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Movies like The Substitute (2015)

The best movies like The Substitute (2015) are The Unhealer (2021), Nocebo (2022) and Southbound (2015). If The Substitute hooked you with its thriller and fantasy, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. The Unhealer (2021)

    A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & thriller

  2. Nocebo (2022)

    A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  3. Southbound (2015)

    On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & thriller

  4. Containment (2015)

    Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

  5. Frank and Penelope (2022)

    A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is now worth dying for.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  6. Cheat (2023)

    On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that everything is not as it seems. When Maeve - a female college student - sleeps with Charlie, the married man of the host family she is staying with, both sense the deadly curse is closing in on them. Unable to get anyone to believe them, Maeve and Charlie seek out a local history student to help find answers and figure out a way to defend themselves. It all comes undone, however, as several people are horrifically killed by the savage being - one-by-one at a rapid pace. Eventually, Maeve, Charlie and the few survivors band together in an attempt to defeat the monster once and for all.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. Blackwood (2014)

    Having recovered from a shattering emotional breakdown, college professor Ben Marshall relocates to the countryside with his wife and young son, hoping for a fresh start. He has a teaching job lined up and a new home to move into; things finally look to be going Ben's way. Until, that is, he starts to feel that something isn't quite right in the house. Finding himself plagued by spectral visions, Ben becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a local mystery that appears to be putting the lives of his family in danger

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

  8. God Is a Bullet (2023)

    Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  9. Eradication (2022)

    When an unknown disease wipes out most of the world’s population, a man with unique blood is isolated for study. Fearing for his wife’s safety, he breaks his quarantine – into a world overrun by monstrous Infected and a shadowy agency hunting them down.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  10. Whisper (2007)

    Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  11. Shades of Desire (2023)

    After her twin sister Aubrey goes missing, Jennifer uncovers the scandalous, secret double-life that Aubrey leads - and that has put both of them in danger.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  12. Sightless (2020)

    After an attack renders her blind, Ellen withdraws from the world to recover. But soon she plunges into paranoia, unable to convince anyone that her assailant has returned to terrorize her by hiding in plain sight.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  13. Like Minds (2006)

    A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  14. Dark Light (2019)

    A woman returns to her family home and discovers it to be inhabited by monsters.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  15. Slash/Back (2022)

    In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  16. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2022)

    A young woman with psychokinetic powers breaks out of a Louisiana asylum and makes her way to New Orleans, where she falls into the city’s netherworld of misfits and miscreants.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  17. Older Gods (2023)

    After the disappearance of his troubled friend, American Chris Rivers travels to the remote Welsh countryside to investigate what happened – leading him to a dark apocalyptic cult.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  18. Nightbreed (1990)

    A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  19. Race with the Devil (1975)

    Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  20. Play Dead (2022)

    Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this

Like The Substitute and something else?

Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like The Substitute?

The closest matches to The Substitute are The Unhealer (2021), Nocebo (2022) and Southbound (2015). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after The Substitute?

Start with The Unhealer (2021), the closest match to The Substitute.

What is the highest-rated movie like The Substitute?

Sightless (2020), rated 6.7/10 by 434 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like The Substitute?

Cheat (2023) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like The Substitute?

Yes: The Unhealer (2021), Nocebo (2022) and Southbound (2015).

How are movies similar to The Substitute chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Substitute, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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