Movies like The Forbidden Land
The best movies like The Forbidden Land are S.W.A.T. (2019), Limbo (1999) and Under the Light (2023). If The Forbidden Land hooked you with its drama and crime, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCloudy Mountain (2021)7.1/10 from 273 votes
- NewestFox Hunt (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseS.W.A.T. (2019)Also in Chinese
S.W.A.T. (2019)
The story centers on the Chinese Special Police Unit, from their hard training to their first mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLimbo (1999)
Traumatized by a fishing boat accident many years before, Joe Gastineau has given up his hopes for a life beyond the odd jobs he takes to support himself. That quickly changes when nomadic club singer Donna de Angelo and her troubled teen-age daughter enter Joe’s life. Both mother and daughter fall for Joe, increasing the friction between them. The tension continues to build when Joe invites them on a pleasure cruise up the Alaskan coast, discovering too late that the trip may cost them their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder the Light (2023)
Officers Su Jianming and Li Huilin investigate a crime involving wealthy businessman Li Zhitian. As clues emerge, the investigation becomes more and more like a game of chess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisHidden Man (2018)
A martial arts-infused spy thriller set in 1937 Beijing. A time when China was lurching between revolution, prosperity, and chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolice Story: Lockdown (2013)
A man looking for the release of a long-time prisoner takes a police officer, his daughter, and a group of strangers hostage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bodyguard (2016)
A retired bodyguard who has settled into a corner of the world where China, Russia and North Korea meet as he suffers from early dementia finds a new friend in a young girl. When her life is threatened by her father's connection with a local crime lord, the bodyguard must call upon his long forgotten skills to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Dead End (2015)
A "Chinese noir full of sublimated homoeroticism" . The story of three brothers raising a little girl they found as a baby. These sworn brothers are not related by blood, but by a long-standing acquaintance and a serious crime they committed seven years ago. The movie features a homosexual love scene that was handled in a relatively straightforward manner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuper Me (2021)
Sang Yu is so exhausted from trying to stay awake. Every time he closes his eyes, a demon chases and kills him in his dreams. One night Sang realizes he has a special power: he can bring treasures from his dreams into reality. Almost overnight, he becomes a rich man. But his wealth also attracts the attention of a ruthless gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Gold (2011)
On the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, two warring leaders come face to face. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika, lays down his peace terms to rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah. The two men agree that neither can lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return, Nesib adopts Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee against invasion. Twelve years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American from Texas. He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his wildest imagination. Nesib imagines a realm of infinite possibility, a kingdom with roads, schools and hospitals all paid for by the black gold beneath the barren sand. There is only one problem. The precious oil is located in the Yellow Belt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloudy Mountain (2021)
The opening of the new tunnel, which took ten years to build, coincided with a series of serious cataclysms. The lives of 160,000 people depend on the actions of two people, a father and a son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisOnly the River Flows (2023)
Dedicated police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with solving a series of brutal murders in a rural Chinese town. As pressure mounts from his superiors, a hasty arrest is made, but while his colleagues celebrate, several clues push Ma Zhe deeper into a desperate investigation of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFox Hunt (2025)
Based on true events. Dai Yichen, the Shanghai-based mastermind of a massive financial fraud who has been on the run for seven years, resurfaces in Paris. Chinese economic crime detective Ye Jun leads the "Fox Hunt Team" on a cross-border mission to recover the stolen assets. When the hunter becomes the hunted, can the Fox Hunt Team make a comeback against all odds?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnd of Sentence (2019)
Newly widowed Frank Fogle embarks on a journey to Ireland to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His estranged son, Sean, recently released from prison, agrees to join only when his father promises that they’ll never see each other again following the trip. After revelations surface about an old flame of Frank’s wife and a charming hitchhiker with plans of her own intervenes, father and son find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Perfect Weapon (1991)
Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of the Korean mafia families. Jeff tries to help his old friend, but is too late to prevent Kim's death at the hands of an unknown hitman. Vowing revenge, Jeff takes on all of the families, using his martial arts skills to find the man who killed his friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilverton Siege (2022)
After a failed sabotage mission, a trio of anti-apartheid freedom fighters ends up in a tense bank hostage situation. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wild Goose Lake (2019)
A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Forbidden Land?
The closest matches to The Forbidden Land are S.W.A.T. (2019), Limbo (1999) and Under the Light (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Forbidden Land?
Start with S.W.A.T. (2019), the closest match to The Forbidden Land.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Forbidden Land?
Cloudy Mountain (2021), rated 7.1/10 by 273 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Forbidden Land?
Fox Hunt (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like The Forbidden Land?
Yes: S.W.A.T. (2019), Under the Light (2023) and Hidden Man (2018).
How are movies similar to The Forbidden Land chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Forbidden Land, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.