Movies like Cold War (2024)
The best movies like Cold War (2024) are The Protégé (2021), Prayers for the Stolen (2021) and Blue Ruin (2014). If Cold War hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFacing El Chapo (2026)8.8/10 from 982 votes
- NewestFacing El Chapo (2026)Released 2026
- In SpanishPrayers for the Stolen (2021)Also in Spanish
The Protégé (2021)
Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody and trained in the family business, Anna is the world’s most skilled contract killer. When Moody, the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival, is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves ever tighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrayers for the Stolen (2021)
Ana and her two best friends, Maria and Paula, navigate life in their oppressive countryside village. Whilst their families struggle in the poppy fields harvesting opium, the girls try to grow alongside the creeping terror of their cartel oppressors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Ruin (2014)
When the quiet life of a beach bum is upended by dreadful news, he sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. However, he proves an inept assassin and finds himself in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gentleman (2025)
Aging ex-soldier Theo meets weekly with prostitute Olga to reminisce. After Olga's murder, Theo seeks bloody revenge, attracting attention of alcoholic cop Iborra and hitman Herodes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisWoman of the Hour (2024)
An aspiring actress crosses paths with a prolific serial killer in '70s LA when they're cast on an episode of "The Dating Game."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Cold Light (2026)
Fresh out of prison, Ava's attempt to reclaim her drug operation collapses when she witnesses a brutal crime, forcing her to flee into a nightmarish underworld where allies are scarce and enemies multiply by the minute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Funeral (1996)
After the funeral of one of their own, a criminal family decides to embark on an emotionally unnerving journey in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBallerina (2025)
Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Eve Macarro begins her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute teacher in order to investigate Randall's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Fault (2023)
Noah must leave her city, boyfriend, and friends to move into William Leister's mansion, the flashy and wealthy husband of her mother Rafaela. As a proud and independent 17 year old, Noah resists living in a mansion surrounded by luxury. However, it is there where she meets Nick, her new stepbrother, and the clash of their strong personalities becomes evident from the very beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunpowder Milkshake (2021)
To protect an 8-year-old girl, a dangerous assassin reunites with her mother and her lethal associates to take down a ruthless crime syndicate and its army of henchmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe People Upstairs (2020)
Julio and Ana have been together for more than fifteen years. They have become a couple who no longer look at nor touch one another, and who have made daily fighting the essence of their relationship. This evening, Ana has invited their upstairs neighbors to come round, Salva and Laura, a couple younger than them, pleasant and friendly, but whose noises are now an annoyance for Julio and Ana... or perhaps a stimulus? The upstairs neighbors will make them an unusual and surprising proposal which will turn the evening into an exaggerated and cathartic experience for all four.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Howling (1981)
After a bizarre and near fatal encounter with a serial killer, a newswoman is sent to a rehabilitation center whose inhabitants may not be what they seem.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFacing El Chapo (2026)
Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Burning Plain (2008)
A trailer is burning in the middle of a plain. The bodies of two adulterous lovers are found. Scenes from both families, before and after the dramatic events, suggest an unusual connection between them. But what is their secret?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPayback (1999)
With friends like these, who needs enemies? That's the question bad guy Porter is left asking after his wife and partner steal his heist money and leave him for dead -- or so they think. Five months and an endless reservoir of bitterness later, Porter's partners and the crooked cops on his tail learn how bad payback can be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiving Is Easy with Eyes Closed (2013)
Spain, 1966. An English teacher who travels to Almería when he hears that John Lennon is making a film there befriends with a 16-year-old boy who has run away from home and a young girl who also seems to be running away from something.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanted (2008)
Doormat Wesley Gibson is an office worker whose life is going nowhere. He meets an attractive woman named Fox and discovers that his recently murdered father - whom Wesley never knew - belonged to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins which takes its orders from Fate itself. Fox and Sloan, the Fraternity's leader, teach Wesley, through intense training, to tap into dormant powers and hone his innate killing skills. Though he enjoys his newfound abilities, he begins to suspect that there is more to the Fraternity than meets the eye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRipley's Game (2002)
Tom Ripley - cool, urbane, wealthy, and murderous - lives in a villa in the Veneto with Luisa, his harpsichord-playing girlfriend. A former business associate from Berlin's underworld pays a call asking Ripley's help in killing a rival. Ripley - ever a student of human nature - initiates a game to turn a mild and innocent local picture framer into a hit man. The artisan, Jonathan Trevanny, who's dying of cancer, has a wife, young son, and little to leave them. If Ripley draws Jonathan into the game, can Ripley maintain control? Does it stop at one killing? What if Ripley develops a conscience?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cold War?
The closest matches to Cold War are The Protégé (2021), Prayers for the Stolen (2021) and Blue Ruin (2014). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cold War?
Start with The Protégé (2021), the closest match to Cold War.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cold War?
Facing El Chapo (2026), rated 8.8/10 by 982 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cold War?
Facing El Chapo (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like Cold War?
Yes: Prayers for the Stolen (2021), The Gentleman (2025) and My Fault (2023).
How are movies similar to Cold War chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cold War, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.