Movies like The Never Ending Lightning
The best movies like The Never Ending Lightning are The Secrets We Keep (2020), Southbound (2015) and The Caller (1987). If The Never Ending Lightning hooked you with its science fiction and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNapoleon (1927)7.9/10 from 235 votes
- NewestShutter (2025)Released 2025
- In SpanishThe Orphanage (2007)Also in Spanish
The Secrets We Keep (2020)
In post-World War II America, a woman, rebuilding her life in the suburbs with her husband, kidnaps her neighbor and seeks vengeance for the heinous war crimes she believes he committed against her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouthbound (2015)
On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Caller (1987)
One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisStake Land (2010)
Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Orphanage (2007)
A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mandela Effect (2019)
A man becomes obsessed with facts and events that have been collectively misremembered by thousands of people. Believing the phenomena to be the symptom of something larger, his obsession eventually leads him to question reality itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Resurrected (1991)
Charles Dexter Ward, a wealthy scientist, uses an ancient diary and human remains to begin a terrifying and bloody pursuit for immortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Field in England (2013)
During the Civil War in 17th-Century England, a small group of deserters flee from a raging battle through an overgrown field. They are captured by an alchemist, who forces the group to aid him in his search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field. Crossing a vast mushroom circle, which provides their first meal, the group quickly descend into a chaos of arguments, fighting and paranoia, and, as it becomes clear that the treasure might be something other than gold, they slowly become victim to the terrifying energies trapped inside the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Machine (1995)
Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine. So far, the Hardman project has been unreliable and has killed a number of innocent people. The genius behind this project is Jack who lives in a world of models, toys and magazines. When he is fired by Cale for killing a few corporate officers, he unleashes the ultimate killing machine called the 'Warbeast' against Cale and those who would help her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisContainment (2015)
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDie Alone (2024)
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2015)
And suddenly, overnight, the world came to a halt. Two men, two survivors, one kid, and hatred that separates them. A place forgotten by everyone, including the creatures that inhabit the Earth... until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUniversal Soldier (1992)
An American soldier who had been killed during the Vietnam War is revived 25 years later by the military as a semi-android, UniSols, a high-tech soldier of the future. After the failure of the initiative to erase all the soldier's memories, he begins to experience flashbacks that are forcing him to recall his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Return (2020)
After the death of his father, a brilliant college student returns to his family home where he learns that the horrors from his childhood aren't as dead and gone as he once thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisField of Lost Shoes (2015)
A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House of Snails (2021)
A writer secludes himself in the mountains and falls in lust with local Berta. After realizing the oddities of the rural community the author starts to question the lines between reality and fiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisFear the Night (2023)
During a bachelorette party in a secluded California farmhouse, masked intruders launch a brutal attack, forcing eight women to fight for survival. Led by Tess, a troubled military veteran, they unite to defend themselves throughout a harrowing night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAct of Violence (1949)
A former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank has a shameful secret that comes back to haunt him when fellow survivor Joe Parkson emerges, intent on making Frank pay for his past deeds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBooks of Blood (2020)
A journey into uncharted and forbidden territory through three tales tangled in space and time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPisaasu (2014)
A violinist experiences paranormal experience in his flat after a death of a girl who he tries to save due to accident. Later he realises that actually the spirit is helping him and he tries to find out who killed the girl by accident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait (2007)
A Korean writer travels to Vietnam to do research for her story about a cursed portrait of a Vietnamese girl named Muoi.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Eleni (1985)
Nick is a writer in New York when he gets posted to a bureau in Greece. He has waited 30 years for this. He wants to know why his mother was killed in the civil war years earlier. In a parallel plot line we see Nick as a young boy and his family as they struggle to survive in the occupied Greek hillside. The plot lines converge as Nick's investigations bring him closer to the answers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Daughter of the Mind (1969)
Professor Samuel Hale Constable is a government expert in the field of cybernetics. He and his wheelchair-bound wife Lenore became parents late in life, only to lose their daughter Mary before she reached adolescence. Now their daughter's spirit seems to be reaching out to her grief-stricken father from beyond the grave, encouraging him to give up the important project on which he's been working.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Napoleon (1927)
A biopic of former Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, tracing the Corsican's career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign) to his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant 1797 invasion of Italy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBestseller (2010)
Following a humiliating plagiarism scandal, an author moves to an isolated small-town house with her daughter to write her comeback novel. Desperate for inspiration, she communicates with a mysterious ghostly presence that has befriended her daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisShutter (2025)
After a senior analog photographer discovers the spectral image of a former college student haunting his photos and coming to life, his girlfriend investigates the phantom, uncovering a horrific past crime that is now claiming his friends' lives one by one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Repulse (TBA)
A troubled young woman embarks on a dangerous mission to find her runaway sister, navigating a world of exploitation, prostitution and sexual slavery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Loop (2017)
Some time ago, Mima had a car accident and a man died. She has almost managed to forget about it when someone starts sending her birthday cards perfumed with a man's fragrance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Faith's Song (2017)
A young girl's faith is tested, when her parents are suddenly killed in a car accident and she's forced to move in with relatives who don't share her belief in God. A talented singer, who desires to worship God with her songs, she finds herself in a new city, a new school and no friends. With her uncle and others at school challenging her faith, one boy emerges, who seems to see the greatness in her. Now she must come to grips with either fitting in or following God - which could cost her more than just her faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Never Ending Lightning?
The closest matches to The Never Ending Lightning are The Secrets We Keep (2020), Southbound (2015) and The Caller (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Never Ending Lightning?
Start with The Secrets We Keep (2020), the closest match to The Never Ending Lightning.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Never Ending Lightning?
Napoleon (1927), rated 7.9/10 by 235 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Never Ending Lightning?
Shutter (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Never Ending Lightning?
Yes: The Orphanage (2007) and The House of Snails (2021).
How are movies similar to The Never Ending Lightning chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Never Ending Lightning, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.