Movies like Bystander (2024)
The best movies like Bystander (2024) are Man with No Past (2025), Play Dirty (1969) and Home Run (2013). If Bystander hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Beautiful Mind (2001)7.9/10 from 11,562 votes
- NewestGoodbye June (2025)Released 2025
Man with No Past (2025)
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that ultimately reveals the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dirty (1969)
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle of the Year (2013)
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Christs (2017)
Dr. Alan Stone breaks new ground for treatment of the mentally ill through an experiment on three paranoid schizophrenic patients who believe they are Jesus Christ.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blackout (1997)
A debauched Hollywood movie actor tries to piece together one wild night in Miami years earlier which remains a drug-induced blur, and soon finds out that some questions about his past are best left unanswered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodbye June (2025)
Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaurus (2022)
A rising but troubled musician searches for the inspiration to record one last song, pushing himself deep into the void.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMo' Better Blues (1990)
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroke (2025)
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lords of Discipline (1983)
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirst Snow (2006)
A psychic's ominous reading sends a man into a tailspin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashbacks of a Fool (2008)
An aging Hollywood star, Joe Scott, lives a life of narcissistic hedonism, observed by his laconic personal assistant, Ophelia. The death of his childhood best friend, Boots, takes our protagonist, and the movie, into an extended flashback to a sea-side town in 1970s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCoda (2020)
A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Double (2011)
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKelly's First Nudist Retreat (2003)
Kelly fantasizes about steamy sexual escapades, but can never find the courage to fulfill them. Finally, through a nudist retreat, Kelly realizes exactly what she needs to do to be cured.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Invisible Man (1954)
When an invisible man is run down by a car it’s up to an eager young reporter and a strange clown to bring a dangerous gang to justice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Okie (2024)
Louie, an acclaimed writer, returns to his hometown after his father's death. Confronted with a host of people from his past, Louie is forced to reconcile with the stories he's stolen, misrepresented, or downright exploited for profit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In the Closet (TBA)
As young adult Quinn cleans out their childhood closet, they reflect on the keepsakes they associate with their gender identity struggle, and ultimately come to a decision that could change their life for the better.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shadow (2023)
SHADOW unfolds in Athens, exploring the complexities of marriage through its female protagonist. Blending shadow theory with psychological depth, it reveals hidden struggles and desires as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Samurai (2003)
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Man Walking (1995)
A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDriving Miss Daisy (1989)
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTop Gun (1986)
For Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But a tragedy, as well as personal demons, will threaten Pete's dreams of becoming an ace pilot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Beautiful Mind (2001)
From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Bystander?
The closest matches to Bystander are Man with No Past (2025), Play Dirty (1969) and Home Run (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Bystander?
Start with Man with No Past (2025), the closest match to Bystander.
What is the highest-rated movie like Bystander?
A Beautiful Mind (2001), rated 7.9/10 by 11,562 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Bystander?
Goodbye June (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Bystander?
Yes: Man with No Past (2025), Play Dirty (1969) and Home Run (2013).
How are movies similar to Bystander chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Bystander, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.