Movies like Balibo (2009)
The best movies like Balibo (2009) are Triage (2009), The Ritual Killer (2023) and Suburbicon (2017). If Balibo hooked you with its drama and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFlight (2012)6.9/10 from 6,698 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
Triage (2009)
The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Deadly Affair (1967)
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Electric Mist (2009)
Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. When the star of the film, Elrod Sykes, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man whose murder he witnessed 35 years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Doctor (2011)
Dr. Martin Blake, who has spent his life looking for respect, meets an 18-year-old patient named Diane, suffering from a kidney infection, and gets a much-needed boost of self-esteem. However, when her health starts improving, Martin fears losing her, so he begins tampering with her treatment, keeping Diane sick and in the hospital right next to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDarfur (2009)
American journalists in Sudan are confronted with the dilemma of whether to return home to report on the atrocities they have seen, or to stay behind and help some of the victims they have encountered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll the Devils Are Here (2025)
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
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 thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrigger Point (2021)
Nicolas Shaw is a retired U.S. special operative who becomes part of an elite 'invisible' team that quietly takes out the worst villains around the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Infernal Machine (2022)
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Engineer (2023)
As Israel is rocked by a series of terrorist bombings, a US senator's daughter is killed in one bloody explosion. Now, ex-Mossad agent Etan must lead an elite, covert team of agents and mercenaries to find the man responsible—the elusive “Engineer.” Can they find and destroy the madman before more innocent lives are lost?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisBarron's Cove (2025)
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStriking Distance (1993)
Demoted Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy works river patrol while a serial killer targets women from his past, forcing him to conduct an unauthorized investigation to prove his innocence and expose a dirty cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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 & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRising Sun (1993)
When a prostitute is found dead in a Los Angeles skyscraper occupied by a large Japanese corporation, detectives John Connor and Web Smith are called in to investigate. Although Connor has previous experience working in Japan, cultural differences make their progress difficult until a security disc showing the murder turns up. Close scrutiny proves the disc has been doctored, and the detectives realize they're dealing with a cover-up as well.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
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 thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAwake (2007)
While undergoing heart surgery, a man experiences a phenomenon called ‘anesthetic awareness’, which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOriginal Sinful Affairs (2014)
The poor colleges CC, Kyung – Hwan and Eun – Sook, use summer vacations to enter the residential pension part – time job. However, the summer work part which I thought only as a pleasant memories of one time starts with the first murder because of the owner of the pension. In the end, the Russian model Iriya, who has come to play at his pension, and the manager of the con artist Kang Kang are entangled with the party, misunderstanding and truth are mixed together, and it begins to spread as a bloody wind of indiscriminate slaughter. An imaginative scourge of ordinary people who are very ordinary, and animal greed and jealousy that flourish in the blood. And destructive love blooms. “I think I’m having a dream right now …” The tragedy begins to budge slightly in the very nearness of thoughts
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Equinox (1992)
Estranged twins Henry and Freddy navigate their drastically different lives— one a troubled bookworm, the other a hardened criminal. As a young writer uncovers their royal lineage and inheritance, the brothers’ fate intertwines in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Broken City (2013)
In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force - and the mayor's worst nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Midnight Man (1974)
An ex-convict, and ex-cop, finds himself in the midst of drama as a murder, of a female student, is commited at the university where he works as a night watchman. He is reluctantly drawn into the criminal investigation and eventually becomes a suspect in the case. Will he be able to find the real murderer and clear his own name, or not?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Fatale (2020)
After a wild one-night stand, successful sports agent Derrick Tyler watches his perfect life slowly disappear when he discovers the sexy and mysterious woman he risked everything for is determined police detective Valerie Quinlan who entangles him in her latest investigation. As he desperately tries to put the pieces together, he falls deeper into her trap, risking his family, his career, and even his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight (2012)
Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYesterday's Enemy (1959)
Set during the Burma Campaign of World War 2, this is the story of courage and endurance of the soldiers struggling at close quarters against the enemy. The film examines the moral dilemmas ordinary men face during war, when the definitions of acceptable military action and insupportable brutality become blurred and distorted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Coho's Hero Lost (2016)
A dramatic investigation into the mind of violent individuals by following a school shooter in the days leading up to his egregious act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946)
A young girl goes to work as a live-in caretaker for a spooky old woman. She doesn't know that every night, the woman drains some blood from her to feed her strange plant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Fun Park (2007)
Late one night in 1980, evidence exists that "Bobo - The Insult Clown" was bludgeoned to death while locking up for the night at the "Family Fun Park." For the next twenty-six years, the tale of Bobo's ghost swells into an urban legend, as his remains were never found. Now it's 2006 and six teens on a mission to refute "the Fun Park" myth, make a deadly discovery...the man known as "Bobo" actually lives in bowels of the abandoned park. The kids are abducted and killed one-by-one after being subjected to a bizarre and grisly ritual. MEGAN and her boyfriend JUSTIN manage to escape...but only MEGAN survives. After waking up in a mental hospital, Megan tells Psychologist MARISSA JADE her horrific story. The cops search for the five missing kids at the abandoned fun park, but find no bodies or evidence that Megan's story is true. When the psychologist stumbles upon a tiny clue...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Balibo?
The closest matches to Balibo are Triage (2009), The Ritual Killer (2023) and Suburbicon (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Balibo?
Start with Triage (2009), the closest match to Balibo.
What is the highest-rated movie like Balibo?
Flight (2012), rated 6.9/10 by 6,698 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Balibo?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Balibo?
Yes: Triage (2009), The Ritual Killer (2023) and Suburbicon (2017).
How are movies similar to Balibo chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Balibo, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.