Movies like Janathipathyam (1997)
The best movies like Janathipathyam (1997) are Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), 2018 - Everyone Is a Hero (2023) and Black Widow (1987). If Janathipathyam hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSafety Last! (1923)7.7/10 from 614 votes
- NewestOscar Shaw (2026)Released 2026
- In MalayalamAyyappanum Koshiyum (2020)Also in Malayalam
Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020)
Ayyappan, a police officer, is an upright man who always strives to do the right thing. However, things change when a retired army havildar, Koshy, settles in his village and the two egos clash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like this2018 - Everyone Is a Hero (2023)
A disaster film set during the 2018 Kerala Floods where people from all walks of life faced catastrophic consequences and put in collective efforts to survive the calamity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIratta (2023)
After a cop is found dead, a policeman's investigation sparks a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSafety Last! (1923)
When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKurup (2021)
The Film is based on the infamous 'Charlie Murder Case' in the Indian State of Kerala where the main culprit Sukumara Kurup has been on the run for decades and is still not been caught. The story revolves around the perspective of Sukumara Kurup and the Police officers who were investigating the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrance (2020)
A disheartened motivational speaker gets hired by a corporate to become a preacher until his live stint on television puts him and his service under the scanner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (2013)
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar Shaw (2026)
After retiring from the police force, a relentless detective haunted by the tragic loss of his closest friend sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, seeking redemption and fighting to restore justice to the streets he once swore to protect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRorschach (2022)
When Luke Antony's wife goes missing, he sets off to search for her and stumbles upon the Balan family. However, terrorising events start occurring as Luke grows closer to them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucifer (2019)
In God's own country, the supreme leader of the ruling party dies, leaving a huge vacuum, not only in the electoral and leadership sphere of the party but also that of the state. In the inevitable succession squabble and the power struggle that ensues, the thin line that separates good and bad becomes irrecoverably blurred and out of this seemingly endless mayhem, emerge forces that are hitherto unheard of.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRekhachithram (2025)
Having recently served a suspension for gambling online while on duty, Circle Inspector Vivek Gopinath rejoins the police force and is looking to reclaim his lost honour. Awaiting him is a 40-year-old, unresolved murder mystery with a faceless victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVarathan (2018)
After losing his job, Aby and his wife, Priya, move back to the latter's family estate in Kerala. However, things go from bad to worse for the couple as they encounter a new set of challenges..
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSookshmadarshini (2024)
Manuel returns with his mother to their former home in a middle-class neighbourhood. Suspicious of his intentions, Priyadarshini and her friends begin gathering clues, convinced he may be hiding something sinister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDrishyam 2 (2021)
Seven years after the events of the first film, the family lives with the trauma from that fateful night. A gripping tale of an investigation and a family threatened by it. Will Georgekutty be able to protect his family this time?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSethurama Iyer CBI (2004)
Alex, who is awaiting execution, confesses to having committed six out of the seven murders he is acquitted for. Officer Sethurama Iyer decides to trace the original murderer of the seventh one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Billa Ranga (1982)
Billa Ranga is action thriller based movie in which, Raviraj (Kannada Prabhakar) is a smuggler who kills people and smuggles their skulls to foreign countries. To get evidences against him and close his business, police commissioner (Thyagaraju) call up Billa (Chiranjeeevi) , a CID officer from delhi and presents him as thief in local area.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Choodalani Vundi (1998)
Ramakrishna arrives in Kolkata and takes up residence in Padmavathi's housing colony. While at first he seems happy and easy-going, soon his real reason for returning to Kolkata is revealed. He wants revenge!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Abhilasha (1983)
In order to reform the death sentence penalty, a lawyer sets a trap and gets himself arrested for a murder. But he is caught in his own web of evidence and struggles to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Rudranetra (1989)
Netra works for a detective agency and is assigned a mission to track down the underworld activities of an influential personality. The situation changes when he gets killed during his mission.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Gudachari No.1 (1983)
Gudachari No.1 is action drama based movie in which, Vijay (Chiranjeevi) is a CBI agent who lives in Delhi. On a special operation, Vijay is sent a place where a gang involves in every illegal activity. Vijay job is to gain proofs against them and bring them to justice. Vijay succeeds in bursting the gang and in the due process, he meets Rekha (Radhika) and falls for her. Vijay manages to liquidate the boss of that gang and returns to Delhi with Rekha as his wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Roshagadu (1983)
Roshagadu is an suspense thriller based movie in which, Chiru played the role of CID informer and Thyagaraju and Prabhakar are two gangleaders and CID officer Neelima(Madhavi) is assigned to burst their underworld.Neelima uses Sikander (Chiru), who works for them, as her informer, but before sikander manages to gather enough evidences, Prabhakar comes to know about his reality and kills him. Now, Neelima is left without any support in her mission.Oneday, she spots a Sikander look a like (chiru again) and persuades him to act like sikander, During this process, they fall in love with each other. In the end, sikander manages to liquidate all secret activities of thyagu and bhayankar and helps neelima in completing her mission.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Chattaniki Kallu Levu (1981)
Chattaniki kallu levu is action thriller based movie in which, the story deals with siblings Vijay (Chiranjeevi) and Durga (Lakshmi) pursuing their sister’s and father’s murderers.Their father and sister are killed by 3 men, John (Hema Sundar), Javed (Kannada Prabhakar) and Janardan (Ceylon Manohar).Durga, now a police officer, wants the murderers to be punished legally. But, Vijay thinks that law and its loopholes can never track down those 3 murderers.So, he decides to track them down by himself and succeeds in killing two of them, John and Janardhan on each occasion.This frustrates his sister and interrupts her investigations. She has a doubt on vijay, but due to lack of evidence remains helpless. In the end, Durga, tring to nab Javed, is kidnapped by him, but Vijay saves her and kills Javed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Pasivadi Pranam (1987)
After his wife's death, Madhu lives in a drunken stupor until Raja, a child with hearing and speech impairment, enters his life. But Raja's parents' murderers are searching for him to hide the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Ben Johnson (2005)
Johnson, the honourable son of a dreaded local thug, decides to erase the bad image of his father in the society. He becomes a police officer and fights to bring criminals to justice.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Like Janathipathyam and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Janathipathyam?
The closest matches to Janathipathyam are Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), 2018 - Everyone Is a Hero (2023) and Black Widow (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Janathipathyam?
Start with Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), the closest match to Janathipathyam.
What is the highest-rated movie like Janathipathyam?
Safety Last! (1923), rated 7.7/10 by 614 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Janathipathyam?
Oscar Shaw (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Malayalam movies like Janathipathyam?
Yes: Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), 2018 - Everyone Is a Hero (2023) and Iratta (2023).
How are movies similar to Janathipathyam chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Janathipathyam, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.