Movies like Imaginary Friend (2012)
The best movies like Imaginary Friend (2012) are Infidelity in Suburbia (2017), Bad Sister (2015) and The Harvest (2015). If Imaginary Friend hooked you with its thriller and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)8.3/10 from 18,825 votes
- NewestMeurtre du tableau (2025)Released 2025
Infidelity in Suburbia (2017)
With her husband away at work, and her son at school, Laura dreams of a home-renovation project to supplant her restless days. Elliott, her irresistibly hot private contractor, soon fulfills her more forbidden dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Sister (2015)
As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Harvest (2015)
After becoming orphaned, a lonely girl moves in with her grandparents and tries to befriend a sick, bed-ridden boy next door, despite his mother’s strong objections. Her persistence leads to a friendship, but during secret visits, she uncovers dark secrets in the boy's home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Voices (2014)
A mentally unhinged factory worker must decide whether to listen to his talking cat and become a killer, or follow his dog's advice to keep striving for normalcy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNeverwas (2005)
Zach Riley is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, Millwood. What he doesn't reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson, spent many years of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unsaid (2001)
A doctor dealing with the aftermath of his son's death tries to help a troubled young man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFear of Rain (2021)
A teenage girl living with schizophrenia begins to suspect her neighbor has kidnapped a child. Her parents try desperately to help her live a normal life, without exposing their own tragic secrets, and the only person who believes her is Caleb – a boy she isn’t even sure exists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvery Breath You Take (2021)
A psychiatrist, whose client commits suicide, finds his family life disrupted after introducing her surviving brother to his wife and daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFear (1996)
Nicole Walker always dreamed of being swept away by someone special — someone strong, sexy and sensitive who would care for her more than anything else in the world. David is all that and more: a modern-day knight who charms and seduces her, body and soul. But her perfect boyfriend is not all he seems to be. His sweet facade masks a savage, dark side that will soon transform Nicole's dream into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNocturnal Animals (2016)
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Butterfly Effect (2004)
A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGet Out (2017)
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStonehearst Asylum (2014)
An Oxford Medical School graduate takes a position at a mental institution and soon becomes obsessed with a female mental patient, but he has no idea of a recent and horrifying staffing change.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Perfect Murder (1998)
Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife. A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsylum (2005)
A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStay (2005)
Psychiatrist Sam Foster has a new patient, Henry Letham, who claims to be suicidal. In trying to diagnose him, Sam visits Henry's prior therapist and also finds Henry's mother -- even though Henry has said that he murdered both of his parents. As reality starts to contradict fact, Sam spirals into an unstable mental state. Then he finds a clue as to how and when Henry may try to kill himself, and races to try to stop him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHypnotic (2023)
A detective becomes entangled in a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program while investigating a string of reality-bending crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImages (1972)
While holidaying in Ireland, a pregnant children's author finds her mental state becoming increasingly unstable, resulting in paranoia, hallucinations, and visions of a doppelgänger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLila & Eve (2015)
Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Long Way Home (2003)
Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic assassin ordered to finish what T-1000 started. Good thing Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMeurtre du tableau (2025)
An artist, surrounded by the mess in her studio, struggles with frustration as she tries to find inspiration for her new painting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Dial M for Murder (1954)
When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisHamlet (2000)
Modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder in New York City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBilly Connolly: Portrait of a Lifetime (2017)
Celebrating Billy Connolly's 75th birthday and 50 years in the business, three Scottish artists - John Byrne, Jack Vettriano and Rachel MacLean - each create a new portrait of the Big Yin. As he sits with each artist, Billy talks about his remarkable life and career which has taken him from musician and pioneering stand-up to Hollywood star and national treasure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dressed to Kill (1980)
After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter Hours (1985)
Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gathering (2003)
Itinerant traveler Cassie Grant comes out of a car accident in Glastonbury, England, with partial memory loss. The deeply regretful driver allows her to convalesce at a large rural home, where she becomes friends with the woman's stepson, Michael. As Cassie delves into Michael's research about an old, newly discovered area church, it triggers some strange premonitions and offers gradual clues about her deeper links to this British community.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Imaginary Friend?
The closest matches to Imaginary Friend are Infidelity in Suburbia (2017), Bad Sister (2015) and The Harvest (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Imaginary Friend?
Start with Infidelity in Suburbia (2017), the closest match to Imaginary Friend.
What is the highest-rated movie like Imaginary Friend?
The Silence of the Lambs (1991), rated 8.3/10 by 18,825 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Imaginary Friend?
Meurtre du tableau (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Imaginary Friend?
Yes: Infidelity in Suburbia (2017), Bad Sister (2015) and The Harvest (2015).
How are movies similar to Imaginary Friend chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Imaginary Friend, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.