Movies like Unchained (2026)
The best movies like Unchained (2026) are Under the Open Sky (2021), Dog Pound (2010) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). If Unchained hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)7.8/10 from 237 votes
- NewestWithdrawal (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseUnder the Open Sky (2021)Also in Japanese
Under the Open Sky (2021)
Mikami, an ex-yakuza of middle age with most of his life in prison, gets released after serving 13 years of sentence for murder. Hoping to find his long lost mother, from whom he was separated as a child, he applies for a TV show and meets a young TV director Tsunoda. Meanwhile, he struggles to get a proper job and fit into society. His impulsive, adamant nature and ingrained beliefs cause friction in his relationship with Tsunoda and those who want to help him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDog Pound (2010)
Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Bamboo (1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWon't Back Down (2012)
Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoor Cow (1967)
Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Proud Rebel (1958)
Searching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRE:BORN (2016)
A former special forces operative struggling to contain the destructive impulses of his past goes on a rampage against a squad of ruthless assassins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLonely are the Brave (1962)
A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKid Galahad (1962)
After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Public Enemy (1931)
Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAngels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024)
When apathetic gamer Nagi agrees to join his rich classmate Mikage in soccer, their partnership leads to the famous Blue Lock program — and to changes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl's Reform School (1956)
The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Two Men in Town (1973)
A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAzules Turquesas (2019)
A woman suffering from drug addiction is interned against her will in a clandestine rehabilitation center where she suffers many cases of abuse and fights to survive against violence, prejudice and the loss of dignity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Buskers + Lou (2019)
Determined to build a new life for himself, a young man returns home to find work and a place to live and struggles to not fall back in with his old crowd.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Too Much, Too Soon (1958)
The daughter of iconic actor John Barrymore is reunited with her father after a ten year estrangement and engages in his self-destructive lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Waterdance (1992)
Author Joel Garcia breaks his neck while hiking, and finds himself in a rehab center with Raymond, an exaggerating ladies man, and Bloss, a racist biker. Considerable tension builds as each character tries to deal with his new found handicap and the problems that go with it, especially Joel, whose lover Anna is having as difficult a time as he is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Lived Twice (1936)
A hardened criminal is transformed into a responsible member of society after he undergoes plastic surgery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Quelques Secondes (2015)
The daily life of five young women living in a Paris hosting center. All haunted by their heavy past (rape, violence, abandonment...), they try to move forward... except one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Withdrawal (2025)
Artistic lovers, Viv and Jay, have become trapped in a vicious cycle of codependent heroin addiction. But when Viv’s wealthy parents hire an interventionist to take Viv to rehab, the couple decides to set off on their own with the help of a suboxone prescription... all they have to do is survive a harrowing night through drug withdrawal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
10½ (2010)
Tommy, 10 years old, is well known by Social Services. He is considered a danger to society. Gilles, his guardian at this halfway house, sees potential for redemption in this kid driven by violence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Unchained?
The closest matches to Unchained are Under the Open Sky (2021), Dog Pound (2010) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Unchained?
Start with Under the Open Sky (2021), the closest match to Unchained.
What is the highest-rated movie like Unchained?
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), rated 7.8/10 by 237 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Unchained?
Withdrawal (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Unchained?
Yes: Under the Open Sky (2021), RE:BORN (2016) and BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI- (2024).
How are movies similar to Unchained chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Unchained, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.