Movies like The Puppet (2023)
The best movies like The Puppet (2023) are The Inhabitant (2022), Come Play (2020) and The Dogs (2025). If The Puppet hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSuccubus (2024)8.3/10 from 279 votes
- NewestPinocchio: Unstrung (2026)Released 2026
- In ChineseLegend of the Mountain (1979)Also in Chinese
The Inhabitant (2022)
Like any other teenage girl, Tara is just surviving high school — yet her father and mother seem strangely distant. Amidst a nearby spree of gruesome ax murders, Tara has sightings of terrifying entities, forcing her to question her own sanity and shocking ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisCome Play (2020)
Oliver, a lonely autistic boy, seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses the boy's devices against him, his parents must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dogs (2025)
After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLegend of the Mountain (1979)
A traveling scholar is intent on translating a Buddhist sutra that is said to have power over the creatures of the afterlife. He slowly finds himself entangled in a mysterious plot involving witchcraft, demons, and a battle to preserve his own soul from the attacks of the supernatural underworld.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmelia’s Children (2024)
When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bridge Curse (2020)
Four years after five students mysteriously committed suicide after taking part in a courage test on the ghost bridge in Donghu university, a reporter and a cinematographer are back to that place and try to get everything clear.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Woman in Black (1989)
A lawyer travels to a small seaside town to settle the estate of a recently deceased woman, but soon becomes ensnared in something much more sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady in White (1988)
Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
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 & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPuppetmaster (1989)
After being contacted by their mysterious former colleague, four psychics arrive at a secluded hotel where they are stalked by a group of murderous puppets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisStowaway (2022)
A tenacious party girl fights to survive after three thieves commandeer her luxury yacht. Unable to escape and trapped on the yacht at high seas, the prey becomes the hunter as she turns the tables on the intruders and takes matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tag-Along (2015)
Wei is nowhere to be found one day before his grandma returns from her own strange missing incident. Wei's girlfriend desperately searches for his whereabouts and discovers that a little girl in red followed them before their disappearance. Based on true events and long-circulating urban legend in Taiwan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuccubus (2024)
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies 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
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Harvest (2023)
In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPinocchio: Unstrung (2026)
Influenced by a sinister Cricket and created by Geppetto, Pinocchio launches a violent crusade to carve himself into a real boy like his brother James, one piece at a time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhisker Dissolve (2026)
Someone sits alone in a forgotten basement, surrounded by material excess and haunted by the media they helped create. Is the ghost in the machine merely a reflection, or something more sinister? The darkness cast by the shutter pass is constant, but as long as there is a person behind the camera to capture the light, we endure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Insight (2024)
A depressed puppet stumbles into a surreal, nightmarish world in search of enlightenment. But this enlightenment may come at a cost, one that defies fragile puppet flesh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Mill at Calder's End (2015)
In the remote village of Calder's End stands an old windmill, a repository of dark secrets. Nicholas Grimshaw has returned to this haunted place, his childhood home, intent on breaking a generations old family curse. Grimshaw's journey takes him deep below the decaying mill,into mysterious, forgotten catacombs, where upon he confronts the very source of the evil that has corrupted his family. The Mill at Calder's End is a gothic tale inspired by the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and M.R. James and is told with the use of 36 inch tall bunraku rod puppets operated by puppeteers dressed in black.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Doll Graveyard (2005)
It's 1905 when 12 year old Sophia plays all by herself in her big, creepy house with only four handmade dolls as friends. When her abusive father has finally had enough, he forces her to bury them in the backyard. But, after she "slips" and breaks her neck, dad buries her right along with the dolls. 100 years later, the Fillbrook family moves into the very same house.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Triloquist (2008)
In 1993, in Hollywood, California, a decadent ventriloquist overdoses and dies, leaving her two children to be sent to a foster house with their dummy. Their lives become a nightmare of abuse and murder, to be avenged by a wrathful dummy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGremlins (1984)
After receiving an exotic small animal as a Christmas gift, a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet, which unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous creatures on a small town.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPuppet Killer (2019)
While celebrating Christmas at a cabin in the woods, a group of high school students are stalked by a psychotic killer obsessed with horror movie icons.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Dogshit (2026)
A man desperate to regain his lost edge becomes convinced that a grotesque new deodorant is the key to confidence, power, and success.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Life After Life (1981)
When a man is hired to enhance a fashion show, he decides to go to a puppeteer and use Chinese puppets as accents to the models and the clothes. His interest in the show becomes a personal one when he meets one of the models and romance blossoms. An old woman loans him her antique puppets on the condition that he not keep them in the house with him, or grave misfortunes will result. As one might expect, he ignores the warning and then starts to experience a few accidents and unusual occurrences - including being knocked out by what he thought was a puppet, and seeing flashes of a murder while he was unconscious.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Puppet?
The closest matches to The Puppet are The Inhabitant (2022), Come Play (2020) and The Dogs (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Puppet?
Start with The Inhabitant (2022), the closest match to The Puppet.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Puppet?
Succubus (2024), rated 8.3/10 by 279 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Puppet?
Pinocchio: Unstrung (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Puppet?
Yes: Legend of the Mountain (1979), The Bridge Curse (2020) and The Tag-Along (2015).
How are movies similar to The Puppet chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Puppet, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.