Movies like Publish or Perish (2023)
The best movies like Publish or Perish (2023) are Villains (2019), All My Friends Hate Me (2022) and Harpoon (2019). If Publish or Perish hooked you with its comedy and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDawn of the Dead (1978)7.5/10 from 2,423 votes
- NewestBad Apples (2026)Released 2026
Villains (2019)
When their car breaks down, a couple on the run headed southbound for a fresh start in the Sunshine State break into a nearby house looking for a new set of wheels. What they find instead is a dark secret, and a sweet-as-pie pair of homeowners who will do anything to keep it from getting out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll My Friends Hate Me (2022)
A college reunion goes awry when Pete suspects his friends may be out to get him... As their weekend getaway grows more and more uncomfortable, should Pete be worried about his safety, or is it all in his head?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHarpoon (2019)
Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean under suspicious circumstances.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFresh (2022)
Frustrated by scrolling dating apps only to end up on lame, tedious dates, Noa takes a chance by giving her number to the awkwardly charming Steve after a produce-section meet-cute at the grocery store.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUrban Legend (1998)
A college campus is plagued by a vicious serial killer murdering students in ways that correspond to various urban legends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Apples (2026)
A struggling primary school teacher is forced to take drastic action because of a foul-mouthed, violent student, and uncovers how her community will turn a blind eye to the most outrageous events to preserve harmony and their sense of safety.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hunt (2020)
Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don't know where they are—or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted turns the tables on her pursuers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsylum: Twisted Horror and Fantasy Tales (2020)
Brandon prepares to give his last stand-up comedy show. As his stories and jokes pass, the public begins to cheer up. But at that precise moment Brandon will realize that these stories have a strong relationship with his past. More than he imagines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisSociety (1990)
Bill Whitney is worried that he is different to his sister and parents. They mix with other upper-class people while Bill is more down to earth. Even his girlfriend seems a bit odd. All is revealed when Bill returns home to find a party in full swing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Simple Favor (2018)
Stephanie, a dedicated mother and popular vlogger, befriends Emily, a mysterious upper-class woman whose son Nicky attends the same school as Miles, Stephanie's son. When Emily asks her to pick Nicky up from school and then disappears, Stephanie undertakes an investigation that will dive deep into Emily's cloudy past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHostile Takeover (2025)
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bad Seed Returns (2022)
Several years after the murderous events of the first movie left her father dead, Emma is now living with her aunt Angela and navigating high school. Angela’s husband begins to suspect that Emma may not be as innocent as she appears and suggests sending her off to boarding school. Meanwhile, a new girl at school seems to know Emma’s secrets, leaving Emma no choice but to slip back to her old ways and take care of her enemies by any means necessary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParents (1989)
Michael is a young boy living in a typical 1950s suburbanite home... except for his bizarre and horrific nightmares, and continued unease around his parents. Young Michael begins to suspect his parents are cooking more than just hamburgers on the grill outside, but has trouble explaining his fears to his new-found friend Sheila, or the school's social worker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Dream Team (1989)
Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeathgasm (2015)
Two teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Death Day (2017)
Caught in a bizarre and terrifying time warp, college student Tree finds herself repeatedly reliving the day of her murder, ultimately realizing that she must identify the killer and the reason for her death before her chances of survival run out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Death Day 2U (2019)
Collegian Tree Gelbman wakes up in horror to learn that she's stuck in a parallel universe. Her boyfriend Carter is now with someone else, and her friends and fellow students seem to be completely different versions of themselves. When Tree discovers that Carter's roommate has been altering time, she finds herself once again the target of a masked killer. When the psychopath starts to go after her inner circle, Tree soon realizes that she must die over and over again to save everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGatlopp: Hell of a Game (2022)
Four friends get together for a nostalgic evening of fun and games after a decade of absence, which takes a dark turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
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 horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConnection (2025)
A kidnapped woman will be freed on one condition: She must convince her kidnapper that his life is worth living.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & thriller
Frostbitten (2006)
After Annika, a medical doctor, gets work at the local hospital, she and her 17-year old daughter Saga move to a small town in northern Sweden. Annika is keen to work with her idol, geneticist Professor Gerhard Beckert. However Beckert's sinister past in the Waffen-SS soon catches up with him when a couple of pill-popping interns mistake an experimental vaccine for party drugs. Mayhem ensues as the town's teenagers succumb one by one to the mysterious virus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this13: Game of Death (2006)
After losing his job, his car and his money, Phuchit, races against time to complete 13 tasks ordered by an anonymous caller who promised 100 million Baht upon completion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDawn of the Dead (1978)
During an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDawn of the Dead (2004)
A group of survivors take refuge in a shopping mall after the world is taken over by aggressive, flesh-eating zombies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStill Life (2026)
After their son is stillborn at 24 weeks, Jess navigates an unexpected form of motherhood marked by silent milestones and uncomfortable social encounters, while Max struggles to hold their family together through grief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Delicatessen (1991)
In a post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment above the butcher shop receive an occasional delicacy of meat, something that is in low supply. A young man new in town falls in love with the butcher's daughter, which causes conflicts in her family, who need the young man for other business-related purposes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStranger Than Fiction (2006)
Harold Crick is a lonely IRS agent whose mundane existence is transformed when he hears a mysterious voice narrating his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Psycho (2000)
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Publish or Perish?
The closest matches to Publish or Perish are Villains (2019), All My Friends Hate Me (2022) and Harpoon (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Publish or Perish?
Start with Villains (2019), the closest match to Publish or Perish.
What is the highest-rated movie like Publish or Perish?
Dawn of the Dead (1978), rated 7.5/10 by 2,423 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Publish or Perish?
Bad Apples (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Publish or Perish?
Yes: Villains (2019), All My Friends Hate Me (2022) and Harpoon (2019).
How are movies similar to Publish or Perish chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Publish or Perish, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.