Movies like If There Be Thorns (2015)
The best movies like If There Be Thorns (2015) are Seeds of Yesterday (2015), Flowers in the Attic (2014) and Shattered (2017). If If There Be Thorns hooked you with its tv movie and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWe Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)7.5/10 from 3,261 votes
- NewestHome Sweet Home (2025)Released 2025
- Same seriesSeeds of Yesterday (2015)Dollanganger
Seeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Same series: Dollanganger · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (2014)
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Why it matches: Same series: Dollanganger · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShattered (2017)
Shattered is a story based on true events about family betrayal, love lost, and a dark destructive secret that swirls around a high powered political family in the Deep South. Kate Stenson dreams of an enviable life as the quintessential Southern Belle. She marries Ken Burnett, the son of the town's powerful Mayor - a controlling father who will do anything to protect his position. Kate has two children with Ken - a biological daughter, and an adopted son, named Logan (Tate Birchmore). But Kate's seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to fray at the edges as she discovers that Logan suffers from severe mental health issues. Kate's journey to uncover the true story of Logan's past reveals a dark secret that can destroy the entire Burnett legacy. As Kate investigates - with the aid of a new friend - to unmask the history behind Logan's illness, these unimaginable family secrets surface, putting her in unforeseen danger.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stranger in My Home (2025)
A handsome stranger's claim that a couple's 15-year-old daughter was switched at birth throws their perfect family into turmoil, unearthing shattering secrets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStoker (2013)
Following her father Richard's death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie. But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie, who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (1987)
After the death of her husband, a mother takes her kids off to live with their grandparents in a huge, decrepit old mansion. However, the kids are kept hidden in a room just below the attic, visited only by their mother who becomes less and less concerned about them and their failing health, and more concerned about herself and the inheritence she plans to win back from her dying father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMartha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
After several years of living with a cult, Martha finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy, for help. Martha finds herself at the quiet Connecticut home Lucy shares with her new husband, Ted, but the memories of what she experienced in the cult make peace hard to find. As flashbacks continue to torment her, Martha fails to shake a terrible sense of dread, especially in regard to the cult's manipulative leader.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnforgettable (2017)
Barely coping with the end of her marriage, Tessa Connover learns that her ex-husband, David, is now happily engaged to Julia. Trying to settle into her new life after moving in with David, Julia believes she has finally met the man of her dreams, the man who can help her forget her troubled past. Soon, Tessa's jealousy starts to consume her, and she will stop at nothing to turn Julia's paradise into the ultimate nightmare.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Skeleton Key (2005)
A hospice nurse working at a spooky New Orleans plantation home finds herself entangled in a mystery involving the house's dark past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaby Obsession (2018)
Anna Gray is pregnant and ready to start a family with her loving husband Jon. But she has no idea that Rachel, the mother of a baby who died from SIDS when Anna babysat her years ago, has been waiting for this day, determined to take back what Anna "took from me!"
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
The Good Son (1993)
A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle, and befriends his cousin who's the same age. But his cousin begins showing increasing signs of psychotic behavior.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPetals on the Wind (2014)
This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.
Why it matches: Same series: Dollanganger · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2016)
Two high school filmmakers decide to create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Lies Beneath (2000)
Norman and Claire Spencer are a seemingly happily married couple who uncover a terrible secret… a secret so disturbing it threatens to destroy them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWicked (1998)
A cul-de-sac in an oppressive suburb becomes a literal dead end for wife and mother Karen Christianson when she is brutally murdered in her own home. In the wake of the event, Karen's teenage daughter Ellie begins to exhibit bizarre behaviors as she slowly acquires her mother's demeanor and mannerisms. Meanwhile, Karen's husband Ben nurtures a less-than-innocent interest in the family's sultry live-in nanny, Lena.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisOrphan (2009)
After losing their baby, a married couple adopt 9-year old Esther, who may not be as innocent as she seems.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Gift (2015)
Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
13-year-old Rynn Jacobs lives in a New England beach town. Whenever the landlady inquires after Rynn's father, she claims that he's not available. But when the landlady's son, Frank, won't leave Rynn alone, she teams up with a neighbor Mario to maintain the dark family secret that she's been keeping to herself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Wife's Nightmare (2014)
Liz, just returned home after a mental breakdown, has to welcome a relative stranger into her home when Caitlin, a young, vivacious woman, claims to be her husband's daughter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Away (2017)
Sisters Maggie and Lizzie move in with mom Peg's new husband. Secrets and lies start immediately. Maggie cannot handle what follows and recruits a friend to help her plan to get out of town with her step father's secrets. When Peg discovers that her daughter has run away, she now has to find Maggie fast but must come to terms with the dark secrets that led to Maggie's fleeing and the secrets about her new husband.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Kindred Spirits (2019)
Single mother Chloe has her life turned upside down when her younger sister, Sadie, comes home after a long, unexplained absence. Though Sadie seems to want to settle in with her sister and 17-year-old niece, it soon becomes apparent that she may have sinister intentions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHome Sweet Home (2025)
When Gośka meets Grzesiek online, she's sure he's her Mr. Right. Grzesiek is crazy about her, showers her with flowers, and proposes in Venice, but soon enough, the picture perfect romance starts to crumble, revealing a darker side.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Accused (2005)
On the surface Henrik and Nina Christofferson are an ordinary family living happily. But they have a problem. Their daughter, Stine, a difficult 14 year old, has a habit of telling lies in class. When Stine accuses her father of sexual abuse, and is believed by seemingly eager social workers, their family is thrust into crisis. Could Henrik have done it? And when Stine prepares to return home, the ugly side of family life is exposed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoison Ivy (1992)
A seductive teen befriends an introverted high school student and schemes her way into the lives of her wealthy family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisWe Have Always Lived in the Castle (2019)
In Shirleyville, Vermont, during the sixties, sisters Merricat and Constance, along with their ailing uncle Julian, confined to a wheelchair, live isolated in a big mansion located on the hill overlooking the town, tormented by the memories of a family tragedy occurred six years ago. The arrival of cousin Charles will threaten the fragile equilibrium of their minds, haunted by madness, fear and superstition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Twin (2017)
Jocelyn's boyfriend is perfect--except for his dangerous identical twin brother, Derek, who just escaped from a mental institution. When Derek unspools a twisted plan of revenge with Jocelyn in his crosshairs, her mother Ashley must act fast before she falls victim to a psychopath.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSister Cities (2016)
Based on the internationally-acclaimed play by Colette Freedman, the story of 4 estranged sisters who reunite for their mother’s alleged suicide.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like If There Be Thorns?
The closest matches to If There Be Thorns are Seeds of Yesterday (2015), Flowers in the Attic (2014) and Shattered (2017). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after If There Be Thorns?
People who watched If There Be Thorns most often go on to Shattered (2017), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and The Stranger in My Home (2025).
What is the highest-rated movie like If There Be Thorns?
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), rated 7.5/10 by 3,261 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like If There Be Thorns?
Home Sweet Home (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Is If There Be Thorns part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to Dollanganger, which includes Seeds of Yesterday (2015), Flowers in the Attic (2014) and Petals on the Wind (2014).
Are there English movies like If There Be Thorns?
Yes: Seeds of Yesterday (2015), Flowers in the Attic (2014) and Shattered (2017).
How are movies similar to If There Be Thorns chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside If There Be Thorns, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.