Crime movies have been a popular staple of Hollywood entertainment since the Golden Age of the film industry. Revolving around cops, gangsters, and regular people pulled into elaborate plots, these films often combine suspense, mystery, murder, and sometimes comedy. Some of the best crime films focus on otherwise ordinary people who get roped into a life of crime, either by choice or force, and explore the consequences of their actions.

Crime formed the basis of some of the best films of the 2010s, covering a wide spectrum of sub-genres, stories, and unique and dynamic characters placed into high-risk situations. From epic heist movies to murder mysteries, the decade has no shortage of brilliant movies for audiences to enjoy. Where some movies can glorify a life of crime, the message is almost always clear: crime doesn't pay.

10 Baby Driver Is A Fast-Paced Heist Movie

Baby Driver is a heist movie that revolves around Baby, a skilled getaway driver with tinnitus, who works for a local crime boss, Doc, as a way of compensating the criminal for having stolen one of his cars. When he's forced to work a heist at the post office, Baby finds himself in the middle of an escalating crisis as things go wrong, and he's forced on the run. With every cop in the city and a vengeful criminal pursuing him, Baby and his beloved Debora take to the road in a bid to get away safely.

Baby Driver became an instant with crime fans, and for good reason. Whether it's the movie's brilliant use of music, its stylish heist sequences, comedic moments, or entertaining characters, the film is one of the best heist stories in modern cinema. While the robbery itself is great, it's Baby's final escape that elevates the film from a great heist movie to an excellent crime story.

9 Nightcrawler Follows A Photographer Who Crosses The Line

Nightcrawler follows a small-time thief, Lou Bloom, who decides to become a stringer -- a freelance photographer who documents the aftermath of crimes and car crashes. After stealing what he needs, Bloom begins selling footage and photos to a local news station but crosses a line when he starts to tamper with crime scenes to get better footage. With a homeless man, Rick, working alongside him, the thief escalates his role when he begins orchestrating crimes, ensuring he always has the scoop before his competitors.

Nightcrawler shows Jake Gyllenhaal at his best, as he plays the part of an unethical, sociopathic criminal who is willing to do whatever it takes to be the best. Maintaining a tense atmosphere from start to finish, the movie showcases the shady world of freelance photography, its effects on people, and the importance of ethical boundaries. With no concern for anyone beyond how they can benefit him, Bloom manipulates the people in his life as he spirals into disaster.

8 Prisoners Is A Harrowing Tale Of Child Abduction

Prisoners introduces viewers to two suburban families, the Dovers and the Birches, whose kids spot a camper van on their street. From there, the two girls are abducted, and their parents are left in fear and rage as they deal with the frustrations of slow police work and the horror of not even knowing the fate of their kids. When the cops name a person of interest, one of the fathers, Keller Dover, abducts the man and subjects him to brutal torture in the hopes of finding the girls.

For many, Prisoners was the movie that put Dennis Villeneuve on the map, as it explores grief, one of the worst feelings a parent can endure, and how those experiences can change someone. Audiences watch as Keller descends into more and more brutality, destroying him as a person as he's left with no answers.

7 Hell Or High Water Is A Brilliant Neo-Western

Before Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan explored the neo-Western genre through cinema, most notably in Hell Or High Water. The story follows two brothers, Toby and Tanner Howard, who decide to rob a bank so they can pay off the mortgage on their family ranch and prevent foreclosure. However, when they go through with it, they're pursued by two seasoned Texas Rangers on their escape.

Written by Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan, Hell Or High Water is a brilliant Neo-Western movie, one that leaves audiences sympathizing with both the criminals and the cops. When one of the brothers kills a Ranger, things only get worse for them as they're forced to take to the hills for survival. As part of Sheridan's American Frontier Trilogy, the film calls back to classic Western heist movies, exploring both sides of its manhunt.

6 Cold Pursuit Borrows From Fargo For A Fresh Dark Comedy

Cold Pursuit centers around Nels Coxman, a small-town snow plow driver, who is driven to take revenge on a Denver drug kingpin, Viking, for murdering his son. With a sawed-off shotgun in hand, he works his way up the food chain of the local drug scene, taking on members of Viking's gang to find him and kill him. In the process, he unwittingly ropes in other characters, turning it into an escalating web of crime and mystery.

Cold Pursuit is a dark comedy crime thriller inspired by classics like Fargo and revolves around a variety of characters in the story, from hitmen to competing drug lords. When Nels begins to kill off Viking's gang, the criminal erroneously blames a competing Native American organization, inadvertently triggering a turf war between the two.

5 Drive Follows A Vengeful Getaway Driver

Drive focuses on a stunt driver who, by night, moonlights as an elite getaway driver for criminals in Los Angeles. Despite being a reclusive introvert, Driver befriends his neighbor, Irene, and her son, Benicio, while her husband, Standard, is in prison. Things take a turn for the nameless protagonist when Standard is released. After finding the parolee beaten in front of his son, Driver agrees to aid the man in a robbery -- but is left on the run when the man is shot. With Standard dead and a target painted on his back, Driver sets out to kill the men pursuing him before they can bring any harm to Irene or Benicio.

Drive is one of the most stylish and iconic films of the 2010s, with Ryan Gosling reinventing himself as one of cinema's best brooding antiheroes, a persona that stayed with him in later films. With a great soundtrack, fun driving sequences, and a unique escalation in violence, the film is one of its decade's most memorable, with a brilliant supporting cast that includes Brian Cranston, Christina Hendricks, and Oscar Isaac.

4 Bad Times At The El Royale Is The Decade's Biggest Hidden Gem

Bad Times at the El Royale takes place at the titular hotel, situated on the border between Nevada and California, an ailing business that was once the favorite among the rich and powerful. Now a desolate building with little business since losing its gambling license, the hotel plays host to a group of strangers, each of whom is there for different, mysterious reasons. Told over a single night, the film follows the shady characters as they become intertwined, including a thief looking for his money and a woman with a captive.

Bad Times at the El Royale is the biggest hidden gem horror movie of the 2010s, with an impressively star-studded cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, and Chris Hemsworth. The movie is reminiscent of a Coen Brothers story, using the mysterious backstories of its disparate characters to pique the interest of viewers as they begin to intersect. For people who enjoy mysteries like Identity and Knives Out, this hidden gem is the best film to watch.

3 A Walk Among The Tombstones Is A Tense Private Detective Movie

A Walk Among the Tombstones begins with Matt Scudder, a racist, alcoholic cop who gets caught up in a shootout, killing the criminals involved but wounding a pedestrian. Years later, audiences are reintroduced to a sober, repentant Scudder, who works as an unlicensed private investigator. He takes a case from a local drug dealer to find the men who kidnapped and murdered his wife. His investigation leads to the revelation that the men responsible are connected to law enforcement, and have been using files on drug dealers to pick their victims.

A Walk Among the Tombstones is one of the best modern private detective movies and stands alongside classic thrillers like Se7en and Manhunter in its tension and mystery. The film is a brilliant murder mystery as well as an excellent detective film, following Scudder as he crosses ethical lines to find the killers.

2 The Highwaymen Explores The Reality Behind Bonnie & Clyde