Movies like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews (2025)
The best movies like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews (2025) are The Imposter (2012), Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) and Maternal Instinct (2026). If The Hunt For Shannon Matthews hooked you with its documentary and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedParadise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)7.6/10 from 215 votes
- NewestMaternal Instinct (2026)Released 2026
The Imposter (2012)
In 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappeared without a trace from his home in San Antonio, Texas. Three-and-a-half years later, he is found alive in a village in southern Spain with a horrifying story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAbducted in Plain Sight (2017)
A family falls prey to the manipulative charms of a neighbor, who abducts their adolescent daughter. Twice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaternal Instinct (2026)
Police pull over a woman who claims she just gave birth. But the baby — and the blood — aren't hers. Twisted lies unravel in this true-crime documentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPredators (2025)
In the mid-aughts, Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator drew millions of weekly viewers to watch sting operations: men planning to meet minors for sex would instead be confronted by polished host Chris Hansen, then by the police — all on hidden camera.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOut of Thin Air (2017)
Set within the stark Icelandic landscape, OUT OF THIN AIR examines the 1976 police investigation into the disappearance of two men in the early 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisGirl in the Picture (2022)
A young mother’s mysterious death and her son’s subsequent kidnapping blow open a decades-long mystery about the woman’s true identity, and the murderous federal fugitive at the center of it all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVoyeur (2017)
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
Using raw, firsthand footage, this documentary examines the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children, and the terrible events that followed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirty John: The Dirty Truth (2019)
John Meehan created a terrifying trap of seduction, deceit and betrayal for countless victims. The illuminating revelations into his backstory showcase a series of events that flipped switches to create a monster wired for psychopathy. Goffard exposes John’s troubled background that built the foundation for his ominous fantasy world of lies and manipulation. In addition to hearing the Newell family’s terrifying tale, John’s first wife Tonia Bales and her daughters Emily and Abigail Meehan speak out, along with other women from his past who were caught in his web of lies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisStolen: Heist of the Century (2025)
Antwerp, 2003. A gang of thieves rob the impenetrable Diamond Center. Who was behind one of the world's biggest heists - and how did they pull it off?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParadise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
A horrific triple child murder leads to an indictment and trial of three nonconformist boys based on questionable evidence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America (2023)
Survivors, whistleblowers, and experts recount the Boy Scouts of America's decadeslong cover-up of sexual abuse cases and its heartbreaking impact.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAileen: Queen of the Serial Killers (2025)
Aileen Wuornos remains a rarity: a female serial killer. From childhood abuse to death-row revelations, this documentary revisits her life and crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020)
This documentary brings to life the stories of four people believed by their family and friends to be “DB Cooper,” a man who hijacked a 727 flying out of Seattle and jumped from the plane over the wilds of Washington State with a parachute and $200,000, never to be heard from again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crash (2026)
A teen slams her car into a building, killing her boyfriend and his friend. What seems like a tragic accident becomes a murder case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Carman Family Deaths (2025)
A young man's dramatic rescue at sea spirals into accusations he murdered two members of his wealthy New England family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParadise Lost 2: Revelations (2000)
Revisiting the 1994 Arkansas murder of three 8-year-old boys and the three teenagers convicted of the crime. A follow up to Paradise Lost, Revelations features new interviews with the convicted men, as well as with the original judge and police investigators.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLong Shot (2017)
When Juan Catalan is arrested for a murder he insists he didn't commit, he builds his case for innocence around unexpected raw footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMommy Dead and Dearest (2017)
Child abuse, mental illness, and forbidden love converge in this mystery involving a mother and daughter who were thought to be living a fairy tale life that turned out to be a living nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEvil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story (2025)
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCosmetic Criminals (2024)
A short mockumentary detailing the rise of intergenerational cosmetic theft through the eyes of an affected family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & documentary
Into the Deep: The Submarine Murder Case (2020)
When journalist Kim Wall disappears after boarding inventor Peter Madsen's submarine, his changing story about her fate masks a terrifying truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Amanda Knox Saga (2014)
Amanda Knox served four years in an Italian prison for the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007, always insisting on her innocence. In 2011, she was acquitted on the basis of DNA evidence but prosecutors successfully appealed and her acquittal was struck down. In 2014 she was again found guilty in absentia after a retrial and sentenced to 28 years and six months in jail. The saga came to and end when Italy's highest court overturned the convictions of Ms Knox and her former boyfriend, Italian student Raffaele Sollecito in March 2015. Known burglar Rudy Guede was arrested a short time later following the discovery of his bloodstained fingerprints on Kercher's possessions. He was later found guilty of murder in a fast-track trial and is currently (as of 2019) serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & documentary
20 Years on Death Row (2018)
An in-depth examination to Keith Doolin, a former long-distance truck driver with no previous criminal convictions, currently incarcerated on death row in San Quentin prison around 20 miles north of San Francisco. He was convicted of the murder of two women in 1995 and after 20 years maintaining his innocence whilst awaiting execution he is still in limbo, going through California’s capital appeals system. Keith Doolin’s case is now a race against time. In late 2016, voters in California elected to speed up the death penalty process whilst Doolin’s defence lawyers claim they have uncovered credible new key evidence that will exonerate Doolin and could save his life and free him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Murdered for Being Different (2017)
Drama telling the true story of the murder of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster in 2007, who was kicked to death in a park by a gang. Her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, was also severely beaten and put into a coma. The two of them were attacked because they were dressed as goths.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Noogie's Time to Shine (2023)
After dimwitted film noir-o-phile Ned 'Noogie' Krapczak (pronounced 'crap-chicK,' not 'crap sack') turns up dead in Miami, the FBI, local police and a couple of hapless Floridians all want to know what happened to the three-point-two million dollars in cash he stole.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one—until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAkte Münsterlandmörder (2022)
4 women, murdered and forgotten. About a serial killer who kept the Münsterland and its surrounding regions in fear from 1971 to 1974 and then disappeared without a trace. The film uncovers new theories and provides possible answers to the questions: Who was this unknown? Who knows the truth?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs (2014)
Cult leader Warren Jeffs rises to power in the polygamist Mormon sect once headed by his late father, but some of his wives fight back to bring him to justice. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes Against Humanity (2017)
A reflection about the urgent necessity of a Universal Jurisdiction enabled to act where other initiatives fail. We are resolved to give voice to the forgotten victims of the Spanish Franco regime and determined to become an agent of change for the dissemination of some events which have left a mark on the Spanish society and which are still unknown nowadays by most of the population, who thinks to know them, but actually got a manipulated version in the best-case scenario.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews?
The closest matches to The Hunt For Shannon Matthews are The Imposter (2012), Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) and Maternal Instinct (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Hunt For Shannon Matthews?
Start with The Imposter (2012), the closest match to The Hunt For Shannon Matthews.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews?
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996), rated 7.6/10 by 215 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews?
Maternal Instinct (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Hunt For Shannon Matthews?
Yes: The Imposter (2012), Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) and Maternal Instinct (2026).
How are movies similar to The Hunt For Shannon Matthews chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Hunt For Shannon Matthews, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.