Movies like South by Southeast (2005)
The best movies like South by Southeast (2005) are A Patch of Fog (2015), Orphan: First Kill (2022) and Hider in the House (1989). If South by Southeast hooked you with its thriller, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
South by Southeast
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Yakuza (1974)7.1/10 from 240 votes
- NewestIn Cold Light (2026)Released 2026
A Patch of Fog (2015)
A university teacher gets caught shoplifting by a security guard, who won’t let him go. He becomes his new best friend and says ‘I won’t call the cops if you come and have a pint with me’. From there a twisted romance of sorts unfolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrphan: First Kill (2022)
After escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Leena Klammer travels to America by impersonating Esther, the missing daughter of a wealthy family. But when her mask starts to slip, she is put against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous “child” at any cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnit 234 (2024)
While working the night shift alone, Laurie Saltair discovers a comatose man, Clayton, in Unit 234 of her family’s storage facility. What transpires is a thrill ride of a cat-and-mouse game for Laurie and Clayton to survive the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLazareth (2024)
Lee is an aunt whose life mission is to protect her orphaned nieces, Imogen and Maeve, from a self-destructing world, raising them in isolation until an outsider threatens their peaceful existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Grounds (2025)
Desperate to find refuge for her children, Chloe Marvino runs away from her Mafia tied husband, and finds shelter in a cabin with a recluse drifter named Jake. But as her husband's henchmen draw closer to her, it turns out that Jake is the biggest enemy of them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Experiment (2010)
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolen Girl (2025)
In 1993, Maureen’s six-year-old daughter Amina is snuck out of the country by her ex-husband, Karim. After years of unsuccessful attempts to find her, Maureen intersects with a professional retriever of internationally abducted children who promises to help her find Amina in exchange for her collaboration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tall Man (2012)
When her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrank and Penelope (2022)
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Cold Light (2026)
Fresh out of prison, Ava's attempt to reclaim her drug operation collapses when she witnesses a brutal crime, forcing her to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhisper (2007)
Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Other (2025)
Unable to conceive, a couple seeks to build a family with a young orphan, survivor of tragic childhood. But their act of love turns to horror when they realize the violence in their foster's past has returned to destroy the new family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yakuza (1974)
When George Tanner does business with high-ranking Yakuza Tono, Tono kidnaps his daughter, and George summons his old friend, private eye Harry Kilmer, to Japan to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSympathy for the Devil (2023)
After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like South by Southeast?
The closest matches to South by Southeast are A Patch of Fog (2015), Orphan: First Kill (2022) and Hider in the House (1989). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after South by Southeast?
Start with A Patch of Fog (2015), the closest match to South by Southeast.
What is the highest-rated movie like South by Southeast?
The Yakuza (1974), rated 7.1/10 by 240 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like South by Southeast?
In Cold Light (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to South by Southeast chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside South by Southeast, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.