Movies like Surveillance (1997)
The best movies like Surveillance (1997) are Just Buried (2007), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Small Apartments (2012). If Surveillance hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlindspotting (2018)7.3/10 from 756 votes
- NewestThe Lychee Road (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseBe Somebody (2021)Also in Chinese
Just Buried (2007)
A young man inherits a nearly bankrupt funeral home from his estranged father. He falls in love with the alluring young mortician, only to find out she's offing people to keep the place in business!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreaking News in Yuba County (2021)
An overlooked pencil-pusher catches her husband in bed with another woman, the shock of which causes him to die of a heart attack. So she buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. But she quickly finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying to keep the truth from her sister, a local news anchor who’s desperate for a story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSmall Apartments (2012)
When a clumsy deadbeat accidentally kills his landlord, he must do everything in his power to hide the body, only to find that the distractions of lust, the death of his beloved brother, and a crew of misfit characters force him on a journey where a fortune awaits him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBe Somebody (2021)
During the Republican era, a group of frustrated people from the movie industry is invited in a luxurious mansion to make a movie out of a gruesome case that has recently rattled the city of Shanghai, in the hopes that it would turn into a huge sensation and make them famous. However, they never expected that the murderer would be in their midst and that the truth behind the case would be far more bizarre than their fictional movie plot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntermission (2003)
A raucous story of the interweaving lives and loves of small-town delinquents, shady cops, pretty good girls and very bad boys. With Irish guts and grit, lives collide, preconceptions shatter and romance is tested to the extreme. An ill-timed and poorly executed couple's break-up sets off a chain of events affecting everyone in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Weekend (2013)
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlindspotting (2018)
Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThick as Thieves (1999)
Two master thieves go at odds with one another as one sets the other up for a crime. The first, a suave pro who does his job and then hides in his own privacy, listening to old jazz records and caring for his ailing dog, Wally. The other is a local gangster with a taste for the finer life, who decides to eliminate the competition. This ignites a war between the two men and their aides. An angry mob boss and a female police officer try to sort the mess before things get too out of hand.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaging Grace (2023)
An undocumented Filipina immigrant lands a job as a careworker for a seemingly terminal old man, securing a better life for her and her daughter. But a dark discovery threatens to destroy everything she’s strived for and holds dear.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHail the Judge (1994)
Pao Lung Sing, a descendant of the legendary Judge Pao Ching Tin, is a 9th degree corrupt judge who changes his tune when he tries to champion a woman Chi Siu-Lin, who was framed for killing her husband. As a result, Pao is forced to flee and through a series of events becomes a 1st degree judge and comes back to wreak havoc and justice on the guilty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere the Money Is (2000)
Henry Manning has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It's a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay, has a plan of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMahjong (1996)
Amid a rapidly changing cityscape, the lives of a disparate group of swindlers, hustlers, gangsters, and expats collide, with a naive French teenager and a sensitive young local who tries to protect her caught dangerously in the middle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Buddha+ (2017)
Security guard Pickle and his trash collector friend Belly Button kill time together in night shifts watching the American-educated boss's dash-cam recordings of his various sexual encounters with women. Against the buddies' will, something horrifying rather than erotic reveals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisArticle 20 (2024)
Tells the story of prosecutor Han Ming who is involved in a difficult case where the intentional injury of people is turned into a legitimate defense.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Shot's Funeral (2001)
Don Tyler, a famous film-maker, falls ill on the sets of his movie. Fascinated by the funereal traditions of China, he requests a cameraman named Yoyo to arrange a grand, comedic funeral for him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lychee Road (2025)
A Tang Dynasty minor official risks everything to deliver lychees across China. Li Shande, middle-aged and struggling, sees this dangerous mission as his last chance for success.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tenants Downstairs (2016)
A loafer inherits an apartment block and lets out the place to a group of tenants, including a lusty gymnastics teacher, a geeky college student, a single father with his young daughter, a gay couple, a writer and a sexy female office worker. An incredible story is about to unfold as they start their lives in the same building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Missing Gun (2002)
After a policeman gets drunk and loses his service weapon, he frantically searches for his revolver and the killer who murdered his former lover.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Windermere's Fan (1925)
A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Surveillance?
The closest matches to Surveillance are Just Buried (2007), Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) and Small Apartments (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Surveillance?
Start with Just Buried (2007), the closest match to Surveillance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Surveillance?
Blindspotting (2018), rated 7.3/10 by 756 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Surveillance?
The Lychee Road (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Surveillance?
Yes: Be Somebody (2021), Hail the Judge (1994) and Mahjong (1996).
How are movies similar to Surveillance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Surveillance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.