Movies like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003)
The best movies like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003) are Dead Man's Folly (1986), The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002) and When a Stranger Calls Back (1993). If The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer hooked you with its drama and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRaazi (2018)7.3/10 from 211 votes
- NewestA Story of Derry (2026)Released 2026
Dead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called in to unravel a mysterious curse that has plagued the Baskerville family for generations. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead, his heir, Sir Henry, begs Holmes to save him from the terrifying supernatural hound that has brought fear and death to his household.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
Jill Johnson, now a crisis center counselor, reunites with retired detective John Clifford to hunt a killer stalking a coed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisJesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWerewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012)
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBaby Blues (2008)
On a secluded family farm, a mother suffers a psychotic break due to postpartum depression, forcing the eldest son to protect his sibling from the mother they have always known and loved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSherlock: Case of Evil (2002)
Early in his crime-solving career, Sherlock Holmes attempts to prevent Moriarty from cornering the heroin market.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEndless Night (1972)
Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Nasty Piece of Work (2019)
A mid-level corporate employee finds out he’s not getting the Christmas bonus he was expecting, but his boss invites him to earn a promotion by beating his professional rival in a violent competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Story of Derry (2026)
Hundreds of years before Pennywise, three youngsters venture into the Western Wood...where they encounter a terrifying ancient spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Evil (1978)
Shortly after moving into a dark, brooding mansion, a psychologist and his co-workers are terrorized by a horrible evil being.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisInfidelity in Suburbia (2017)
With her husband away at work, and her son at school, Laura dreams of a home-renovation project to supplant her restless days. Elliott, her irresistibly hot private contractor, soon fulfills her more forbidden dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Still See You (2018)
Ten years after an apocalyptic event left the world haunted by ghosts, Veronica 'Ronnie' Calder receives a threatening message from beyond the grave. Joining forces with a mysterious classmate, Kirk, Ronnie descends into a shadow world that blurs the bounds of the living and the dead—and begins a desperate race against time to stop a cunning killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrooked House (2017)
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1992)
A town busybody is poisoned at a busy reception in the home of famous film star Marina Gregg. The poisoned drink seemed intended for Marina, but Miss Marple is not so sure. She sets out to discover the true identity of the killer before he or she can strike again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (2020)
When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInsidious: The Last Key (2018)
Parapsychologist Elise Rainier and her team travel to Five Keys, NM, to investigate a man’s claim of a haunting. Terror soon strikes when Rainier realizes that the house he lives in was her family’s old home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRestless Souls (1998)
Newlyweds spend the night at a haunted mansion, having had car trouble. When the wife disappears, the husband's rich father sends a team of parapsychologists to get the wife back. Except for the leader, each of the team has a special power... Dr. Donna Hemming is a telekinetic, Anthony Leeds can see things by touching objects, and Heather Siris is sexually irresistible to both the dead and the living. They soon discover a Civil War general has made a pact with the devil, if he can only find a virgin for the devil to procreate with.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Raazi (2018)
An Indian spy is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBorley Rectory: The Awakening (2026)
In 1900, young Reverend Henry Bull and his sister, Kitty, are tasked with taking over the duties of their family home in Essex, a majestic Victorian mansion built on the site of an old monastery. Unaware of the sinister forces that lurk within, the pair are soon confronted by terrifying paranormal activities that threaten their loved ones. Desperate to protect themselves from the demonic intrusion, they call upon the services of a trusted family friend to investigate the origins of the vengeful ghosts which haunt their property. But these are spirits who will not rest, and Borley Rectory is doomed to gain a chilling reputation, as the most haunted house in all of Britain.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
Heidi (1968)
Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Debbie Macomber's A Mrs. Miracle Christmas (2021)
When a family faces loneliness and loss of faith, Mrs. Miracle swoops in to renew their Christmas Spirit, and they experience a holiday of heavenly proportions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lady Joker (2004)
Men and women caught up in a downward spiral of corruption, discrimination, poverty and death are the focus of this detective-thriller/social-drama inspired by the unsolved 1984 kidnapping of a Japanese candy company president.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Preludes to Ecstasy (1961)
Sten Lehtoja, a married, middle-aged businessman, picks up a young hitchhiker, Elsie, while driving to his summer home. Elsie spends the night and becomes his mistress. Later during the summer, Elsie also begins an affair with Reino, the teenage son of a local storekeeper. Sten offers to divorce his wife, and Elsie, attracted by the prospect of a secure social position, agrees to marry him when the divorce becomes final. One night when the couple are in bed, Reino climbs a ladder and attempts to force his way into their room; he falls and breaks his neck, and to avoid scandal Sten hides the body. But the strain of guilt ruins the romance, and Elsie contacts the police, who arrest her lover.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Welcome to the Quiet Room (2007)
28 year old freelance writer Sakura Asuka wakes up tied in a white room. The white room is a protected room located in an isolated ward of a psychiatric hospital. Sakura first became unconscious because of heavy alcohol use and a druge overdose. She’s confined in the single room because of her high risk of committing suicide. Sakura tried to talk to the nurses and doctors but they didn’t listen to her. Under the circumstances another patient Miki, who suffers from an eating disorder, leads her to understand the unknown world. But, Sakura is looking for the way to get back to the real world as soon as possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blonde (2022)
From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, this reimagined fictional portrait of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLocomotive Teacher (2004)
Seigo Yoshioka (Kenji Sakaguchi) is a teacher that became mute after a kendo accident. He feels lost after the accident and eventually decides to teach again on a small island where his mother was born. The children there on the island quickly name him "Kikansha Sensei" (Teacher Locomotive) after learning he is mute. The parents on the island are mostly hostile to Seigo Yoshioka, believing he is incapable of teaching their children. But with Seigo Yoshioka's determination and kindness, a strong bond develops between the students and the mute teacher, which then changes the parents' opinions of Seigo Yoshioka. Suddenly, tragedy then strikes ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer?
The closest matches to The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer are Dead Man's Folly (1986), The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002) and When a Stranger Calls Back (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer?
Start with Dead Man's Folly (1986), the closest match to The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer?
Raazi (2018), rated 7.3/10 by 211 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer?
A Story of Derry (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer?
Yes: Dead Man's Folly (1986), The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002) and When a Stranger Calls Back (1993).
How are movies similar to The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.