Movies like The City (2022)
The best movies like The City (2022) are Stray Dog (1949), Cornered (1945) and Underworld U.S.A. (1961). If The City hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedYojimbo (1961)8.1/10 from 1,790 votes
- NewestREFLECTION OF A DEADMAN (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseStray Dog (1949)Also in Japanese
Stray Dog (1949)
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCornered (1945)
A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnderworld U.S.A. (1961)
A bitter young man sets out to get back at the gangsters who murdered his father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConflict (1945)
Unhappily married Richard Mason concocts a meticulous scheme to kill his shrewish wife so that he'll be free to marry her sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Drifter (1966)
After yakuza boss Kurata dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata's top operative, Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo. When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the "Viper", a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlower & Snake: Zero (2014)
Misaki Amemiya is an assistant inspector for the Metropolitan Police Department's Community Safety Bureau who becomes ensnared in a trap while investigating a mysterious illegal video website called "Babylon". Soon, she's bound and tortured along with Shizuko and an oversexed housewife named Ruri.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Book (2023)
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Mirror (1946)
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleep, My Love (1948)
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRoad to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Man Who Cheated Himself (1950)
A veteran homicide detective who has witnessed his socialite girlfriend kill her husband sees his inexperienced brother assigned to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisM (1951)
In the city, someone is murdering children. The police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Punch (2014)
Milton, a college dropout, was only supposed to cook meth for one day. Broken out of rehab by a brash young woman and her trigger-happy ("ex") boyfriend and driven to a remote cabin the woods, Milton finds himself drawn into a dangerous love triangle gone haywire. The couple's deadpan half-truths spin around Milton like a song on repeat. They seem to read him like an open book, until a mysterious message opens his eyes to his cursed existence. With unlimited ammunition, any hunting tool they could desire, and an ever-growing body count, for what did Milton really sign up?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry Terror! (1958)
A mad bomber holds an innocent family hostage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Paprika (2006)
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hand of Destiny (1954)
In-Ja, the madam of a cabaret is a mistress of the boss of espionage agent. She gathers information from the guests and gives it to Seon-Tae.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Yojimbo (1961)
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNotorious (1946)
In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecret Beyond the Door (1947)
After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home full of his strange relations, and macabre rooms that are replicas of famous murder sites. One locked room contains the secret to her husband's obsession, and the truth about what happened to his first wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStay (2021)
In 'Quédate' we meet Ana, a young prostitute, who has a disturbing encounter with Manuel, a lonely man who seeks consolation for a painful breakup.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Versus (2000)
A group of ruthless gangsters, an unknown woman and an escaped convict have met, in The Forest of Resurrection, the 444th portal to the other side. Their troubles start when those once killed and buried in the forest come back from the dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisREFLECTION OF A DEADMAN (2026)
Haunted by a fleeting encounter, a man becomes consumed by his obsession with a stranger. Drawn deeper into the streets of Paris, he follows the figure through an urban underworld where identity blurs, time fractures, and meaning slips out of reach. Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Man of the Crowd," REFLECTION OF A DEADMAN is a hypnotic descent into dissociation, anonymity and the quiet terror of losing yourself while trying to find yourself. Shot on location in the alleys, cemeteries and catacombs of Paris. Watch for free on Film Shortage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The City?
The closest matches to The City are Stray Dog (1949), Cornered (1945) and Underworld U.S.A. (1961). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The City?
Start with Stray Dog (1949), the closest match to The City.
What is the highest-rated movie like The City?
Yojimbo (1961), rated 8.1/10 by 1,790 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The City?
REFLECTION OF A DEADMAN (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The City?
Yes: Stray Dog (1949), Tokyo Drifter (1966) and Flower & Snake: Zero (2014).
How are movies similar to The City chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The City, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.