Movies like Inside Story (1939)
The best movies like Inside Story (1939) are The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) and Another Thin Man (1939). If Inside Story hooked you with its mystery and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSherlock Jr. (1924)8.0/10 from 1,238 votes
- NewestThe Thursday Murder Club (2025)Released 2025
The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
Hoping for a peaceful visit with his parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs, Nick Charles and his wife Nora soon find themselves surrounded by old rivalries, family tensions, and a mysterious murder. Nick’s father, a respected retired doctor, would much rather see his son give up detective work, but a suspicious shooting quickly draws Nick back into action. As Nick and Nora investigate, they uncover jealousy, deception, hidden motives, and a dangerous secret involving the town’s prominent citizens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadow of the Thin Man (1941)
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnother Thin Man (1939)
Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when eccentric industrialist Colonel MacFay asks for protection after receiving threatening messages. When MacFay is found dead at his isolated estate, Nick and Nora spring into action, questioning a houseful of suspicious guests and uncovering greed, blackmail, family secrets, and a dangerous inheritance plot. With their trademark wit and sophistication, the glamorous couple balances parenthood, parties, and peril as they race to expose the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Late Show (1977)
An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thursday Murder Club (2025)
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsych: The Movie (2017)
The ambitious friends come together during the holidays after a mystery assailant targets one of their own. A comedic thrill-ride follows, as the wild and unpredictable Psych team pursues the bad guys, justice … and, of course, food!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFoul Play (1978)
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
A middle-aged couple suspects foul play when their neighbor's wife suddenly drops dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCa$h (2010)
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence – all in the name of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisSherlock Jr. (1924)
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & mystery
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Dream Team (1989)
Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Spy (2020)
A hardened CIA operative finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to surveil her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Air Up There (1994)
Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
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 mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe International (2009)
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)
A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidnight Manhunt (1945)
Two reporters search for a missing body in a wax museum.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939)
While participating in a contest at a local newspaper in which high school students are asked to submit a news story, Nancy Drew intercepts a real story assignment concerning the death of a woman who was poisoned. Nancy doesn't think the young woman accused of the crime is guilty and corrals her neighbor Ted into searching for a vital piece of evidence and stumbles onto the identity of the real killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
The Fifth Cord (1971)
A journalist finds himself on the trail of a murderer who's been targeting people around him, while the police are considering him a suspect in their investigation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Front Page (1931)
Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCairo (1942)
Reporter Homer Smith accidently draws Marcia Warren into his mission to stop Nazis from bombing Allied Conwoys with robot-planes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Down (2001)
After the elevators at a New York City skyscraper begin inexplicably malfunctioning, putting its passengers at risk, mechanic Mark Newman and reporter Jennifer Evans begin separate investigations. Newman gets resistance from superiors at his company, which manufactured the elevator, while additional elevator incidents cause several gruesome deaths. The police get involved and suspect that terrorists are responsible, but a far stranger explanation looms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisIt Happened One Night (1934)
A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor X (1932)
A wisecracking reporter investigates the cannibalistic 'Moon Killer' murders tied to a medical academy, culminating in a chilling reenactment experiment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Return of Doctor X (1939)
When news reporter Walter Garrett arrives at the hotel room of bombshell actress Angela Merrova to conduct an interview, he finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. He returns with the police to find the hotel empty and the body vanished. Garrett writes about the incident but is fired when Merrova, alive and well, goes to the paper to complain. Now his only chance to get his job back is to find the truth, which involves the grisly scheme of a madman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrêt-à-Porter (1994)
During Paris Fashion Week, models, designers and industry hot shots gather to work, mingle, argue and try to seduce one another.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Inside Story?
The closest matches to Inside Story are The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) and Another Thin Man (1939). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Inside Story?
Start with The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), the closest match to Inside Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Inside Story?
Sherlock Jr. (1924), rated 8.0/10 by 1,238 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Inside Story?
The Thursday Murder Club (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Inside Story?
Yes: The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) and Another Thin Man (1939).
How are movies similar to Inside Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Inside Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.