Movies like Checkmate (2016)
The best movies like Checkmate (2016) are Trance (2013), Spellbound (1945) and Dressed to Kill (1946). If Checkmate hooked you with its mystery and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPsycho (1960)8.4/10 from 11,426 votes
- NewestVerity (2026)Released 2026
Trance (2013)
A violent gang enlists the help of a hypnotherapist in an attempt to locate a painting which somehow vanished in the middle of a heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpellbound (1945)
When Dr. Anthony Edwardes arrives at a Vermont mental hospital to replace the outgoing hospital director, Dr. Constance Peterson, a psychoanalyst, discovers Edwardes is actually an impostor. The man confesses that the real Dr. Edwardes is dead and fears he may have killed him, but cannot recall anything. Dr. Peterson, however is convinced his impostor is innocent of the man's murder, and joins him on a quest to unravel his amnesia through psychoanalysis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDressed to Kill (1946)
A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElephant Song (2015)
A psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game when he questions a disturbed patient about the disappearance of a colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho (1960)
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
A rich man learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes. He sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Limits of Control (2009)
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVerity (2026)
Lowen Ashleigh, hired to ghostwrite for best-selling author Verity Crawford, uncovers Verity's autobiographical notes, and becomes involved in what may prove to be a lethal conspiracy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnknown (2006)
Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTerror by Night (1946)
Holmes and Watson board a passenger train bound from London to Edinburgh, to guard the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond worth a fortune belonging to an elderly woman of wealth; but within the first hour of the trip, the woman's son is murdered and the diamond stolen and any of the passengers in their car could be the killer thief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Reporter John Klein is plunged into a world of impossible terror when fate draws him to the sleepy West Virginia town of Point Pleasant, whose residents are being visited by a great winged shape that sows hideous nightmares and fevered visions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCa$h (2010)
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence – all in the name of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisJumanji (1995)
When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Daisy Gamble, an unusual woman who hears phones before they ring, and does wonders with her flowers, wants to quit smoking to please her fiancé, Warren. She goes to a doctor of hypnosis to do it. But once she's under, her doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities, and he finds himself falling in love with one of them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBedtime Stories (2008)
Skeeter Bronson is a down-on-his-luck guy who's always telling bedtime stories to his niece and nephew. But his life is turned upside down when the fantastical stories he makes up for entertainment inexplicably turn into reality. Can a bewildered Skeeter manage his own unruly fantasies now that the outrageous characters and situations from his mind have morphed into actual people and events?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisObsession (1976)
A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from a long list of suspects including the owners of the home, the staff and the patients recovering there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eve of Ivan Kupalo (1968)
Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & mystery
The Jacket (2005)
A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoogeyman (2005)
Every culture has one – the horrible monster fueling young children's nightmares. But for Tim, the Boogeyman still lives in his memories as a creature that devoured his father 16 years ago. Is the Boogeyman real, or did Tim make it up to explain why his father abandoned his family?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisEvent Horizon (1997)
In 2047, a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship Event Horizon which disappeared mysteriously seven years before on its maiden voyage. However, it soon becomes evident that something sinister resides in its corridors.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVampire's Kiss (1989)
A publishing executive is visited and bitten by a vampire and starts exhibiting erratic behavior. He pushes his secretary to extremes as he tries to come to terms with his affliction.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScream (2022)
Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwelve Monkeys (1995)
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlengarry Glen Ross (1992)
An examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office. Unscrupulous salesmen try to hawk dubious real estate to suckers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrail of the Pink Panther (1982)
The Pink Panther diamond is stolen once again from Lugash and the authorities call in Chief Inspector Clouseau from France. His plane disappears en-route. This time, famous French TV reporter Marie Jouvet sets out to solve the mystery and starts to interview everybody connected to Clouseau.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisToday I Hang (1942)
Henry Courtney, a wealthy importer is found murdered and the famous DeNormand necklace has been stolen. The false testimony of two witnesses, Rand and Hobbs, puts Jim O'Brien in the shadow of the hangman's noose. Martha Courtney, widow of the murdered man and Jim's former sweetheart is convinced he isn't guilty, and promises crooked lawyer Roger Lanning the necklace - which Jim doesn't have - if he can arrange for Jim's escape. Rand and Lanning killed Courtney, but Lanning doesn't know that Rand has the necklace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Like Checkmate and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Checkmate?
The closest matches to Checkmate are Trance (2013), Spellbound (1945) and Dressed to Kill (1946). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Checkmate?
Start with Trance (2013), the closest match to Checkmate.
What is the highest-rated movie like Checkmate?
Psycho (1960), rated 8.4/10 by 11,426 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Checkmate?
Verity (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Checkmate?
Yes: Trance (2013), Spellbound (1945) and Dressed to Kill (1946).
How are movies similar to Checkmate chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Checkmate, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.