Movies like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid (1997)
The best movies like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid (1997) are Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000), Suspect X (2008) and Confessions (2010). If The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedConfessions (2010)7.6/10 from 1,049 votes
- NewestHunting Housewives (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseDetective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000)Also in Japanese
Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000)
Police officers around Tokyo are being murdered by an unknown assailant. When Ran witnesses an attempt on the life of one of her friends in the police, she loses her memory. Now, Conan and Inspector Megure must find the murderer while Ran attempts to regain her lost memories.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuspect X (2008)
A male corpse is discovered with a smashed face and burned hands. Strangely, the cause of death is determined to be strangulation. When Detective Kaoru Utsumi attempts to corroborate the victim’s ex-wife’s alibi she discovers the mysterious neighbor and only a few small clues to help her disprove a seemingly "airtight" alibi...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConfessions (2010)
Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: Dimensional Sniper (2014)
A rash of sniper attacks leaves the streets of Tokyo empty and the public terrified to go outside. It’s up to Conan and his friends to find the culprit, but the case goes deeper than it seems. Military cover-ups, conspiracies and murder abound in this fast-paced, thrilling mystery!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRage (2016)
A man brutally murders a married couple and leaves the word “ikari” (“rage”) written with their blood. The killer undergoes plastic surgery and flees. At three different locations in Japan, a male stranger appears. People suspect that the stranger might be the murderer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNew Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
Wishing to find peace, Zatoichi travels to his old village but only finds trouble when he ends up in a love triangle and finds old scores have followed him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea (2013)
It’s a high-stakes mystery on the high seas! Enjoying a free prize cruise on a military ship, Conan and his friends find their relaxation interrupted by the threat of possible explosives on board! It’s a race against time to find the culprit and save the ship — and potentially the whole country!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)
Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidsummer's Equation (2013)
Masaharu Fukuyama reprises his role from 2008's "Suspect X," playing the physicist-cum-detective Manabu Yukawa. The scientist-sleuth arrives in an oceanside town to speak on a panel. But when a man turns up dead outside the inn where he's staying, Yukawa begins to unravel the connections that tie the victim to the activist daughter of the innkeepers, and a precocious boy who first appears on a train—and keeps popping up. It's a Sherlock Holmes mystery with an environmental twist, and one that should please fans of a classic whodunnit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVillain (2010)
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Fugitive from the Past (1965)
Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuseum (2016)
In Tokyo, Japan, several grotesque murders take place on rainy days. Detective Sawamura, who is in charge of the case, soon discovers that his own family is connected to the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1992)
At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOrange (2015)
A girl mysteriously receives advice from her future self and as a result her group of friends, along with a newly arrived, troubled classmate, learn how to be better friends and a better community.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)
Lady Snowblood is caught by the police and sentenced to death for her crimes. As she is sent to the gallows she is rescued by the secret police who offer her a deal to assassinate some revolutionaries.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStray Dog (1949)
A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZero Woman: Red Handcuffs (1974)
Agent Zero is a cop that uses her own methods for dealing with criminals. After she unlawfully kills a rapist in a violent fashion, she is sent to prison and stripped of her badge. But very soon after, a rich politician's daughter is kidnapped by a ruthless gang. Agent Zero is let out of prison with the mission of going undercover to find the politician's daughter and return her safely. Using her deadly red handcuffs, she disposes of the criminals one by one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRavenous (1999)
After arriving at his new, remote Army outpost, Capt. John Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Housewives (2024)
Four harried housewives plan a weekend spa getaway but end up stranded in the wilderness when their plane goes down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Settle the Score (1989)
Katherine Whately, a tough, young Chicago cop, comes home to her small town to settle her teenage rape. She is welcomed by her brother but shunned by her father. Josh, the town doctor, is her only ally in her quest for the truth. Together Katherine and Josh find the bloody trail of a serial murderer and shatter the lie that is two decades old.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Not in Textbooks 5 (2019)
A school romantic comedy about the cohabitation life of a popular high school girl in a class and a Japanese language teacher who is swayed by her in the fifth in the series "Not in Textbooks!". Aya Shirakaba, a high school girl who attends Otome High School, and homeroom teacher Arihiko Tairaku lived together at the command of the leader of Yakuza, the father of Aya. One weekend, Tairaku invites a longing colleague, Yayoi Satsuki, to date, which was also Aya's birthday. Aya learns that Tairaku is going to date May. Ayaka Morikawa, who plays Aya Shirakaba, and Ryouma Baba, who plays Arihiko Tairaku, continue to star in the series, while Moemi Katayama and Anna Hongo have played the role of May, who is now gravure idol Natsuki Sena.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Fall from Grace (2020)
When a law-abiding woman gets indicted for murdering her husband, her lawyer soon realizes that a larger conspiracy may be at work.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlind Wives (1920)
A woman with a taste for expensive clothing has four nightmares. An impoverished disabled girl sells her hair, a trapper finds he has an unfaithful wife, the wife of a dying weaver finds she cannot work the loom, and a model harassed by her boss is driven to murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagnum Force (1973)
"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dead Pool (1988)
Dirty Harry Callahan returns for his final film adventure. Together with his partner Al Quan, he must investigate the systematic murder of prominent figures. By the time Harry learns that the murders are part of a sick game to predict such deaths, it may be too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Client (1994)
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid?
The closest matches to The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid are Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000), Suspect X (2008) and Confessions (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid?
Start with Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000), the closest match to The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid?
Confessions (2010), rated 7.6/10 by 1,049 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid?
Hunting Housewives (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid?
Yes: Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes (2000), Suspect X (2008) and Confessions (2010).
How are movies similar to The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Files of Young Kindaichi: Legend of the Shanghai Mermaid, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























