Movies like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009)
The best movies like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) are The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). If The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest hooked you with its action and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Kingdom (1994)7.8/10 from 260 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)
Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson's novel about a male journalist and a young female hacker. In the opening of the movie, Mikael Blomkvist, a middle-aged publisher for the magazine Millennium, loses a libel case brought by corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström. Nevertheless, he is hired by Henrik Vanger in order to solve a cold case, the disappearance of Vanger's niece
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist investigates the disappearance of a weary patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. As they work together in the investigation, Blomkvist and Salander uncover immense corruption beyond anything they have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
After being enlisted to recover a dangerous computer program, hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Devils Are Here (2025)
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Days of American Crime (2020)
In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to crime and terrorism, the U.S. government plans to broadcast a signal that will make it impossible for anyone to knowingly break the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Right Hand (2024)
Cash is trying to live a quiet, honest life in a small Appalachian town. When a vicious crime boss forces him back into her services, he soon learns he's capable of anything -- even killing -- to protect his family and his home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeck 14 - The Advertising Man (2002)
A man is raping women after having met them through ads on public noticeboards. At first this seems like an easy crime to solve for Martin Beck and his colleagues but they soon discover that somebody's motivations are far more complex.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCanary Black (2024)
Top level CIA agent Avery Graves is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShade (2003)
Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Number 23 (2007)
Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Crooked Somebody (2018)
An attention-seeking psychic is kidnapped and tries to use the situation to boost his popularity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisWardriver (2026)
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPhone Booth (2003)
A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Wild (2006)
A homicide detective joins forces with a prosecutor to avenged the murder of his half-brother. The aggressive detective and the by-the-book prosecutor must put aside their differences in order to find the killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHackers (1995)
Along with his new friends, a teenager who was arrested by the US Secret Service and banned from using a computer for writing a computer virus discovers a plot by a nefarious hacker, but they must use their computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the Secret Service and the evil computer genius behind the virus.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCold Prey II (2008)
After surviving the events in the Jotunheimen mountains in which four of her friends were murdered, the badly injured Jannicke is brought to the local hospital. But when she wakes up, the building is dark and deserted... and she soon realizes that her nightmare isn’t over yet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSo Close (2002)
A conflict of interest between two high-kicking assassin sisters is complicated as they're pursued by the criminals who hired them and an equally high-kicking female cop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fourth Kind (2009)
Since the 1960s, a disproportionate number of the population in and around Nome, Alaska, have gone missing. Despite FBI investigations, the disappearances remain a mystery. Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychologist, may be on the verge of blowing the unsolved cases wide open when, during the course of treating her patients, she finds evidence of alien abductions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Prophecy II (1998)
The archangel Gabriel returns to try to destroy the human race he despises so much, with the help of a suicidal teen and the opposition of the angel Danyael.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShake, Rattle & Roll II (1990)
Three terrifying tales follow a young groom in Baguio for his honeymoon is possessed by a homicidal spirit when he discovers a cursed ring and decides to wear it; in the eerie halls of a mysterious hospital, a doctor practices voodoo and dead bodies wander in the night; and a student who learns, while a guest at a town fiesta in a remote province, that the locals' hospitable ways leave her clueless about a mysterious nightly ritual.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Kingdom (1994)
At The Kingdom, Denmark's most technologically advanced hospital, a number of strange and otherworldly events begin occurring, much to the dismay of its doctors and patients. A ghostly ambulance appears and disappears, the voice of a little girl calls to a patient in an elevator shaft, and a doctor's fetus begins growing at an alarming rate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hospital (1971)
Dr. Bock, the chief of medicine at a Manhattan hospital, is suicidal after the collapse of his personal life. When an intern is found dead in a hospital bed, it appears to Bock to be a case of unforgivable malpractice. Hours later, another doctor, who happens to be responsible for another case of malpractice, is found dead. Despondent, Bock finds himself drawn to Barbara, the daughter of a comatose missionary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
A crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?
The closest matches to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest are The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?
Start with The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), the closest match to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?
The Kingdom (1994), rated 7.8/10 by 260 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.