Movies like The Praying Mantis (2009)
The best movies like The Praying Mantis (2009) are Daybreak Express (1957), Shanghaied (1915) and Time Travel Mater (2012). If The Praying Mantis hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedTo Have and Have Not (1945)7.5/10 from 599 votes
- NewestMaria (2024)Released 2024
Daybreak Express (1957)
Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShanghaied (1915)
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Travel Mater (2012)
When a clock lands on Mater's engine, he travels back in time to 1909 where he meets Stanley, an ambitious young car on his way to California. With the help of Lightning McQueen, Mater alters history by convincing Stanley to stay and build Radiator Springs. Stanley meets Lizzie and they commemorate the opening of the new courthouse with their wedding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrincess Nicotine (1909)
A smoker falls asleep, and two mischievious fairies play with his pipe. He discovers this, and imprisons them in a cigar box. He removes a flower from the box, which contains a fairy smoking a cigarette. Next, he leaves briefly while his smoking paraphenalia clears itself from the table and the flower reassembles itself into a cigar. He lights the cigar, then breaks a bottle containing the fairy, who interacts with him in various ways reeling from his cigar smoke, building a bonfire that he extinguishes, etc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Gathering Storm (2002)
A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaria (2024)
Maria Callas, the world's greatest opera singer, lives the last days of her life in 1970s Paris, as she confronts her identity and life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day of the Locust (1975)
Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMary Poppins Returns (2018)
Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family and helps them evade grave dangers by taking them on magical, musical adventures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTo Have and Have Not (1945)
A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923)
When Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean, she decides to leave for Paris on her own. After spending a year in the city as a mistress of the wealthy Pierre Revel, she is reunited with Jean by chance. This leaves her with the choice between a glamorous life in Paris, and the true love she left behind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMater and the Ghostlight (2006)
Mater, the rusty but trusty tow truck from Cars, spends a day in Radiator Springs playing scary pranks on his fellow townsfolk. That night at Flo's V8 Café, the Sheriff tells the story of the legend of the Ghostlight, and as everyone races home Mater is left alone primed for a good old-fashioned scare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Chatterley's Lover (2022)
After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires. With her husband's consent, she seeks out other means of fulfilling her needs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeau Hunks (1931)
Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHold Your Breath (2024)
In 1930s Oklahoma amid the region's horrific dust storms, a woman is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Praying Mantis?
The closest matches to The Praying Mantis are Daybreak Express (1957), Shanghaied (1915) and Time Travel Mater (2012). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Praying Mantis?
Start with Daybreak Express (1957), the closest match to The Praying Mantis.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Praying Mantis?
To Have and Have Not (1945), rated 7.5/10 by 599 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Praying Mantis?
Maria (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Praying Mantis?
Yes: Daybreak Express (1957), Shanghaied (1915) and Time Travel Mater (2012).
How are movies similar to The Praying Mantis chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Praying Mantis, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















