Movies like Desespero (2013)
The best movies like Desespero (2013) are Play Dead (2025), The Devil Comes at Night (2023) and The Boy Behind the Door (2020). If Desespero hooked you with its horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedGhostland (2018)7.4/10 from 2,789 votes
- NewestMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)Released 2026
Play Dead (2025)
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil Comes at Night (2023)
A washed up boxer searching for his inheritance must fight for his life when he is trapped in his deceased father's farmhouse by a local cannibal cult.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy Behind the Door (2020)
Bobby tries to save himself and his best friend when they are kidnapped on their way home from school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurve (2016)
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (2023)
Vicaria is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBunnyman Vengeance (2017)
The man known as Bunnyman returns home to find his family running a haunted house attraction. The family welcomes him home, but soon realizes you cannot domesticate a wild animal. Death and mayhem ensue as the family turn on one another to fulfill their bloodlust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dreadful (2026)
In medieval England, Anne and her domineering mother-in-law Morwen struggle to survive on the outskirts of society. But when a man from Anne's past returns from war, a curse begins to take shape through a mysterious knight and threatens to destroy them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrank and Penelope (2022)
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAbigail Haunting (2020)
After escaping the clutches of an abusive relationship, Katie reluctantly returns to the foster home she grew up in. Little does she know, her foster mother Marge is harboring a sinister secret dating back a decade. Now, Katie finds herself caught up in a horrifying family drama while confronting an angry spirit named Abigail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaint Catherine (2024)
An orphaned girl is rescued from a satanic ritual and taken to Saint Catherine Institute for homeless youth. There she will learn new skills while facing demons that stalk her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ (2019)
A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son's imaginary friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisContainment (2015)
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGhostland (2018)
A mother of two inherits a home from her aunt. On the first night in the new home she is confronted with murderous intruders and fights for her daughters’ lives. Sixteen years later the daughters reunite at the house, and that is when things get strange...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies 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 horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisMonkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026)
After a mysterious bout of amnesia, a beloved children’s television host struggles to piece together his fractured memories, only to find his once-cheerful puppet co-stars behaving with sinister intent. As reality unravels, the line between performance and nightmare begins to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReborn (2018)
A stillborn baby girl is abducted by a deranged morgue attendant and brought back to life by electro-kinetic power. On her sixteenth birthday, traumatized Tess escapes captivity and sets out to find her birth mother leaving a trail of horrifying violent destruction and chilling chaos behind her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Hunted (2023)
When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she's made the plaything of a sociopath sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive, she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her life, but also figure out who wants her dead and why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLocked (2025)
When Eddie breaks into a luxury SUV, he steps into a deadly trap set by William, a self-proclaimed vigilante delivering his own brand of twisted justice. With no means of escape, Eddie must fight to survive in a ride where escape is an illusion, survival is a nightmare, and justice shifts into high gear.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvocation of My Demon Brother (1969)
The shadowing forth of Our Lord Lucifer, as the Power of Darkness gather at a midnight mass. The dance of the Magus widdershins around the Swirling Spiral Force, the solar swastika, until the Bringer of Light—Lucifer—breaks through.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGhost Train (2013)
Once a year, estranged brothers Michael and Peter make a reluctant pilgrimage to the old fairground yard where their friend Sam went missing when they were boys. Both men's' lives are colored by what happened the day their friend was sucked inside the Ghost Train, never to return. This year, Michael has something to tell Peter that will cast fresh light on the incident, something that will change their lives even more than that fateful day 30 years ago...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Night Swim (2014)
A woman swimming in her pool at night is watched by a shadowy figure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Insane (2014)
A young talented director on a location scout in the abandoned psychiatric hospital of a rural community inadvertently awakens the ghost of a tormented soul seeking retribution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Massacre at Femur Creek (2014)
In the summer of 1984, three friends go camping in the mythical Femur Creek to celebrate a birthday. Little do they know this party has an unexpected guest.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Greater Than (2014)
When a stubborn ID forger falls for a beautiful but emotionally damaged illegal immigrant, he struggles to understand her grueling idea of what love truly is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Uncommon Enemies (2014)
A hard-boiled US Sergeant and a chatterbox Nazi are forced to team up to destroy a sexy, French, damsel Vampire in war torn France.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
O Come All Ye Zombies (2014)
Your favourite zombies are gathered around the dinner table for a Holiday feast when mayhem ensues and they learn a little about the meaning of Christmas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Resurrections of Clarence Neveldine (2014)
The Resurrections of Clarence Neveldine gives us an unsettling glimpse into the life of “The Final Girl” as she deals with the trauma of that notorious night and the mysterious figure that haunts her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Three:15am - Two Sentence Horror Adaptation - Daddy... There's Something On My Bed... (2014)
a short film by Koh Chong Wu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desespero?
The closest matches to Desespero are Play Dead (2025), The Devil Comes at Night (2023) and The Boy Behind the Door (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desespero?
Start with Play Dead (2025), the closest match to Desespero.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desespero?
Ghostland (2018), rated 7.4/10 by 2,789 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desespero?
Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Desespero chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desespero, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.