Movies like Running Men (1996)
The best movies like Running Men (1996) are Tokyo Decadence (1992), Taboo (1999) and Pink Narcissus (1971). If Running Men hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024)7.6/10 from 268 votes
- NewestMagazine Dreams (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseTokyo Decadence (1992)Also in Japanese
Tokyo Decadence (1992)
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaboo (1999)
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPink Narcissus (1971)
An outrageous erotic poem focusing on the daydreams of a beautiful boy prostitute who, from the seclusion of his ultra-kitsch apartment, conceives a series of interlinked narcissistic fantasies populated by matadors, dancing boys, slaves, and leather-clad bikers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSakuran (2006)
Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPimp (2018)
An urban love story set on the hard streets of the Bronx. A struggling female pimp, named Wednesday, grows up learning the game from her dad. Once he's gone she's left to look out for her prostitute mother and girlfriend Nikki.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Brother the Devil (2012)
Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisXiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFemale Yakuza Tale (1973)
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a gang of female thieves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Million Yen Girl (2008)
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMagazine Dreams (2025)
Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024)
When apathetic gamer Nagi agrees to join his rich classmate Mikage in soccer, their partnership leads to the famous Blue Lock program — and to changes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ballad of Narayama (1983)
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Eel (1997)
A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeatwave (2022)
A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1 Chance 2 Dance (2014)
When a 17-year old aspiring dancer is uprooted in her high school senior year, she finds herself divided between two boys, and she will have one last shot at making her dream a reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAntiporno (2017)
Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbia (1984)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeduction of the White Angel (1972)
A young woman is troubled by vivid sexual dreams triggered by her experiences as a trainee nurse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Maladonna (1984)
In late XIX century, rich and bored Maria (Paola Senatore) is after a more sexually interesting life and gets involved with Alessio who shows her other kinds of love. She soon becomes his sex slave but some unexpected consequences will arise from her desperate search for sexual fulfillment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
I Like You, I Like You Very Much (1994)
A tense love triangle unfolds as You struggles with his affair, questioning his identity and desires while caught between two men who change his life forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Erotic Train (2003)
Kyoko, discovering that her husband was having an affair, turns to her best friend for help.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Just Once Before l Die (2025)
After giving up on her company, Min-jeong is living as a wreck in her house. After being given a terminal diagnosis, Min-jeong is told to break up with the man she loves without saying a word. With money running low and an unfulfilled hunger no matter how much she eats, Min-jeong calls her ex-boyfriend Yoon-jae. Min-jeong wants Yoon-jae to regret breaking up with her, but Yoon-jae fights with Min-jeong's stubbornness and leaves. After that, Min-jeong goes to find the men she loved...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Webcam: You Wanna See? You Wanna Come? (2013)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Neon Ambition (1985)
Young Akira survives by snatching valuables from people on the streets. A chance encounter leads him into the world of male prostitution. With his innocent looks and fierce ambition, he navigates relationships built on money and desire, gradually making his way into show business. Luxury homes, fame, and fortune soon follow. But when a former accomplice from his criminal past suddenly reappears, threatening to expose his secrets, can Akira protect the life he has always dreamed of?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Man in Full Swing (1988)
The men in prison are frustrated and in agony. It's difficult because the desires of these men are concentrated on just one man. A man raped in the place of a woman. Although he is reluctant to do so, he gradually becomes fascinated by the variety of techniques possessed by the yakuza.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Heartbeat (1988)
Follows men who ride bicycles and a shopkeeper, known as the master, who lent small amounts of money to the young people who frequented his shop, and used their bodies in exchange for interest...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Goodbye Anniversary (1988)
Sakairi Shozo, the owner of a gay bar called "Miyoshi", is dumped by handsome student Seijuro. This student also steals the title deed to the gay bar and the house of Sakairi Shozo. The regulars of the gay bar work together to get revenge on Seijuro.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Running Men and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Running Men?
The closest matches to Running Men are Tokyo Decadence (1992), Taboo (1999) and Pink Narcissus (1971). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Running Men?
Start with Tokyo Decadence (1992), the closest match to Running Men.
What is the highest-rated movie like Running Men?
BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024), rated 7.6/10 by 268 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Running Men?
Magazine Dreams (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Running Men?
Yes: Tokyo Decadence (1992), Taboo (1999) and Sakuran (2006).
How are movies similar to Running Men chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Running Men, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.