Movies like Careful What You Wish For (2015)
The best movies like Careful What You Wish For (2015) are Deep Water (2022), Fatale (2020) and Dream Lover (1994). If Careful What You Wish For 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 ratedGone Girl (2014)7.9/10 from 20,676 votes
- NewestWilma or The Ghosts of Freedom (2025)Released 2025
Deep Water (2022)
A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFatale (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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDream Lover (1994)
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReptile (2023)
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGone Girl (2014)
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCrime of Passion (1956)
Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManhattan Night (2016)
Porter Wren is a Manhattan tabloid writer with an appetite for scandal. On the beat he sells murder, tragedy, and anything that passes for the truth. At home, he is a dedicated husband and father. But when Caroline, a seductive stranger asks him to dig into the unsolved murder of her filmmaker husband Simon, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail--one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisOne Hour Photo (2002)
Sy Parrish has lovingly developed photographs for the Yorkin family since their son was a baby. But as the Yorkins' lives become fuller, Sy's only seems lonelier, until he eventually convinces himself he's part of their family. When Sy's picture-perfect fantasy collides with an ugly dose of reality, a bizarre and thrilling confrontation ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeping with the Enemy (1991)
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAddicted (2014)
A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisAnother Man's Poison (1951)
Mystery novelist Janet Frobisher, lives in an isolated house, having been separated for years from her criminal husband. She has fallen in love with her secretary's fiancé and when her estranged husband unexpectedly returns, Janet poisons him, but just as she's about to dispose of the body, one of her husband's criminal cohorts also shows up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSudden Fear (1952)
Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him because, to her, he doesn't look like a romantic leading man. On a train from New York to San Francisco, Blaine sets out to prove Myra wrong...by romancing her. Is he sincere, or does he have a dark ulterior motive?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHollywoodland (2006)
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGraphic Desires (2023)
When reclusive Franklin cheats on his partner with a mysterious girl he meets on a dating app, it becomes the start of a deadly obsession.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Loft (2014)
For five men, the opportunity to share a penthouse in the city -- in which to carry on extramarital affairs -- is a dream come true, until the dead body of an unknown woman turns up. Realizing that her killer must be one of their group, the men are gripped by paranoia as each one suspects another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Cold Blood (1967)
After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBody Double (1984)
After losing an acting role and his girlfriend, Jake Scully finally catches a break: he gets offered a gig house-sitting in the Hollywood Hills. While peering through the beautiful home's telescope one night, he spies a gorgeous woman dancing in her window. But when he witnesses the girl's murder, it leads Scully through the netherworld of the adult entertainment industry on a search for answers—with porn actress Holly Body as his guide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand and One (2023)
Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrop (2025)
Violet, a widowed mother on her first date in years, arrives at an upscale restaurant where she is relieved that her date, Henry, is more charming and handsome than she expected. But their chemistry begins to curdle as Violet begins being irritated and then terrorized by a series of anonymous drops to her phone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatso (1980)
Dominick DiNapoli is a man who loves food and is overweight as a result. After an obese cousin dies due to health problems, Dominick's sister Antoinette sets out to help him lose weight. Although he has a hard time trying to slim down, Dominick finds inspiration when he meets and falls for shop owner Lydia. Can he get up the courage to ask her out, or will he go back to the comfort of overeating?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Forbidden Door (2009)
A successful sculptor's life is turned upside down when he starts to receive mysterious messages from someone asking for his help. As he digs deeper, he discovers a boy is being abused and has to choose between saving the boy or losing everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlonde (2022)
From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, this reimagined fictional portrait of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMadame X (1929)
A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her three year old son again despite her earnest attempts to make amends. For many years the mother seeks refuge overseas and in Absinthe. In the end, her son, a young and promising lawyer unknowingly defends her in court. Ruth Chatterton gives a marvelous performance in this early talkie in her portrayal of Madame X.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In My Life (2009)
A headstrong woman moves to New York and must come to terms with her estranged gay son and his partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Night Rhythms (1992)
Nick, a late night DJ, has sex with a listener that he's invited to the station. The session goes out over the air until something goes wrong. Nick wakes up to find a dead body and himself framed. Nick now tries to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Wilma or The Ghosts of Freedom (2025)
Wilma has many qualifications and talents, yet suffers just as many disappointments in life. After she catches her husband cheating, she runs away to Vienna in search of a new life. There she lives with bustling bohemians, tries her luck at a variety of jobs and perhaps... at love again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Veni Vidi Vici (2024)
The Maynards and their children lead an almost perfect billionaire family life. Amon is a passionate hunter, but doesn’t shoot animals, as the family's wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Talhotblond (2009)
This is the true story of a love triangle that takes place entirely online. Lies lead to murder in real life, as a teenage vixen (screen name 'talhotblond') lures men into her web. Revealing a shocking true crime story that shows the Internet's power to unleash our most dangerous fantasies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJewels of Brandenburg (1947)
A former secret agent is sent to retrieve a priceless collection of stolen jewels from a Lisbon nightclub owner who worked both sides during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Careful What You Wish For?
The closest matches to Careful What You Wish For are Deep Water (2022), Fatale (2020) and Dream Lover (1994). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Careful What You Wish For?
Start with Deep Water (2022), the closest match to Careful What You Wish For.
What is the highest-rated movie like Careful What You Wish For?
Gone Girl (2014), rated 7.9/10 by 20,676 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Careful What You Wish For?
Wilma or The Ghosts of Freedom (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Careful What You Wish For?
Yes: Deep Water (2022), Fatale (2020) and Dream Lover (1994).
How are movies similar to Careful What You Wish For chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Careful What You Wish For, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.