Movies like While you were away (2020)
The best movies like While you were away (2020) are Hide and Seek (2005), The Closet (2020) and Bed Rest (2023). If While you were away hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Closet (2020)7.1/10 from 213 votes
- NewestSnoopy Presents: There's No Place Like Home, Snoopy (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanThe Closet (2020)Also in Korean
Hide and Seek (2005)
David Callaway tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide and has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily on his own. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named 'Charlie', but it isn't long before 'Charlie' develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realisation that 'Charlie' isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Closet (2020)
After moving into a new house, a young girl begins displaying strange and disturbing behavior until, one day, she disappears behind a closet. While the devastated father is left with no clue about his daughter's disappearance, an exorcist shows up to help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBed Rest (2023)
After struggling to start a family, Julie Rivers becomes pregnant and moves into a new home with her husband. She's ordered to mandatory bed rest, and begins seeing ghostly happenings throughout the house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWakefield (2017)
A man's nervous breakdown causes him to leave his wife and live in his attic for several months.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1408 (2007)
A man specializing in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFear (1996)
Nicole Walker always dreamed of being swept away by someone special — someone strong, sexy and sensitive who would care for her more than anything else in the world. David is all that and more: a modern-day knight who charms and seduces her, body and soul. But her perfect boyfriend is not all he seems to be. His sweet facade masks a savage, dark side that will soon transform Nicole's dream into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (2020)
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRecalled (2021)
Soo-jin, who lost her memories due to a horrible incident, starts suspecting her husband. She is confused between reality and illusion, truth and lies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHaunted (1995)
Professor David Ash exposes false spiritulists and mediums. He is invited to Edbrook to resolve the fears and torments within its secretive family. Soon after arriving Ash begins to doubt his own senses, and watching the strange behaviour of its residents does not make his task any easier. In time, he finds there's more to Edbrook than even he can debunk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnoopy Presents: There's No Place Like Home, Snoopy (2026)
When Snoopy's beloved doghouse goes missing, he tries to track it down, and learns what makes a house feel like home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMargaux (2022)
As a group of seniors celebrate their final college days at a smart house, the house's highly advanced AI system, Margaux, begins to take on a deadly presence of her own. A carefree weekend of partying turns into a dystopian nightmare as they realize Margaux's plans to eliminate her tenants one way or another. Time begins to run out as the group desperately tries to survive and outsmart the smart home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisExorcism Chronicles: The Beginning (2025)
When a demonic uprising threatens to end the world as they know it, a monk and an excommunicated priest join forces to protect a powerful young boy and the next generation of magic. As dark forces close in, the unlikely trio must confront their inner demons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thismother! (2017)
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Number 23 (2007)
Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpider (2002)
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cellar (2022)
When Keira Woods' daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house in the country, she soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family's souls forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFear the Invisible Man (2023)
A young British widow shelters an old medical school colleague, a man who has somehow turned himself invisible. As his isolation grows and his sanity frays, he schemes to create a reign of wanton murder and terror across the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand Words (2012)
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like While you were away?
The closest matches to While you were away are Hide and Seek (2005), The Closet (2020) and Bed Rest (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after While you were away?
Start with Hide and Seek (2005), the closest match to While you were away.
What is the highest-rated movie like While you were away?
The Closet (2020), rated 7.1/10 by 213 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like While you were away?
Snoopy Presents: There's No Place Like Home, Snoopy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like While you were away?
Yes: The Closet (2020), Recalled (2021) and Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning (2025).
How are movies similar to While you were away chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside While you were away, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.