Movies like SPEC: Life (2012)
The best movies like SPEC: Life (2012) are Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009), Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007) and Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012). If SPEC: Life hooked you with its tv movie and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDeath Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007)7.9/10 from 413 votes
- NewestThe Bunjo (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseDeath Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009)Also in Japanese
Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009)
L's successor must ponder L's defeat if he hopes to succeed where his famed predecessor failed. At the headquarters of the SPK, he calls upon the Japanese task force to declare war on Light. A recap of Death Note episodes 27–37, with new footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007)
When rogue shinigami Ryuk leaves his Death Note in the human world, he has no idea how far the one who finds it will take his new-found power. With the Death Note in hand, brilliant high school student Light Yagami vows to rid the world of evil. A recap of Death Note episodes 1–26, with alternate footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
Police Chief Jesse Stone now presides over the quiet, seaside village of Paradise, Massachusetts. When the facts don't add up in a brutal Boston-area murder case, Jesse opens an investigation filled with surprises, unlikely suspects and grave danger. Though it's widely believed the murder was committed by an incarcerated serial killer, Jesse suspects another killer is at large and is hell-bent on bringing him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008)
July 1998 - After a group of delinquents is found dead in their hangout place with all their limbs twisted and torn off, Aozaki Touko receives a request to find the murderer and asks Shiki for help. The main suspect is Asagami Fujino; a girl who was the boys' plaything until recently, who Shiki believes to be "one of her kind".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Jesse Stone and Captain Healy are shot during an unauthorized stake-out in Boston. Meanwhile, a cryptic letter sent from Paradise leads the mother of a kidnapped child to Stone. Though her son was declared dead, she hopes he will reopen the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled teens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outsider (2018)
A former American G.I. joins a yakuza family after his release from prison in post-World War II Osaka.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell Dogs (2022)
Bent on revenge, a traumatized ex-police officer must infiltrate a yakuza organization by befriending one of the group's most unhinged members.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHollywoodland (2006)
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute teacher in order to investigate Randall's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLupin the Third: Episode 0: First Contact (2002)
The stickup that started it all! Lupin III and Fujiko are both after an ancient artifact Jigen is supposed to protect, while Goemon happens to be searching for his clan’s lost treasure nearby. Of course, Inspector Zenigata isn’t far behind. This is the story of our heroes’ very first meeting!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho-Pass: Providence (2023)
While attending a meeting as a Chief Inspector of the Public Security Bureau, Akane Tsunemori received a report that an incident had occurred on a foreign vessel , and this was the beginning of a big and unexpected case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMasquerade Hotel (2019)
A serial (3) killer leaves a GPS code of his next target with each victim - this time Hotel Cortesia Tokyo. A detective goes undercover as hotel staff - haircut, manners etc.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima (1973)
Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFreeway (1996)
Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRing of the Nibelungs (2004)
In this swords-and-sorcery tale, good-hearted blacksmith Eyvind hides away infant Prince Siegfried after two malevolent kings murder his father. But a fiery meteor sent by the gods reveals Siegfried's destiny, sending him on the quest of a lifetime. To save a crumbling kingdom claim the heart of his true love, he'll have to slay the nefarious dragon, Fafnir.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTeen Wolf (1985)
When a shy teenager's new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder by Numbers (2002)
Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand Little Cuts (2022)
Anne Bennett wakes up in a hospital, convinced she is recovering from minor surgery only to find herself in a battle of wits with a psychiatrist who can't let her leave until she remembers "what happened that night." Events turn a darker corner as doctor and patient try to unlock not only what traumatic event Anne is suppressing, but also who was there, why it happened, and why Anne's subconscious is fighting so hard to prevent her from talking about it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Class of 1984 (1982)
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Bunjo (2025)
The Bunjo, by Grady Behrhorst, is an 8 minute proof of concept film and simply a masterpiece. The film leaves you questioning your religion, your sexuality, reality and the role of the commonwealth in your life. No film that I’ve ever seen has held such philosophical commentary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Lesbionage (1988)
In this romantic thriller, blackmail, kidnapping, and fraud combine to give two lesbian private detectives (and lovers) their toughest case. Will their relationship survive? Produced by women for women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & mystery
The Meteor Man (1993)
One night Jefferson Reed gets hit in the chest by a souped-up chunk of meteor. So he can fly, but he's scared of heights. He can master the information in any book ... for about thirty seconds. Now his friends and family want him to protect their community from the dreaded Golden Lords.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like SPEC: Life and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like SPEC: Life?
The closest matches to SPEC: Life are Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009), Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007) and Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after SPEC: Life?
Start with Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009), the closest match to SPEC: Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like SPEC: Life?
Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007), rated 7.9/10 by 413 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like SPEC: Life?
The Bunjo (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like SPEC: Life?
Yes: Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009), Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God (2007) and The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008).
How are movies similar to SPEC: Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside SPEC: Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.