Movies like Desfeita (2025)
The best movies like Desfeita (2025) are Light It Up (1999), The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) and The Truth About Emanuel (2013). If Desfeita hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFreedom Writers (2007)7.9/10 from 2,524 votes
- NewestSmooth Operator (2025)Released 2025
Light It Up (1999)
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
As the 15th anniversary of a fatal high school shooting approaches, former pupil Diana McFee is haunted by memories of the tragedy. After losing her best friend Maureen in the attack, Diana has been profoundly affected by the incident - her seemingly perfect life shaped by the events of that day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBang Bang You're Dead (2003)
A troubled and bullied high school student fights against judgement from his community after threatening to bomb the football team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Experiment (2010)
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Eight Seven (1997)
When a Brooklyn high school student writes the police code for homicide, 187, inside a textbook owned by teacher Trevor Garfield, Garfield feels threatened. The principal dismisses the incident, but the same student stabs Trevor soon after. Fifteen months later, a physically and emotionally scarred Trevor relocates to California and takes up substitute teaching. To his dismay, his new school is as full of dangerously undisciplined students as his old one—including four Latin Americans and a European American claiming membership in tagging gang K.O.S. (Kappin' Off Suckers)—driving him over the edge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (2017)
An adrenaline seeking snowboarder gets lost in a massive winter storm in the back country of the High Sierras where he is pushed to the limits of human endurance and forced to battle his own personal demons as he fights for survival....
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wasp (2024)
Heather bumps into Carla, having not spoken to her in years, and presents her with a very unexpected proposition that could change both of their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuce (2019)
A star athlete and top student, Luce's idealized image is challenged by one of his teachers when his unsettling views on political violence come to light, putting a strain on family bonds while igniting intense debates on race and identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hummingbird Project (2019)
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Desperate Hour (2022)
A woman desperately races to save her child after police place her hometown on lockdown due to an active shooter incident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Room (2002)
A high school shooting has repercussions on the town and students.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTower Block (2012)
A year after witnessing a murder, residents of Tower Block 31 find themselves being picked off by a sniper, pitting those lucky enough to be alive into a battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHead Under Water (2007)
Something terrible is about to happen in a small town in Germany. Nobody knows the reason why, except one person: Rico Bartsch. The 15-year old grammar school pupil, an absolute outsider, is in love with the most beautiful girl at his school. What in the beginning is a longing that can never be fulfilled will come true at the end of the story. Beautiful Regine will beg for Rico’s love. Until then several inhabitants of the town will die an unnatural death...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
The Wave (2008)
A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClass of 1984 (1982)
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSticks & Stones (1996)
For three junior high friends, growing up takes a dangerous turn when the vicious local bully targets them. With no one to turn to but each other, they muster the courage to take a shot at settling the score.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Smooth Operator (2025)
A college student fails an audition and loses a role to a more charismatic, athletic man, leading to a downward spiral of obsessively working out and bulking in the hopes of gaining masculinity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Ditch Party (2015)
Five students trap themselves in the basement of their high school during an all-out assault on students and faculty, all at the hands of one disturbed student geared with guns and explosives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Nowhere Girl (2015)
Ai is a student at an all-girls' art high school. She is known to be extremely gifted in the arts, but the adults around her try to use her and her classmates are jealous of her. Ai suffers because of her situation, but doesn't have anywhere to escape. Her daily life becomes like a war and she begins to collapse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Freedom Writers (2007)
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCoach Carter (2005)
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Class (2008)
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desfeita?
The closest matches to Desfeita are Light It Up (1999), The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) and The Truth About Emanuel (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desfeita?
Start with Light It Up (1999), the closest match to Desfeita.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desfeita?
Freedom Writers (2007), rated 7.9/10 by 2,524 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desfeita?
Smooth Operator (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Desfeita chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desfeita, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.