Movies like The Watcher (2000)
The best movies like The Watcher (2000) are Secret in Their Eyes (2015), Case 39 (2009) and Solace (2015). If The Watcher hooked you with its mystery and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPrimal Fear (1996)7.7/10 from 4,261 votes
- NewestStrange Harvest (2025)Released 2025
Secret in Their Eyes (2015)
A tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCase 39 (2009)
In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSolace (2015)
A psychic doctor, John Clancy, works with an FBI special agent in search of a serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrection (1999)
A jaded homicide detective has been put on the case of a ruthless killer in the city of Chicago, who leaves a trail of horribly mutilated and dismembered corpses along with perversely ironic biblical quotes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss the Girls (1997)
Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final Conflict (1981)
Damien Thorn has helped rescue the world from a recession, appearing to be a benign corporate benefactor. When he then becomes U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Damien fulfills a terrifying biblical prophecy. He also faces his own potential demise as an astronomical event brings about the second coming of Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
Mulder and Scully are called back to duty by the FBI when a former priest claims to be receiving psychic visions pertaining to a kidnapped agent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrand Piano (2013)
Tom Selznick, the most talented pianist of his generation, stopped performing in public because of his stage fright. Years after a catastrophic performance, he reappears in public in a long awaited concert in Chicago. Just moments after starting his performance in the packed theater, in front of an expectant audience, Tom finds a threatening message written on the score: 'Play one wrong note and you die'. Without leaving the piano, Tom must discover the anonymous sniper's motives and look for help without anyone realizing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSisters (1973)
Inquisitive journalist Grace Collier is horrified when she witnesses her neighbor, fashion model Danielle Breton, violently murder a man. Panicking, she calls the police. But when the detective arrives at the scene and finds nothing amiss, Grace is forced to take matters into her own hands. Her first move is to recruit private investigator Joseph Larch, who helps her to uncover a secret about Danielle's past that has them both seeing double.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLonglegs (2024)
FBI Agent Lee Harker is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSplit (2017)
Though Kevin has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him — as well as everyone around him — as the walls between his compartments shatter apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Call (2013)
Jordan Turner is an experienced 911 operator but when she makes an error in judgment and a call ends badly, Jordan is rattled and unsure if she can continue. But when teenager Casey Welson is abducted in the back of a man's car and calls 911, Jordan is the one called upon to use all of her experience, insights and quick thinking to help Casey escape, and not just to save her, but to make sure the man is brought to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaising Cain (1992)
Child psychologist Carter Nix is a loving and caring family man, but under this appearance lies a dark and troubled past. Grappling with the consequences of this past on his own psyche and the influence of his returning father and violent brother Cain, Carter becomes involved in a series of murders and kidnappings. Meanwhile, his wife Jenny rekindles an old love affair, placing herself in the crosshairs of her increasingly unstable husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cell (2000)
A psychotherapist journeys inside the mind of a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInterrogation (2016)
After the FBI receives a threat that endangers the entire city, an interrogator and an I.T. specialist are plunged into a series of mind games with a criminal mastermind, desperately racing against time to uncover the villain's true agenda as they fight to protect thousands of lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisButcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Rejected by her lover, the only man left in Cheryl's life is the orphaned nephew she has raised as her own son. She'll stop at nothing to keep Billy with her. When her plans misfire, she is swept up into an insane frenzy that means death to anyone who comes between her and her obsession. But the investigating detective is convinced that Billy is the real killer - and determined to prove it. Madness and fanaticism work together to drag all concerned into a terrifying vortex of blood-letting that adds a nightmarish twist to the classic Oedipus story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Harvest (2025)
Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a cosmic force.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimal Fear (1996)
Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStay (2005)
Psychiatrist Sam Foster has a new patient, Henry Letham, who claims to be suicidal. In trying to diagnose him, Sam visits Henry's prior therapist and also finds Henry's mother -- even though Henry has said that he murdered both of his parents. As reality starts to contradict fact, Sam spirals into an unstable mental state. Then he finds a clue as to how and when Henry may try to kill himself, and races to try to stop him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Cause (1995)
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Pool (2017)
Johnny Taylor has a big problem: he LOVES to drown good-looking girls. When he sees water and attractive females together, something in his head begs him to kill - the psychological result of a traumatic near-drowning during his childhood at the hands of a twisted babysitter. Fighting the urge to act on his sinister thoughts most of his adult life, Johnny finally succumbs to his dark instincts when the only work he can find is around water, cleaning pools. Filled with colorful characters, beautiful women and set against the backdrop of the LA party scene, Death Pool encapsulates the desire for fame, the lust for desire, and the urge to kill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuspect Zero (2004)
A killer is on the loose, and an FBI agent sifts through clues and learns that the bloodthirsty felon's victims of choice are other serial killers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisTrapped (2002)
Held hostage in different cities after their daughter is kidnapped by a master extortionist, a desperate couple must find a way to outsmart a seemingly foolproof plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBound (1996)
Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSicario (2015)
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTimber Falls (2007)
A weekend of camping in the mountains becomes an excursion into hell for a young couple, who become pawns in a grotesque plot hatched by deranged locals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFranklyn (2008)
Set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and the futuristic faith dominated metropolis of Meanwhile City, Franklyn weaves a tale of four souls, whose lives are intertwined by fate, romance and tragedy. As these worlds collide, a single bullet determines the destiny of these four characters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Watcher?
The closest matches to The Watcher are Secret in Their Eyes (2015), Case 39 (2009) and Solace (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Watcher?
Start with Secret in Their Eyes (2015), the closest match to The Watcher.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Watcher?
Primal Fear (1996), rated 7.7/10 by 4,261 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Watcher?
Strange Harvest (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Watcher?
Yes: Secret in Their Eyes (2015), Case 39 (2009) and Solace (2015).
How are movies similar to The Watcher chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Watcher, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.