Hitmen have been a staple of movies for decades, whether they’re cold-blooded professionals, reluctant assassins, mob enforcers, or killers who are just trying to get out of the business. From crime thrillers and action movies to dark comedies and even horror, Hollywood has given us plenty of memorable movies about people who make a living taking other people out. Here are our picks for the 10 coolest hitman movies of all time.
And just to be clear, we’re ranking the movies themselves, rather than the individual hitmen.
#10 – Kill List
Underseen by most American audiences, Ben Wheatley’s Kill List starts out as a gritty British hitman thriller before taking a very dark turn into psychological horror. Neil Maskell stars as Jay, a former soldier turned contract killer who takes on a new assignment with his old partner Gal, played by Michael Smiley. What begins as a straightforward list of targets gradually becomes something far more disturbing, blending brutal crime drama with Lovecraftian horror, Kubrickian paranoia, and an increasingly nightmarish atmosphere. If that isn’t enough praise, I don’t know what is. Kill List is the kind of movie that starts as one thing and ends somewhere you absolutely do not expect, making it one of the most unsettling hitman movies you’ll ever see.
#9 – Grosse Pointe Blank
Part of John Cusack’s resurgence in the late 1990s, Grosse Pointe Blank puts him in one of his most unusual roles: a professional hitman having a serious career crisis. Martin Blank returns to his hometown for his 10-year high school reunion, where he reconnects with his old girlfriend while dealing with rival assassins, angry clients, and the inconvenient realization that he might want something more out of life. The movie somehow balances dark comedy, romance, and surprisingly cool action without any of them feeling out of place. An awesome soundtrack featuring The Clash, The Specials, The Cure, Violent Femmes, and more only adds to the fun, while Dan Aykroyd gets to play a rival hitman who somehow manages to be both hilarious and badass.
#8 – Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai may be the most unconventional movie on this list, and that is exactly what makes it so cool. Forest Whitaker is phenomenal as Ghost Dog, a professional hitman who lives by the ancient code of the samurai and takes his loyalty to his mobster employer very seriously. When the mob decides that Ghost Dog has become a liability, they quickly discover that they have picked the wrong man to cross. Jarmusch blends old-school gangster movies, samurai philosophy, urban crime, and hip hop culture into something that feels completely unlike anything else on this list. RZA, who also appears in the movie, provides the atmospheric score, making Ghost Dog one of the coolest and most unusual hitman movies ever made.
#7 – In Bruges
Colin Farrell’s Ray is a young hitman dealing with a crisis of conscience after accidentally killing a child during a botched job. He and his older partner Ken, played by Brendan Gleeson, are sent to hide out in Bruges, Belgium, while they wait for further instructions from their ruthless boss Harry, played by Ralph Fiennes. Ray hates the picturesque medieval city, while Ken actually enjoys playing tourist, but their situation becomes more complicated as Ray tries to deal with his guilt and Harry’s orders become more troubling. Martin McDonagh’s movie manages to be brutally violent, genuinely funny, and surprisingly emotional without any of those elements feeling out of place. Farrell, Gleeson, and Fiennes are all fantastic, and the movie gives its hitmen more humanity than you might expect from a crime thriller. In Bruges is one of the best examples of how a hitman movie can be about much more than the killing.
#6 – John Wick
Unlike most movies that have to give us a massive backstory about a character, John Wick lets us discover who this legendary hitman was after he has already left the business. Keanu Reeves stars as the seemingly retired assassin, who is dragged back into the violent world he left behind after a gangster’s son kills his dog and steals his car. From there, John Wick reminds everyone in the criminal underworld exactly why his name was spoken with fear. Reeves is phenomenal in the role, bringing a quiet intensity to Wick while also proving to be an absolute machine when the shooting and hand-to-hand combat begin. Chad Stahelski’s spectacular action choreography helped make John Wick a modern action classic and launched a franchise that has since grown to four main films, the Ballerina spin-off, and an expanding universe of characters and stories.
#5 – No Country for Old Men
There is no doubt that Anton Chigurh is the most chilling hitman on this list. Javier Bardem’s Oscar-winning performance turns the character into something that feels less like a traditional movie villain and more like a human Terminator: cold, relentless, and seemingly impossible to stop. Chigurh is hired to recover a suitcase full of drug money after Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon the aftermath of a botched deal and makes the mistake of taking the cash. From there, Chigurh methodically tracks Moss while leaving a trail of bodies behind him, calmly deciding the fate of some victims with a coin toss along the way. The Coen Brothers make him terrifying without ever giving us a traditional villain’s backstory or motivation, which somehow makes him even more frightening. Plus, he has Dora the Explorer’s haircut, and that is scary on any adult.
#4 – Collateral
One of Tom Cruise’s most badass roles, Vincent is a cold and calculating hitman who hijacks a Los Angeles cab for one long night of contract killings. Jamie Foxx plays Max, the cab driver who initially thinks he has simply picked up another well-paying passenger, only to discover that Vincent needs him to drive from target to target while leaving a trail of bodies behind. The real strength of Collateral, though, is the relationship between these two completely different men. Vincent tries to manipulate Max into accepting his ruthless worldview, while Max gradually finds the courage to stand up to the man who has been controlling his entire night. Michael Mann gives the movie a sleek, atmospheric look, and Cruise is terrific as a killer who is frightening precisely because he remains so calm and professional. Collateral proves that even the most highly trained hitman can be thrown off his game by the person he least expects.
#3 – Road to Perdition
Sam Mendes and Tom Hanks do not seem like the most obvious pairing for a movie about a Depression-era mob hitman, but Road to Perdition proves just how well the combination works. Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, an enforcer for Irish mob boss John Rooney, whose life is thrown into chaos when his young son witnesses a killing and Sullivan’s own family becomes a target. Forced to go on the run with his son, Sullivan finds himself caught between his life as a professional killer and his desire to protect his child from becoming anything like him. And while Hanks gives the movie its emotional center, Jude Law is chilling as Harlen Maguire, a ruthless hitman sent to hunt Sullivan down. Beautifully shot by Mendes and anchored by terrific performances, Road to Perdition remains one of the most underrated crime movies of the 2000s.
#2 – The Professional
Luc Besson’s The Professional is one of those movies that manages to work as a stylish action thriller while also telling an unexpectedly emotional story about two very different people. Jean Reno stars as Léon, a highly skilled professional hitman who lives a quiet, solitary life in New York until his 12-year-old neighbor Mathilda, played by Natalie Portman, turns to him for help after her family is murdered by corrupt DEA agents led by Gary Oldman’s psychotic Stansfield. Mathilda wants revenge, while Léon reluctantly takes her under his wing and begins teaching her the skills of his deadly trade. The relationship between Léon and Mathilda gives the movie more heart than you might expect from a movie about professional assassins, while Besson delivers plenty of memorable action along the way. Reno, Portman, and Oldman are all fantastic, and the result is a movie that can appeal to action fans, crime fans, and drama fans without fitting neatly into any one genre. Three decades later, The Professional remains one of the most distinctive hitman movies ever made.
#1 – Pulp Fiction
There is so much more to Pulp Fiction than just the hitmen story, but John Travolta’s Vincent Vega and Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield are such unique and original characters that their intertwined story is one of the most memorable parts of the entire film. They are consummate professionals who can casually discuss fast food, foot massages, and European vacations one minute and execute a room full of people the next. Quentin Tarantino makes these two killers strangely funny and endlessly entertaining without ever forgetting that they are dangerous men who make their living murdering people for a gangster. Their story also takes the movie in very different directions, particularly as Jules begins to question the life he has been living after what he believes is a divine intervention. Travolta and Jackson are phenomenal together, and their chemistry is a huge part of what makes the movie work. Sure, they have their comedic moments, but if you saw Vincent and Jules coming down your street, you would run and hide.
