Movies like The Man Who Couldn't Sleep (2012)
The best movies like The Man Who Couldn't Sleep (2012) are You Should Have Left (2020), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). If The Man Who Couldn't Sleep hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Exorcist (1973)7.8/10 from 9,036 votes
- NewestPlay Dead (2025)Released 2025
You Should Have Left (2020)
In an effort to repair their relationship, a couple books a vacation in the countryside for themselves and their daughter. What starts as a perfect retreat begins to fall apart as one loses their grip on reality, and a sinister force tries to tear them apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Freddy Krueger returns once again to terrorize the dreams of the remaining Dream Warriors, as well as those of a young woman who may be able to defeat him for good.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
A psychiatrist, familiar with the knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger, helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. Nancy and her boyfriend, Glen, must devise a plan to lure the monster out of the realm of nightmares and into the real world...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lair of the White Worm (1988)
When an archaeologist uncovers a strange skull in a foreign land, the residents of a nearby town begin to disappear, leading to further inexplicable occurrences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisPlay Dead (2025)
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDagon (2001)
A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul is pursued by the entire town. Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca's secret..they worship Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea...and Dagon's unholy offspring are on the loose...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaylight's End (2016)
Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSaint Catherine (2024)
An orphaned girl is rescued from a satanic ritual and taken to Saint Catherine Institute for homeless youth. There she will learn new skills while facing demons that stalk her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sweet East (2023)
A picaresque journey through contemporary America, undertaken by a young woman granted access to the strange sects and cults that proliferate in this country by a series of gatekeepers eager to win her over.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Shall Not Sleep Tonight (2024)
A boy is haunted by terrifying nightmares where a monster lurks inside the closet. To his relief, his father appears in the middle of the night helping him to face his fears. But the boy will begin to question the true nature of these apparitions, having to face the truth about his father's destiny and the evil force that threatens to consume him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisStake Land (2010)
Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation's abandoned towns and cities, and it's up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent's New Eden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cottage (2008)
In a remote part of the countryside, a bungled kidnapping turns into a living nightmare for four central characters when they cross paths with a psychopathic farmer and all hell breaks loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Exorcist (1973)
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVideodrome (1983)
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stakelander (2016)
When his home of New Eden is destroyed by a revitalized Brotherhood and its new Vamp leader, Martin finds himself alone in the badlands of America with only the distant memory of his mentor and legendary vampire hunter, Mister, to guide him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBurning Betrayal (2023)
Babi discovers a betrayal by her long-term partner and decides to embark on a new adventure in life. On this journey, she meets judge Marco and they begin to live a story permeated by a lot of sexual tension.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCheat (2023)
On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that everything is not as it seems. When Maeve - a female college student - sleeps with Charlie, the married man of the host family she is staying with, both sense the deadly curse is closing in on them. Unable to get anyone to believe them, Maeve and Charlie seek out a local history student to help find answers and figure out a way to defend themselves. It all comes undone, however, as several people are horrifically killed by the savage being - one-by-one at a rapid pace. Eventually, Maeve, Charlie and the few survivors band together in an attempt to defeat the monster once and for all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Eclipse (2009)
Michael is a widower who is struggling to adjust to his new role as the sole caretaker of his two children. Still reeling from the death of his wife, he has been plagued by terrifying apparitions. When he volunteers at a local literary festival, he finds himself drawn to Lena, an empathetic author of supernatural fiction. While Lena tries to help Michael with the mystery of his nightmarish visions, she must contend with problems of her own, as she’s being jealously pursued by self-obsessed novelist Nicholas, her one-time lover. As the festival progresses, the three adults’ lives converge and collide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way, they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Man Who Couldn't Sleep?
The closest matches to The Man Who Couldn't Sleep are You Should Have Left (2020), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Man Who Couldn't Sleep?
Start with You Should Have Left (2020), the closest match to The Man Who Couldn't Sleep.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Man Who Couldn't Sleep?
The Exorcist (1973), rated 7.8/10 by 9,036 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Man Who Couldn't Sleep?
Play Dead (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Man Who Couldn't Sleep chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Man Who Couldn't Sleep, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.