Movies like The Bystander (2023)
The best movies like The Bystander (2023) are Night Watch (1973), The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) and Blackwood (2014). If The Bystander hooked you with its thriller and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGrindhouse (2007)7.0/10 from 1,982 votes
- NewestVicious (2025)Released 2025
Night Watch (1973)
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014)
A masked maniac terrorizes the same small community where a murderer known as the Phantom Killer struck decades earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlackwood (2014)
Having recovered from a shattering emotional breakdown, college professor Ben Marshall relocates to the countryside with his wife and young son, hoping for a fresh start. He has a teaching job lined up and a new home to move into; things finally look to be going Ben's way. Until, that is, he starts to feel that something isn't quite right in the house. Finding himself plagued by spectral visions, Ben becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a local mystery that appears to be putting the lives of his family in danger
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisYou'll Never Find Me (2024)
Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolated caravan park. After a violent thunderstorm erupts, a mysterious young woman appears at his door, seeking shelter from the weather. The longer the night wears on and the more the young woman discovers about Patrick, the more difficult she finds it to leave. Soon she begins to question Patrick’s intentions, while Patrick begins to question his own grip on reality...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEradication (2022)
When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and a shadowy agency hunting them down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGrindhouse (2007)
Grindhouse combines Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, a horror comedy about a group of survivors who battle zombie-like creatures, and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, an action thriller about a murderous stuntman who kills young women with modified vehicles. It is presented as a double feature with fictitious exploitation trailers preceding each segment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOlder Gods (2023)
After the disappearance of his troubled friend, American Chris Rivers travels to the remote Welsh countryside to investigate what happened – leading him to a dark apocalyptic cult.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite of the Eye (1987)
In a wealthy and isolated desert community, a sound expert is targeted as the prime suspect of a series of brutal murders of local suburban housewives who were attacked and mutilated in their homes. As he desperately tries to prove his innocence, his wife starts to uncover startling truths...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisPlay Dead (2022)
Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
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 · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
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 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 & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Forever Purge (2021)
All the rules are broken as a sect of lawless marauders decides that the annual Purge does not stop at daybreak and instead should never end as they chase a group of immigrants who they want to punish because of their harsh historical past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Valley: Seed's Revenge (2014)
Coming back from her bachelor party in Las Vegas, Christine and her friends are driving through the hot desert of Nevada. But they are not alone - serial killer Max Seed is back and he brought the whole family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisRevenge (2017)
Jen's romantic getaway with her wealthy married boyfriend is disrupted when his friends arrive for an impromptu hunting trip. Tension mounts at the house until the situation culminates in an unexpected way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cell (2000)
A psychotherapist journeys inside the mind of a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hitcher (2007)
While driving through the New Mexico Desert during a rainy night, college students Jim Halsey and his girlfriend Grace Andrews give a ride to a hitchhiker. While in their car, the stranger proves to be a psychopath threatening the young couple with a knife, but Jim successfully throws him out of the car. This sets off a chain of events that will change all of their lives forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhere Danger Lives (1950)
A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the death of her husband. They head for Mexico trying to outrun the law.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pyramid (2014)
An archaeological team attempt to unlock the secrets of a lost pyramid only to find themselves hunted by an insidious creature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDolan's Cadillac (2009)
Robinson, a once peaceful, law-abiding school teacher, has turned into an obsessed vengeance machine, intent on killing the man who murdered his wife - ruthless Las Vegas mob boss James Dolan. But to do so, Robinson must infiltrate the dangerous underworld, and devise a diabolical plan that will bury Dolan once and for all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisUntil Dawn (2025)
One year after her sister Melanie mysteriously disappeared, Clover and her friends head into the remote valley where she vanished in search of answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they find themselves stalked by a masked killer and horrifically murdered one by one...only to wake up and find themselves back at the beginning of the same evening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHighway to Hell (1991)
Charlie and Rachel run away from home to get married in Las Vegas. But they get attacked by a zombie who takes Rachel with him to hell, where she will become one of Satan's brides.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Walk (TBA)
A man wakes up in the middle of a vast wasteland, battered and hurt, with no memory of what had happened or how he got there. Through his journey to find help, items for survival begin to appear with haunting coincidence, leading to a shocking discovery. This film was inspired by factual events.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Bystander?
The closest matches to The Bystander are Night Watch (1973), The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) and Blackwood (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Bystander?
Start with Night Watch (1973), the closest match to The Bystander.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Bystander?
Grindhouse (2007), rated 7.0/10 by 1,982 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Bystander?
Vicious (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Bystander?
Yes: Night Watch (1973), The Town that Dreaded Sundown (2014) and Blackwood (2014).
How are movies similar to The Bystander chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Bystander, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.