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Righteous Kill

Righteous Kill

Crime · Thriller · Mystery · 2008

Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

Movie details

Righteous Kill

“Most people respect the badge. Everybody respects the gun.”

2008 Crime · Thriller · Mystery 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.0 / 10

95.4K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

18 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

36 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

5.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Righteous Kill?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A Walk Among the Tombstones

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A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.

Cleaner

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My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

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Inside Man

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Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.

Blood Ties

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The Public Eye

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A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.

Mindcage

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Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jon Avnet

Written by

Russell Gewirtz

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Turk

Al Pacino

Al Pacino

Rooster

50 Cent

50 Cent

Spider

Carla Gugino

Carla Gugino

Karen Corelli

John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo

Det. Simon Perez

Donnie Wahlberg

Donnie Wahlberg

Det. Ted Riley

Brian Dennehy

Brian Dennehy

Hingis

Court is in session

Put Righteous Kill on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.