Movies like The Fear (1972)
The best movies like The Fear (1972) are The Truth About Emanuel (2013), The Operative (2019) and Eleanor the Great (2025). If The Fear hooked you with its drama, 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
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Operative (2019)
A young Western woman is recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)
Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStrange Weather (2016)
Years after her son's suicide, a woman longs to confront both the past and a friend of his who took his business idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Attack (2012)
An Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv discovers a dark secret about his wife in the aftermath of a suicide bombing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Still Hide to Smoke (2017)
Α tragi-comedy about 9 women of different ages and various backgrounds that gather in an Algerian hammam to talk about their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCairo Station (1958)
Qinawi, a physically challenged peddler who makes his living selling newspapers in the central Cairo train station, is obsessed with Hanuma, an attractive young woman who sells drinks. While she jokes with him about a possible relationship, she is actually in love with Abu Siri, a strong and respected porter at the station who is struggling to unionize his fellow workers to combat their boss' exploitative and abusive treatment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigertail (2020)
A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shepherd and the Women (1991)
The widowed Wafaa lives with her teenage daughter Salma and her sister-in-law Azza in her late husband Kamel's remote house. When Kamel's former cellmate comes to offer his help, the three women are hesitant to accept at first, but they end up falling for him and competing for his affection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Nagham Fi Hayaty (1975)
(Hanan) is an attractive and beautiful young girl. She works as a secretary for the singer (Mamdouh). She is attached to Mohsen’s heart and emotionally attached to him. As a result of that connection, she falls victim when she surrenders herself to Mohsen. The result of that connection becomes a pregnancy, and here the situation becomes more serious. Mohsen has to leave Beirut for Brazil. To search for a job opportunity, he must leave the country immediately.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Agony over smiling lips (1974)
(Shahira) enters into a long struggle between reason and emotion, as she loves (Essam), her childhood friend, and they wait for their marriage together since childhood, until (Mustafa), the successful businessman, appears in her life, and with him a prosperous future full of luxury. She has to choose and give priority to her passion or reason.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Age of Wolves (1986)
Hanan works as a secretary for Shawkat, a businessman who trades in weapons. Despite being watched by the police and constant attacks from the journalist Samia, Shawkat steals Hanan from her fiancé, Ahmed, who works in an Arab country. Hanan's attempts to escape and follow her fiancée fail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bittersweet (2010)
An Egyptian-American returns to his homeland after twenty years abroad, filled with nostalgia and high hopes. But as he reconnects with his roots, he finds himself caught between two worlds—and begins to experience the reality of a country he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSorry i refuse the divorce (1980)
Mona devotes her life to her husband and their only daughter, striving to keep them happy. On their 10th anniversary, her husband Essam calmly asks for a divorce, but she refuses to let go so easily.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
El-Halal Yksab (1985)
After Dr. Fouad performs an operation on Shams and saves her life, she becomes attached to him and asks him to marry her. He hides from her that he is engaged to Narges, fearing that her health will deteriorate, so he marries her and Narges at the same time, and convinces Shams that Narges is his sister, and events escalate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Microphone (2010)
Upon his return to Alexandria, Khaled becomes intrigued with a graffiti mural opposite his apartment. As he pursues this further, a larger underground arts scene slowly reveals itself, composed of musicians, filmmakers, and graffiti artists. As they struggle to get their voices heard, Khaled is compelled to help them acquire some much deserved visibility.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
A Family That Has Been Banned (2022)
It deals with the life of an Egyptian family across different generations in a comedic style of show. It presents the social and cultural changes between them, and the family tensions resulting from different customs and values, with a focus on humor and music to convey a message about adapting to time changes and maintaining family ties.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rawheya Has Been Kidnapped (1989)
As Rawheya gets kidnapped, her husband, Ratib, searches for her. However, it turns out to be a trick she carried out in cooperation with Mukhlis and Attia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Fear and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Fear?
The closest matches to The Fear are The Truth About Emanuel (2013), The Operative (2019) and Eleanor the Great (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Fear?
Start with The Truth About Emanuel (2013), the closest match to The Fear.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Fear?
The Good Neighbor (2022), rated 6.7/10 by 215 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Fear?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Fear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Fear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.