Movies like The Waiter (2010)
The best movies like The Waiter (2010) are The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Indemnity (2022). If The Waiter hooked you with its action and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPrimal: Tales of Savagery (2019)8.4/10 from 373 votes
- NewestOscar Shaw (2026)Released 2026
The 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 drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndemnity (2022)
An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrimal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Tales of Savagery features a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThey Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRedemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence resolutions which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locket (1946)
A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIslands (2025)
In this twisty thriller, a tennis coach at a tropical resort finds himself at the center of a missing persons mystery. Tom teaches tennis during the day and parties at night. When an enigmatic tourist arrives, Tom is unable to shake the feeling he has met her before. Tension and attraction grow, until her husband disappears, and the police suspect Tom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar Shaw (2026)
After retiring from the police force, a relentless detective haunted by the tragic loss of his closest friend sets out on a perilous quest for vengeance, seeking redemption and fighting to restore justice to the streets he once swore to protect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unholy Three (1925)
Three sideshow performers form a conspiracy known as 'The Unholy Three' – a ventriloquist, midget, and strongman working together to commit a series of robberies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCause for Alarm! (1951)
A bedridden and gravely ill man believes his wife and doctor are conspiring to kill him, and outlines his suspicions in a letter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Without Pity (1957)
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStargate SG-1: Children of the Gods (2009)
An alien similar to Ra appears out of the Stargate, killing five soldiers and kidnapping another, a year after the original Stargate mission. A new team is assembled, including some old members, and they go in search of the missing soldier in order to find out how Ra could still be alive. Meanwhile, the alien Goa'uld kidnap Sha're and Skaara, implanting them with symbiotes and making them Goa'uld hosts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWWE Day 1 2022 (2022)
WWE kicks off 2022 with the first-ever WWE Day 1 event. Big E puts the WWE Championship on the line against Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley in a Fatal 5-Way Match. "The Man" Becky Lynch defends the WWE Raw Women's Championship against Liv Morgan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOdd Man Out (1947)
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dark Past (1948)
A gang hold a family hostage in their own home. The leader of the escaped cons is bothered by a recurring dream that the doctor of the house may be able to analyze.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWWE Crown Jewel 2021 (2021)
The 2021 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the third Crown Jewel and took place on October 21, 2021, at Mohammed Abdu Arena on The Boulevard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. The event aired via pay-per-view and livestreaming, marking the first Crown Jewel to air on Peacock in the United States.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuuto Presents: Kamen Rider W Special Event Supported by Windscale (2010)
The special event is a stage show held on December 20, 2009 at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall, to commemorate the release of the movie Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider W & Decade Movie Taisen 2010. It features the casts and song artists from the Kamen Rider W TV series.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Atonement (2007)
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wind Dropped Before Dawn (1959)
Members of Jasna's group are suspicious because of her firing from occupation Special police squad and they start avoiding her. She finds out the members of the group have been betrayed but they become even more suspicious. At the moment when they were ready to liquidate her the true traitor is revealed. Thanks to Jasna's courage an action becomes success and she regains their trust.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Category 5 (2014)
After a family survives Hurricane Katrina, there is another storm but this one is much worse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Those Who Dwell (TBA)
A WWII paratrooper gets lost in a forest as the line between reality and memory begins to blur.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Waira (2024)
In an isolated community, a young indigenous woman fights for her freedom after enduring sexual assaults. Confronted with a life-altering decision, she stands at a crossroads between resisting or forging a path away from the shackles of violence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Magic to Win (2011)
Nobody knows that Professor Hong Sum Kwai is actually the Water Magician, one of the five elemental wizards. One day, Hong accidentally loses his magical powers, which are transferred to his student Cheng Meisi. The girl happily uses the superhuman abilities she acquired by luck in life, at school, and on the volleyball court, but those powers also land her in trouble as a war of wizardry rages around her... Fire Magician Bi Yewu is desperate to turn back time to change a tragedy in the past, but to do so he needs to bring together the powers of all five elemental wizards. Wood Magician Gu Xinyue foresees catastrophe if time is warped, so he alerts the other wizards - including Earth Magician Ling Feng and Metal Magician Charlie - to join forces and prevent it from happening...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Windwalker (1980)
An ancient Indian warrior who has reached the end of his life is brought back from his 'death' to save his family from a raiding party of enemy Indians in this unique story of 'Indians without a single cowboy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wind and Fog (2011)
Set in the pastoral mountains of northern Iran, eight-year-old Sahand has been rendered mute by the loss of his mother during the war. He is taken care of by his older sister as he struggles to process his trauma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Waiter and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Waiter?
The closest matches to The Waiter are The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Indemnity (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Waiter?
Start with The Quiller Memorandum (1966), the closest match to The Waiter.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Waiter?
Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019), rated 8.4/10 by 373 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Waiter?
Oscar Shaw (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Waiter?
Yes: The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and Indemnity (2022).
How are movies similar to The Waiter chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Waiter, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.