Movies like The Business of Strangers (2001)
The best movies like The Business of Strangers (2001) are The Poker House (2008), Changing Lanes (2002) and The Wrong Car (2016). If The Business of Strangers hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Good Neighbor (2022)6.7/10 from 215 votes
- NewestTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)Released 2025
The Poker House (2008)
Agnes and her two sisters struggle through a day in a home overrun by gamblers, thieves, and johns.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChanging Lanes (2002)
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two complete strangers into vicious adversaries. Their means of destroying each other might be different, but their goals, ultimately, will be the same: Each will systematically try to dismantle the other's life in a reckless effort to reclaim something he has lost.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wrong Car (2016)
A woman who was raped by a NetCar driver takes a job with the company to exact her revenge on her attacker after she becomes frustrated with the slow pace of the criminal Justice system.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
The Perfect Wife (2001)
When Leah's brother dies in a car accident, she vows revenge on the doc who failed to save him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Paparazzi (2004)
A rising Hollywood actor decides to take personal revenge against a group of four persistent photographers to make them pay for almost causing a personal tragedy involving his wife and son.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBordertown (2007)
American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States–Mexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products. Lauren Adrian, an impassioned American news reporter for the Chicago Sentinel wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Marriage (2014)
After 25 years of a good marriage, what will Darcy do once she discovers her husband's sinister secret?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReservation Road (2007)
Two fathers' lives intersect when one of them is involved in a terrible and sudden hit-and-run car accident that leaves the other's son dead. In response, the two men react in unexpected ways as a reckoning looms in the near future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroken (2007)
A waitress confronts all the wrong turns she has made in her short life and ultimately ends up facing the biggest wrong turn of all: her dangerous ex-boyfriend who's determined to win back her love or die trying.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrankie & Alice (2010)
A drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhile She Was Out (2008)
Della Myers, a suburban housewife, lives with her twin children and her abusive husband, Kenneth. On Christmas Eve, she drives to the local mall to buy gift-wrap. In the jam-packed parking lot, she notices an old car taking up two spaces and decides to leave a note on the windshield calling them out. After the mall closes, her car is blocked by the old car and she's threatened by four thugs. She escapes in her vehicle, but they drive after her. She crashes at a dead end construction site at the edge of a forest. What unfolds in the desolate woods is Della's lone fight for survival against a gang of angry young men with murderous intent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHush (1998)
Jackson and Helen are in love and about to have their first child when they move in with Jackson's mother, Martha, in order to take care of the family estate. But all is not well in this household. Martha is jealous of her son's affection for Helen, and, despite her Southern smile, she's starting to act strangely. As Helen tries to create a happy home life, Martha attempts to divide the family so that Jackson will become hers alone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisRun for Your Life (2014)
Journalist Meredith Redmond is a battered Canadian woman who flees Canada to escape her abusive husband, Robert. She settles in Seattle, but her now-remarried ex-husband eventually finds her. To protect her two children, she must choose between killing him herself, hiring someone to kill him, or disappearing with her children and assuming new identities. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
To Love, Honor and Deceive (1996)
Sydney Carpenter is a devoted mother to her young son, and is now accustomed to the puzzling existence of her mysterious, non-communicative husband, Matthew. When her husband and son are suddenly lost at sea after a boating accident, Sydney's comfortable existence is shattered. Although overwhelmed by her grief, Sydney cannot ignore the strange pieces from her husband's past that continue to make their way into the present.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
The Trigger Effect (1996)
A blackout leaves those affected to consider what is necessary, what is legal, and what is questionable, in order to survive in a predatory environment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBad Influence (2022)
A single mom is overjoyed when her daughter finally makes friends at her new high school. Soon, however, it becomes clear that this group of students follows their own moral code that’s strange, self-centered, and possibly dangerous.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Fire Down Below (1997)
When an EPA representative is murdered in a small Appalachian community, EPA undercover agent Jack Taggart is sent in—posing as a handyman working with a Christian relief agency—to determine what happened.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisEnough (2002)
Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch's hidden possessive dark side, a controlling and abusive alter ego that can turn trust, love and tranquility into terror. Terrified for her child's safety, Slim flees with her daughter. Relentless in his pursuit and enlisting the aid of lethal henchmen, Mitch continually stalks the prey that was once his family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tenth Circle (2008)
A family's well-kept secrets are exposed when the daughter accuses her ex-boyfriend of rape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Early Release (2017)
Taylor Reynolds, a typical suburban mom, who made some bad life decisions and was sentenced to three years in jail for a DUI and possession of drugs. After her release, Taylor fights the stigma of her past misdeeds, works to regain the support of her daughter Bianca and husband Jeff, and once again become a contributing member of society. But just when Taylor's life is getting back on track, her former cellmate and career criminal, Meghan Flanagan, unexpectedly appears and invades Taylor's world. Meghan has a devious plan. She wants Taylor to come clean and confess the truth behind her early release. Taylor will stop at nothing to keep her family safe from Meghan, even if it means stepping back into the world she ultimately escaped.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Devil's Pond (2003)
After a brief courtship, Julianne marries her handsome boyfriend, Mitch. To celebrate their honeymoon, the couple travel to a remote cabin on a small island. When they arrive, however, Mitch becomes aggressive and physically abusive, and Julianne soon realizes he's not the ideal husband she once thought he was. Knowing that Mitch doesn't plan on ever letting her leave the island, Julianne, who is afraid of water, must find a way to escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Before Dawn (1993)
Based upon a true story. Wife with young family finds life becoming unbearable with her successful, but violent and abusive, husband. After filing for divorce, she quickly learns that her husband, through fear of his personal life embarrassing his clients, has commissioned an assassin to murder her before going to court. Unfortunately, for him, the hired assassin turns out to be an FBI agent. The FBI convince her that she must “pretend” to have been murdered in order to prove her husband’s involvement.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
The House Next Door (2002)
A newlywed couple move into their dream home only to find that their next door neighbor isn't as good-natured as they had initially thought.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
The Gift (2000)
Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brave One (2007)
A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtremities (1986)
A woman escapes from the man who is about to rape her, but leaves her purse behind. Afraid that her attacker might come after her, she goes to the police, but with no proof of the incident, they can do nothing. In fact, the man does use the information in her bag and comes to her apartment with the intent of rape, but she sprays him in the face with insect repellent, and then holds him captive. She is then faced with deciding whether to go to the police who might not believe her and release him, or to kill him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn to Sender (2015)
A nurse mistakes a stranger who pays her a visit for her blind date and soon, the man rapes her and turns her life upside down. The woman works to reclaim her life and exact revenge on her assailant after he's paroled from prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Business of Strangers?
The closest matches to The Business of Strangers are The Poker House (2008), Changing Lanes (2002) and The Wrong Car (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Business of Strangers?
People who watched The Business of Strangers most often go on to The Poker House (2008), Changing Lanes (2002) and The Wrong Car (2016).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Business of Strangers?
The Good Neighbor (2022), rated 6.7/10 by 215 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Business of Strangers?
Tyler Perry's Duplicity (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Business of Strangers?
Yes: The Poker House (2008), Changing Lanes (2002) and The Wrong Car (2016).
How are movies similar to The Business of Strangers chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Business of Strangers, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.