Movies like The Painter
The best movies like The Painter are Badland (2019), Young Guns (1988) and Rust (2024). If The Painter hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)7.8/10 from 1,361 votes
- NewestRust (2024)Released 2024
Badland (2019)
Detective Matthias Breecher, hired to track down the worst of the Confederate war criminals, roams the Old West seeking justice. His resolve is tested when he meets a determined pioneer woman who is far more than she seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Guns (1988)
A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRust (2024)
Infamous outlaw Harland Rust breaks his estranged grandson Lucas out of prison, after Lucas is convicted to hang for an accidental murder. The two must outrun legendary U.S Marshal Wood Helm and bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang who are hot on their tails. Deeply buried secrets rise from the ashes and an unexpected familial bond begins to form as the mismatched duo tries to survive the merciless American Frontier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead for a Dollar (2022)
In 1897, veteran bounty hunter Max Borlund is deep into Mexico where he encounters professional gambler and outlaw Joe Cribbens — a sworn enemy he sent to prison years before. Max is on a mission to find and return Rachel Kidd, the wife of a wealthy businessman, who as the story is told to Max, has been abducted by Buffalo Soldier Elijah Jones. Max is ultimately faced with a showdown to save honor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Naked Spur (1953)
A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Harder They Fall (2021)
Gunning for revenge, outlaw Nat Love saddles up with his gang to take down enemy Rufus Buck, a ruthless crime boss who just got sprung from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Guns II (1990)
Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Doc Scurlock — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoss Nigger (1975)
Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Dorado (1966)
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Outlaws (2001)
When a Midwest town learns that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers join forces to take back what is rightfully theirs. They will become the object of the biggest manhunt in the history of the Old West and, as their fame grows, so will the legend of their leader, a young outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Wild Bunch (1969)
An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOld Henry (2021)
A widowed farmer and his son warily take in a mysterious, injured man with a satchel of cash. When a posse of men claiming to be the law come for the money, the farmer must decide who to trust. Defending a siege of his homestead, the farmer reveals a talent for gun-slinging that surprises everyone calling his true identity into question.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Man (1995)
On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAppaloosa (2008)
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe White Buffalo (1977)
In this strange western version of Moby Dick, Wild Bill Hickok hunts a white buffalo he has seen in a dream. Hickok moves through a variety of uniquely authentic western locations - dim, filthy, makeshift taverns; freezing, slaughterhouse-like frontier towns and beautifully desolate high country - before improbably teaming up with a young Crazy Horse to pursue the creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl Gringo (2012)
A man crossing into Mexico with a satchel of $2,000,000—and a bloody past—finds himself under sudden attack in the sleepy town of El Fronteras.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Hunt (1981)
Yukon Territory, Canada, November 1931. Albert Johnson, a trapper who lives alone in the mountains, buys a dog almost dead after a brutal dogfight, a good deed that will put him in trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRide Lonesome (1959)
On the way to pick up the bounty on a wanted murderer, a bounty hunter stops at a staging post where he is forced to continue his journey with two outlaws who want the murderer for their own reasons and a recently-widowed woman, with the murderer's brother and his men in hot pursuit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRancho Notorious (1952)
A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecision at Sundown (1957)
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStealing Rembrandt (2003)
Two bumbling scrap metal thieves - father and son - steal the wrong painting during a museum heist. The painting turns out to be the only original Rembrandt painting in Denmark, and all hell breaks loose. What do you do when you've got Interpol, the Danish police and the entire Danish underworld on your heels? And who was this Rembrandt guy anyway?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)
Earl Bassett's celebrity after defeating the Graboid attack against the town of Perfection has proved short-lived, until he's recruited by a Mexican oil company whose workers have found more than they bargained for under the soil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlazing Saddles (1974)
Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dead Zone (1983)
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which leaves him in a coma for 5 years. When he wakes, he discovers he has an ability to see into the past, present and future life of anyone with whom he comes into physical contact.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuburban Commando (1991)
Shep Ramsey is an interstellar hero, righting wrongs, etc. His ship is damaged after a fight with an interstellar nasty and he must hide out on Earth until it can recharge. He leaves his power suit at home, but still finds himself unable to allow wrongs to go unrighted and so mixes it up with bad drivers, offensive paperboys, muggers and the like.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisSilverado (1985)
Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTrinity Is Still My Name (1971)
The two brothers Trinity and Bambino are exchanged by two federal agents and take advantage of the situation to steal a huge booty hidden in a monastery by a gang of outlaws.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHow the West Was Won (1962)
The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Plains Drifter (1973)
A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Painter?
The closest matches to The Painter are Badland (2019), Young Guns (1988) and Rust (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Painter?
Start with Badland (2019), the closest match to The Painter.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Painter?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), rated 7.8/10 by 1,361 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Painter?
Rust (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Painter?
Yes: Badland (2019), Young Guns (1988) and Rust (2024).
How are movies similar to The Painter chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Painter, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.