Movies like The Absentee (1952)
The best movies like The Absentee (1952) are The Headless Woman (2008), Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020) and Inseparable (2012). If The Absentee hooked you with its drama and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRemember (2015)7.3/10 from 785 votes
- NewestClose Your Eyes (2023)Released 2023
- In SpanishThe Headless Woman (2008)Also in Spanish
The Headless Woman (2008)
After running into something with her car, Vero experiences a particular psychological state. She realizes she might have killed someone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAgatha and the Midnight Murders (2020)
As bombs fall on London, writer Agatha Christie decides it is time to kill off her most famous creation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInseparable (2012)
A troubled engineer faces pressure at work and problems at home with his moody wife. American expat Chuck, rescues him from the brink of despair and becomes an unlikely mentor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember (2015)
With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisTriage (2009)
The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClose Your Eyes (2023)
Years after his mysterious disappearance, Julio Arenas, a famous Spanish actor, is back in the news thanks to a television program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Doctor (2011)
Dr. Martin Blake, who has spent his life looking for respect, meets an 18-year-old patient named Diane, suffering from a kidney infection, and gets a much-needed boost of self-esteem. However, when her health starts improving, Martin fears losing her, so he begins tampering with her treatment, keeping Diane sick and in the hospital right next to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: A Case Of Murder (2017)
Jenn buys an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale only to find that it includes the sound of a man pleading for his life. When the former owner of the recorder, a retired therapist, is found murdered in a patient’s apartment, Jenn’s investigation leads to other patients whose love lives are more entangled than she was first led to believe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTragic Jungle (2020)
Deep in the jungle, a group of Mexican gum workers crosses their path with Agnes, a mysterious Belizean woman. Her presence enlivens the fantasies and desires of those men, without knowing that they have woken up an ancient Mayan legend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (2020)
After being forced into early retirement, former detective Jeff Jackson returns to a quiet life on Martha's Vineyard. Quiet, at least, until a body washes up and he's drawn back into crime solving.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: Guilty Until Proven Innocent (2016)
When Jenn's old pal Sandra becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, it'll be up to her to discover who done it before time runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
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 Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorns (2013)
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Witch (2008)
A mysterious woman comes in to town and inhabits the local haunted mansion, making everyone wonder if she's a witch or "The Grey Lady".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrónicas (2004)
A suspense thriller about a reporter from Miami who travels to Ecuador in pursuit of a serial killer known as the "Monster of Babahoyo."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Zone (2007)
Residents of an enclosed neighborhood in the middle of Mexico DF are shocked by a violent crime, and for one resident in particular, young Alejandro, the drama is ratcheted up when he encounters the lone kid who escaped the event and is hiding out within the neighborhood's borders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEl recuerdo de aquella noche (1945)
Mexican movie
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
La Bandida (1963)
During a lull in the Mexican Revolution when Francisco Madero became president and attempted to implement land reforms, two former revolutionaries are pitted against each other for the love of the same woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tizoc (1957)
An Indian arouses envy for his expertise in hunting animals without ruining their skins, for his wisdom and his kindness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Chamuscada - Tierra Y Libertad (1969)
A sharecropper and his daughter, a swarthy beauty, flee from the hacienda on which they live and join the Mexican Revolution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
La Cucaracha (1959)
The Mexican Revolution serves as a backdrop to a torrid love triangle composed of three freedom fighters: a colonel, a widow, and a fiery female soldier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Santo vs. Infernal Men (1961)
Agent Joaquin recalls his latest mission while lying wounded in an ambulance: Joaquin has infiltrated into a band of smugglers. When the villains learn the truth about him, they kidnap Jouqin's fiancee. Santo comes to her rescue and fights the band.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Santo vs. Blue Demon in Atlantis (1970)
A Nazi scientist using the lost city of Atlantis as his home base threatens to destroy civilization with a nuclear bomb. The Nazi scientist wants the third Reich to rule again and if his demands are not meet he will follow through on his threat of nuclear annihilation. With very little time to spare Santo is enlisted to find the nuclear bomb, disarm it and end the Nazi scientist’s diabolical plan
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Diary of an Unexpected Journey (2023)
A young woman receives a diary as an inheritance from her father, in which he tells her that she must take a trip to Chiapas, a requirement for access to all his possessions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Absentee and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Absentee?
The closest matches to The Absentee are The Headless Woman (2008), Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020) and Inseparable (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Absentee?
Start with The Headless Woman (2008), the closest match to The Absentee.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Absentee?
Remember (2015), rated 7.3/10 by 785 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Absentee?
Close Your Eyes (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Spanish movies like The Absentee?
Yes: The Headless Woman (2008), Close Your Eyes (2023) and Tragic Jungle (2020).
How are movies similar to The Absentee chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Absentee, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.