 tons of money and no violence. For this he would need the right people willing to get 1 million dollars to take part in this job. Based on true events, in 2005, 168,000,000 Brazilian Real (almost 80,000,000 US dollars) were stolen from a Brazilian Central Bank (Federal Reserve), making it the biggest peace-time robbery in history. It was perhaps the most audacious bank heist ever.

Miguel is a federal agent, highly trained and skilled in weapons. After experiencing trauma in his personal life, he sets out on a journey of revenge, assuming the identity of a masked vigilante. The Awakener decides to do justice with his own hands by exterminating corrupt politicians.

A restaurant owner going over the edge when an armed robbery is attempted at his establishment. He holds everyone captive at gunpoint – criminals and customers alike – and situations corrode into a nightmare state, guided by manipulation and raw compulsion.

In a crime-plagued area of Rio de Janeiro, a team of honest cops, including a determined rookie, fights corruption and mistrust on all sides.

After a botched scam, Clóvis bumps into Lohane, his estranged foster sister. In a bind, they soon realize the only way out is to band together.

Nina is an elderly woman who lives alone and feels distressed by the increasing violence in her neighborhood. Amidst conflicts with her neighbors, she decides to film the movement of drug traffickers from her window, hoping to assist the police. After months of recording suspicious activities, her initiative attracts the attention of a journalist, who approaches Nina and offers to support her in her mission.

An infamous serial killer who assaulted and killed several women in the '90s, gets on a collision course with a young journalist eager for the truth and a career-changing article.

Éder is arrested after confessing the murder of a man. Duca, his nephew, is sure that his uncle confessed the crime to protect his girlfriend, Soraya, ex-wife of the deceased, so he enlists two of his friends to help prove his theory.

2013. During Operation Bidone, the Federal Police seized a truck loaded with palm heart, which contained 697 kg of cocaine. The investigation falls on the team assembled by Ivan Romano, based in Curitiba and composed by Beatriz, Júlio and Ítalo. The traffic connections lead them to the dower Alberto Youssef and later to the former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa, who reveals an immense structure involving builders and the government, in order to divert public money. As the investigation progresses, the group led by Ivan is increasingly approaching some of the country's most influential politicians.

See what Suzane von Richthofen, Daniel Cravinhos and Cristian Cravinhos did in the days following the brutal crime that led to the Richthofen couple's death. This film reveals crucial moments of the police investigation, testimonies and the confession of the crime.

In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro of the 1930s, João Francisco dos Santos is several things — son of slaves, ex-convict, thug, homosexual and adopted father for a number of pariahs. João expresses himself on the stage of a cabaret as Madame Satã.

A star goalkeeper threatens a woman who is pregnant with his child. Her pleas for help go unanswered in the shadow of his fame — then tragedy strikes.

Five undercover cops at Complexo do Alemão, one of Rio de Janeiro's most dangerous areas, have their covers blown by drug dealers. Arrested, they wait execution or to be rescued by police forces that would risk expose a larger operation.

Maiquél has lost a bet and dyed his hair blond. This seemingly innocuous event triggers a head-on collision with destiny in which he goes from nobody to hero to outlaw — all in 24 hours.

When a teacher takes one of her students to his home in the slum, she discovers that drug traffickers have killed the child's parents and are looking for the boy.

Born and raised in the misery of Brazilian slums, Jorge becomes a luxury house burglar in São Paulo and gets nicknamed "The Red Light Bandit" by the sensationalist press. In addition to wearing a red flashlight, he talks to his hostages in an irreverent tone and makes bold breakthroughs to later spend the money extravagantly. His world is the decadent neighbourhood of Boca do Lixo.

Rosario Tijeras has been abused by men all her life, initially by her stepfather. Years later, she works as a paid assassin, seducing men and killing them when they least expect it. She meets Emilio, a wealthy womanizer, and his best friend, Antonio, at a nightclub, and starts an affair with Emilio despite Antonio's growing feelings for her. But circumstances bring her closer to Antonio, until her past catches up with her in a devastating way.

Davi is a shy film student who hides a dark past. When visiting his neighbor Maria, a forgotten instinct comes to light and he commits his first murder. The next morning, to Davi’s surprise, Maria reappears in his apartment and begins to influence the boy to follow a journey of crimes that will reveal his true nature: of a serial killer.

In the 90s, Rio de Janeiro was shaken by a wave of kidnappings. Security forces call controversial agents to help save the city from thugs and also from the police itself.

The story of Júlio Santana, a professional killer who was responsible for almost 500 hundred murders in Brazil.

When a pedestrian is hit by a bus, the simple clerk Arandir runs and kisses the moribund in a gesture of sympathy and unconditional pure love. Opportunist photographer Amado Pinheiro witnesses the scene and sees the opportunity to sell newspaper and, together with the despicable and abusive chief of police Cunha, accuses Arandir of homosexuality.

Larissa competed for the Rio Military Police in search of the ideal of “protecting the citizen”.

Two businessmen hire a hitman to kill their third partner and are then blackmailed by the hitman as he takes over their company.

In this biopic about the life and death of Ângela Diniz, Angela meets Raul and believes she has found someone who loves her free spirit as much as she does. The overwhelming attraction makes the couple drop everything and live the dream of rebuilding their lives on the beach. But the relationship declines into abuse and violence, giving rise to one of the most remembered murders in Brazil.

Sao Paulo, Brazil. Isabel, a 25-year-old girl, is kidnapped. The first ATM the criminals try to withdraw money from is broken. It's almost 10:00pm. The kidnappers realize they will not be able to get to the next one on time. What was meant to be an express kidnapping becomes an all-night imprisonment.

When witnessing a hit, Arandir, a newly married banker, tries to succor the victim, but the man, almost dead, has only time to make one last request: a kiss. Arandir kisses the man, but his act is spotted by his father-in-law Aprígio and photographed by Amado Ribeiro, a tabloid reporter.

A public relations man is invited to guide an American millionaire during his stay in Rio de Janeiro. He gets involved in the most bizarre situations, from orgiastic mega-parties to confrontations with the police, meetings with drug dealers and movie stars, facing corruption and even murder.

A documentary about urban violence in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Policemen, drug dealers, and shantytown dwellers get trapped in a daily war that knows no winners.

An anonymous urban protagonist experiences a series of absurd situations--including a crazy cab ride, an encounter with a wacky criminal gang, and lots of gunplay--infused with a unique anarchic energy, eventually suggesting our true animal nature.

The story of William da Silva Lima, the last survivor of the group that founded the Comando Vermelho at the end of the 1970s. It shows him living together with the political prisoners incurred under the same National Security Law and his leadership in the Ilha Grande Prison creating a type of unheard of conduct and solidarity in the Brazilian prisons. The film goes on to tell of the group's actions on the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the beginning of the 80s when they irritated the police with their daring robberies, as well as portraying the surprising love story between William and Tereza. The narrative weaves its way between the intimate conflict and the spectacular assaults and escapes.

Year 2006. There are riots in São Paulo. In the middle of the violent situation, widow Lucia is trying to get her young son Rafael from prison.

The story of a famous Brazilian bandit in the early 1970s and his fight against a paramilitary organization known as the Death Squad.

Based on true events in Rio de Janeiro, in 1960, when a gang having the infamous outlaw Tião Medonho as a leader performed a sensational railroad hold-up on a train carrying a small fortune.

The inhabitants of the Brazilian city of Contagem yearn for a better life. At the core of it all is Selma, a woman dreaming about the heart of the world: it could be anywhere, as long as it's a place where to feel happier.

The true-life story of Brazilian TV host Wallace Souza, who literally killed for ratings, and used his crime TV show to cover up the grizzly truth.

Rio Branco, Acre, an Amazon city near the border with Peru and Bolivia, has been suffering the violent impacts of recent changes in trafficking routes, which have arrived with violence in the Brazilian Amazon. In this scenario, the lives of three young childhood friends intertwine and ultimately, they find themselves in a common tragedy.

Two amateur thieves are hired to steal an extremely valuable Van Gogh painting from the abandoned farm of an Argentinian countess.

In 2006, when the Brazilian economy was taking off due to the discovery of oil in the pre-salt layer, Eike Batista decided to create the oil company OGX and hired the best men from Petrobras to participate in the pre-salt auction. But megalomaniacal plans and a series of misguided decisions and alliances cause their empire to crumble as spectacularly as it had grown. And Brazil watches, perplexed, the fall of Eike, who loses all his fortune, power and prestige. Inspired by the book by journalist Malu Gaspar.

Querô is an orphan teenager, living alone near the docks in Santos, Brazil. His mother, a prostitute, died when he was a baby, and he was raised in the bordello where she worked. Believing he rules his own destiny, he refuses to compromise with anyone else, the corrupt policemen always chasing him, the oppressive discipline in the juvenile institution Febem, or the drug dealers who try to lure him. But this independence has a price.

Out of prison, notorious black-market currency trader Nelma Kodama exposes her part in a major Brazilian corruption scandal.

Sequel to the award-winning 2007 film, Stomach 2 tells the tasty and bloody dispute between a faction leader and an Italian boss for control of the prison where they are held and the privilege of being served by the talented cook Raimundo Nonato

Adapted from his autobiography, the film recounts the story of Hiroito, The King of Boca do Lixo (a region in downtown São Paulo of the fifties where various nightclubs, strip joints, prostitution, bars, and drugs can be found). Hiroito was a well born bohemian and at the age of 21 was accused for the murder of his father, who was violently stabbed over 40 times with a razor. Hiroito was not charged, however two months after the death of his father, Hiroito bought two guns and moved to Boca do Lixo and became one of the most dangerous criminals of the region.

Mid-1970s. When the military regime's "economic miracle" and the victory of the Brazilian football team on the World Cup serve as a distraction for the persecution of opposition leaders by the political police of the dictatorship. Under this context, Jofre Godoi da Fonseca, an alienated middle-class man, is mistaken for Sarmento, a political activist he met at an airport prior to his assassination. He is then arrested for being "subversive".

Rio de Janeiro, in the period in which the Police Pacification Units (PPUs) were beginning to be deployed in the city. Edna (Lilia Cabral) is the mother of Julio (Pedro Nercessian) and Silvio (Fiuk). One day she wakes up desperate to see that Julio just disappeared!

Adriano is an honest prison guard who is averse to violence. He tries to keep the prison peaceful, even though he is struggling with major family problems. The arrival of Abdel, a dangerous international terrorist, increases the tension in the prison, which is already experiencing days of terror due to the fight between two criminal factions. Now, Adriano will have to face a rebellion and control Abdel's every move.