Movies like The Pencil (2023)
The best movies like The Pencil (2023) are His House (2020), The Surrender (2025) and The Ritual (2025). If The Pencil hooked you with its drama and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedObsession (2026)8.2/10 from 6,582 votes
- NewestObsession (2026)Released 2026
His House (2020)
After making a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, a young refugee couple struggle to adjust to their new life in a small English town that has an unspeakable evil lurking beneath the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Surrender (2025)
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Ritual (2025)
Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThey Look Like People (2016)
Suspecting that people are transforming into malevolent shape-shifters, Wyatt flees to New York City to seek out his estranged childhood friend Christian.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViy (1967)
A seminary student on monastery holiday kills an old witch in a remote village. The hag then transforms into a beautiful young woman whose dying wish is for him to watch over her wake for three nights. With terrors occurring and his faith waning, he reads prayers on the overnight watch and tries to survive the supernatural encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossum (2018)
A disgraced children's puppeteer returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the secrets that have tortured him his entire life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Queen of Spades (1949)
A czarist captain stops at nothing to learn the secrets of a countess rumored to have sold her soul to the devil in order to always win at cards.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Accursed (2021)
Hana spends twenty years suppressing a maleficent curse that was placed upon her bloodline, only to have a family member knowingly release it forcing her to kill or to be killed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisObsession (2026)
After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAzrael (2024)
In a world where no one speaks, a devout female hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil deep within the surrounding wilderness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil Rides Out (1968)
The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Candy (2016)
A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Kill It (2016)
Demon hunter Jebediah Huntley teams up with an FBI agent to battle a supernatural force in the southern state of Mississippi.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Entity (1982)
A single mom is raped by an invisible force. Her psychiatrist believes the experience stems from childhood trauma, while she knows something supernatural is at play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hand (1981)
Jon Lansdale is a comic book artist who loses his right hand in a car accident. The hand was not found at the scene of the accident, but it soon returns by itself to follow Jon around, and murder those who anger him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisCobweb (2023)
Eight year old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tapping from inside his bedroom wall—one that his parents insist is all in his imagination. As Peter's fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret and questions their trustworthiness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dark Song (2016)
A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevil's Harvest (2003)
It seems innocent enough. Struggling young artist Daniel King is invited by his childhood friend Natasha...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
House of Demons (2018)
Four estranged friends reunite and spend the night in a remote country house that was once home to a Manson Family like cult. As the night goes on, the strange rituals in the house's past open connections between the past, the present and the subconscious, forcing all the characters to confront their deepest secrets and darkest demons, or be destroyed by them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Obscene Desire (1978)
A young American woman moves to a large countryside villa with her newlywed Italian husband. Soon enough, strange and seemingly supernatural events begin to befall the property, as a black-gloved killer simultaneously picks up and murders prostitutes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Onibaba (1964)
While her son, Kichi, is away at war, a woman and her daughter-in-law survive by killing samurai who stray into their swamp, then selling whatever valuables they find. Both are devastated when they learn that Kichi has died, but his wife soon begins an affair with a neighbor who survived the war, Hachi. The mother disapproves and, when she can't steal Hachi for herself, tries to scare her daughter-in-law with a mysterious mask from a dead samurai.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Making of a Superhero Musical (2015)
A mockumentary following the troubled production of Clockmen: The Musical, focusing on a cosplayer-turned-actress who reacts to the stress of the production in a rather unusual way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Charles Band's Evil Bong (2006)
Straight-laced nerd Alistair moves into a college dorm with hardcore marijuana users, who order an old giant bong that proves to have strange magical powers, which sends people to a bizarre drugged-out alternate realm from which there is no easy escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Monster Project (2017)
A group of aspiring filmmakers interview three individuals who claim to be monsters. However, unique incidents start to occur when they start filming.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisPlanned Sequel to Nefarious (TBA)
Planned sequel to Nefarious
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Mephisto (1981)
A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. As his associates and friends flee or are ground under by the Nazi terror, the popularity of his character supercedes his own existence until he finds that his best performance is keeping up appearances for his Nazi patrons.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmulet (2020)
Tomaz, an ex-soldier now homeless in London, is offered a place to stay at a decaying house, inhabited by a young woman and her dying mother. As he starts to fall for Magda, Tomaz cannot ignore his suspicion that something insidious might also be living alongside them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like The Pencil and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pencil?
The closest matches to The Pencil are His House (2020), The Surrender (2025) and The Ritual (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pencil?
Start with His House (2020), the closest match to The Pencil.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pencil?
Obsession (2026), rated 8.2/10 by 6,582 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pencil?
Obsession (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Pencil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pencil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.