Movies like The Desert (1983)
The best movies like The Desert (1983) are Into the Deep (2025), Race with the Devil (1975) and Deep Water (2026). If The Desert hooked you with its horror and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJaws (1975)7.7/10 from 12,020 votes
- NewestDeep Water (2026)Released 2026
Into the Deep (2025)
Divers searching for sunken treasure witness the murder of drug dealers by modern-day pirates, but a killer great white is determined not to let any of them escape its waters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Water (2026)
A group of international passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBest of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 355 (2022)
A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShade (2003)
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrap House (2025)
An undercover DEA agent and his partner embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious, and surprising group of thieves – their own rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their parents' tactics and top-secret intel to do it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killer (2024)
Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Signal (2007)
A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDark Light (2019)
A woman returns to her family home and discovers it to be inhabited by monsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMisdirection (2026)
A desperate couple have pulled off a string of high-end break-ins to pay off a mob debt. When they attempt to rob their latest victim, they find themselves caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. The tables are turned and the hunters become the hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Sea (2024)
Stranded in the open sea after a fatal accident, a young woman and her two friends are rescued by a fishing vessel's captain, unaware that the ship harbors a chilling secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Blind (2024)
After an experimental drug trial goes awry, the test subjects face a terrifying side effect: if you fall asleep you die. Trapped in an isolated facility, panic ensues as they try to escape and somehow stay awake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoint Blank (2019)
A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Days of American Crime (2020)
In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to crime and terrorism, the U.S. government plans to broadcast a signal that will make it impossible for anyone to knowingly break the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Book (2023)
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisS.W.A.T.: Under Siege (2017)
When a D.E.A. and S.W.A.T. cartel takedown ends in a shootout, S.W.A.T. Agent Travis Hall seizes a mysterious prisoner taking him into custody. Before long, the S.W.A.T. compound is under siege by wave-after-wave of assault teams attempting to recover the prisoner known as “The Scorpion” for the tattoo blazed across his back. When Travis discovers that his prisoner is a Secret Ops double agent planted within the cartel, it’s up to him and his expert S.W.A.T. team to keep “The Scorpion” and his billion dollar secrets safe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Virtuoso (2021)
Danger, deception and murder descend upon a sleepy town when a professional assassin accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisFear Below (2025)
A rag-tag team of divers attempting to salvage a sunken car from a river are thwarted by a highly aggressive bull shark.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto the Blue (2005)
When they take some friends on an extreme sport adventure, the last thing Jared and Sam expect to see below the shark-infested waters is a legendary pirate ship rumored to contain millions of dollars in gold. But their good fortune is short-lived, as a ruthless gang of criminals gets word of what they have uncovered.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMississippi River Sharks (2017)
Sharks attack a fish rodeo on the Mississippi River, and it is up to a group of locals to stop them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Jaws 3-D (1983)
A giant thirty-five-foot shark becomes trapped in a SeaWorld theme park and it's up to the sons of police chief Brody to rescue everyone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJaws 2 (1978)
Police chief Brody must protect the citizens of Amity after a second monstrous shark begins terrorizing the waters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJaws: The Revenge (1987)
After another deadly shark attack, Ellen Brody decides she has had enough of New England's Amity Island and moves to the Caribbean to join her son, Michael, and his family. But a great white shark has followed her there, hungry for more lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisOpen Water (2004)
Two divers are left out at sea without a boat. There’s nothing but water for miles, unless they look at what’s underneath them...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThunderball (1965)
A criminal organization has obtained two nuclear bombs and are asking for a 100 million pound ransom in the form of diamonds in seven days or they will use the weapons. The secret service sends James Bond to the Bahamas to once again save the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJaws (1975)
When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the beast before it strikes again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Desert?
The closest matches to The Desert are Into the Deep (2025), Race with the Devil (1975) and Deep Water (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Desert?
Start with Into the Deep (2025), the closest match to The Desert.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Desert?
Jaws (1975), rated 7.7/10 by 12,020 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Desert?
Deep Water (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Desert chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Desert, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.