Movies like Smile Guide (2023)
The best movies like Smile Guide (2023) are Rent-A-Pal (2020), The Shed (2019) and Z (2019). If Smile Guide hooked you with its horror and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhosts (1997)8.1/10 from 305 votes
- NewestMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)Released 2026
Rent-A-Pal (2020)
Set in 1990, a lonely bachelor named David searches for an escape from the day-to-day drudgery of caring for his aging mother. While seeking a partner through a video dating service, he discovers a strange VHS tape called Rent-A-Pal. Hosted by the charming and charismatic Andy, the tape offers him much-needed company, compassion, and friendship. But Andy's friendship comes at a cost, and David desperately struggles to afford the price of admission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shed (2019)
The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2005)
A mother battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the closet, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnseen (2023)
Sam receives a call from Emily, a near blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Can she survive using Sam as her eyes via video call?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSiren (2016)
A bachelor party becomes a savage fight for survival when the groomsmen unwittingly unleash a fabled predator upon the festivities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeeping Tom (1960)
Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Old Mill (1937)
Night in an old mill is dramatically depicted in this Oscar-winning short in which the frightened occupants, including birds, timid mice, owls, and other creatures try to stay safe and dry as a storm approaches. As the thunderstorm worsens, the mill wheel begins to turn and the whole mill threatens to blow apart until at last the storm subsides.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dark Mirror (1946)
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead of Night (1945)
An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1912)
Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)
After a mysterious bout of amnesia, a beloved children’s television host struggles to piece together his fractured memories, only to find his once-cheerful puppet co-stars behaving with sinister intent. As reality unravels, the line between performance and nightmare begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Jester (2016)
The Jester is the titular main antagonist of the horror/thriller analogy short films of the same name. He is an enigmatic and malevolent being who enjoys inducing suffering to individuals he comes across who don't appreciate his own tricks or break the rules of Halloween.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
A concise adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" about Mr. Toad's motor mania, followed by a short retelling of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" concerning schoolmaster Ichabod Crane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhosts (1997)
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisExtraordinary Tales (2015)
Five tales by Edgar Allan Poe come to life thanks to a pictorical style animation, five tales that exude madness, pestilence, murder and torture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wailer (2006)
On their way to Mexico, six students are stranded in a small town where years before a tragedy took place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House (2016)
Just one enchanted jewel stands between earth and an army of evil spirits led by the devious ghoul, Phears. With the help of his new girlfriend and ghost pals, Max Doyle races to find the crystal and save the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpecter (2014)
The town of Midground is threatened by a tsunami caused by a massive earthquake in the North Pacific Ocean. After other unexplainable events transpire, Chase Lombardi and friends are forced to discover whether they are experiencing a natural phenomenon or something else all together.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
The Thing from the Shed (2016)
Carly has a new house guest, from her shed!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
What We Found Out There (2021)
Two friends find more than they bargained for while hiking out in the treacherous wilderness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Amphibian (1991)
In a dark subterranean landscape, the Amphibian has lost its way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Mother (2017)
An everyday conversation between Marta and her mother turns into a tragic race against the clock when Marta receives a phone call from Iván, her six-year-old son, who is on holiday in France with his father.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevin (2019)
A typical day gets turned on its head for your average ghost when 4 unexpected visitors decide to barge in to his decaying home. See how Devin deals with his company in a freakishly funny way!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
A Guads Neix Joah (2005)
A pair of friends just want to start New Year's Eve party as the dispute over a bottle of wine escalates...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Tenure (2025)
When a dedicated college professor is denied tenure, he turns to black magic in a moment of desperation but finds himself trapped in a private hell of his own making.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
ALL OF ME (2025)
ALL OF ME is a short horror film made in 48 hours under the prompt Growing Pains.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Das Wiener Kettensägenmassaker (1993)
A psychopath with skin on his face and a chainsaw patrols the Vienna outskirts to mutilate and kill random people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like Smile Guide and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Smile Guide?
The closest matches to Smile Guide are Rent-A-Pal (2020), The Shed (2019) and Z (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Smile Guide?
Start with Rent-A-Pal (2020), the closest match to Smile Guide.
What is the highest-rated movie like Smile Guide?
Ghosts (1997), rated 8.1/10 by 305 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Smile Guide?
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Smile Guide?
Yes: Rent-A-Pal (2020), The Shed (2019) and Z (2019).
How are movies similar to Smile Guide chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Smile Guide, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.




























