Movies like The Cat's Meow (2002)
The best movies like The Cat's Meow (2002) are A Call to Spy (2020), Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020) and Marlowe (1969). If The Cat's Meow hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedScarlet Street (1945)7.6/10 from 470 votes
- NewestBaby Udon (2026)Released 2026
A Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAgatha and the Midnight Murders (2020)
As bombs fall on London, writer Agatha Christie decides it is time to kill off her most famous creation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarlowe (1969)
Mysterious Orfamay Quest hires Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe to find her missing brother. Though the job seems simple enough, it leads Marlowe into the underbelly of the city, turning up leads who are murdered with ice picks, exotic dancers, blackmailed television stars, and self-preserving gangsters. Soon, Marlowe's life is on the line right along with his case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScarlet Street (1945)
Cashier and part-time starving artist Christopher Cross is absolutely smitten with the beautiful Kitty March. Kitty plays along, but she's really only interested in Johnny, a two-bit crook. When Kitty and Johnny find out that art dealers are interested in Chris's work, they con him into letting Kitty take credit for the paintings. Cross allows it because he is in love with Kitty, but his love will only let her get away with so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGiant (2026)
Follows Prince Naseem Hamed from his humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership, Naz’s unorthodox style, cocky persona, and sheer dominance in the ring propelled them to the top of boxing’s elite and unprecedented levels of global superstardom, all in the face of the rampant Islamophobia and racism of ’80s and 90’s Britain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe File on Thelma Jordon (1949)
Cleve Marshall, an assistant district attorney, falls for Thelma Jordon, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. When Thelma becomes a suspect in her aunt's murder, Cleve tries to clear her name.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFootsteps in the Fog (1955)
A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid who discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGourmet Detective: A Healthy Place to Die (2015)
When Henry is invited as a guest speaker at a luxury resort spa, he quickly finds himself at the center of another murder. With Maggie at his side, our favorite duo must not only find the killer but be careful they don't become his latest victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRosewood (1997)
Spurred by a white woman's lie, vigilantes destroy a black Florida town and slay inhabitants in 1923.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJulia (1977)
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppointment with Death (1988)
Emily Boynton, the stepmother to three children, blackmails the family lawyer into destroying a second will of her late husband that would have freed the children from her dominating influence. She takes herself, the children, and her daughter-in-law on holiday to Europe and the Holy Land. At a dig, Emily is found dead and Hercule Poirot investigates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKansas City (1996)
A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMank (2020)
1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInsomnia (2002)
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Scarlet and the Black (1983)
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015)
The true story of the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken, the grandson of the founder of the Heineken brewery, and his driver. They were released after a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders was paid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Gigolo (1980)
Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay. One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalk a Crooked Path (1969)
Set in an exclusive boy's school, about a man who plans to kill off his wealthy teacher wife by encouraging her to drink and pushing her into suicide. To assist him he recruits a young student who will claim that he was sexually assaulted by her. (from: http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/390627)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Beauty Betrayed (2002)
A gun fires and supermodel Lily Sampson is dead. Two cops, Clark and his new partner Allie, are on the case. Their only clues are a revealing videotape of the victim in a searing game of bondage with a famous fashion photographer, and Lily's high school yearbook which reveals a mysterious twin sister and clues to a lifelong rivalry with another model.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Bloody Sunday (2002)
The dramatised story of the Irish civil rights protest march on January 30 1972 which ended in a massacre by British troops.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Xposé (2014)
This is a dramatic chain of events in the most glamorous ,swinging era of Hindi films... the 1960s. It was a decade when film stars tasted success and carried their larger than life screen image on to real life with unbridled pomp and splendour. It was during this time that two ambitious films were made... Ujwal Nirmal Sheetal and Reena Mera Naam. The latter became a runaway hit while the former was struggling at the box office.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Half Past Ten (2008)
An alcoholic married man discovers he has fallen out of love with his moody wife.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Thousand Year Sleep (2007)
Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just an irrelevant flame burning nowhere in the vastness of space. Their dreams will be shattered and one man will marvel at the evil he has committed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Baby Udon (2026)
Fanny Kondoh, a young Indonesian woman, falls in love with Hajime Kondoh, a Japanese man who comes to Indonesia for work. After getting married, Fanny and Hajime begin building a life together, embracing both its joys and challenges. As they struggle to fulfill their dream of having a child, they are faced with one heartbreaking trial after another, testing the strength of their love, especially when Hajime is diagnosed with cancer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Dandelions (1974)
Rick (Rutger Hauer), a disaffected sailor turned hard drinking womanizer, returns home from six months at sea to find his wife (Corrigan), whom he was deeply in love, has unexpectedly left him and is now a junkie whore. Devastated, he tries to ease his pain with booze and cheap thrills. His wife's best friend (Dagmar Lassander) makes a move on him, and when he spurns her (after scewing her first, naturally) she plots her revenge. She does so in an ingenious way, by exploiting a fantasy woman of his, but her plan backfires with tragic consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Battle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Cat's Meow?
The closest matches to The Cat's Meow are A Call to Spy (2020), Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020) and Marlowe (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Cat's Meow?
Start with A Call to Spy (2020), the closest match to The Cat's Meow.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Cat's Meow?
Scarlet Street (1945), rated 7.6/10 by 470 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Cat's Meow?
Baby Udon (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Cat's Meow?
Yes: A Call to Spy (2020), Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020) and Marlowe (1969).
How are movies similar to The Cat's Meow chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Cat's Meow, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.