Movies like The Look of a Killer (2016)
The best movies like The Look of a Killer (2016) are The Night of the Hunter (1955), House of Strangers (1949) and The Falcon and the Snowman (1985). If The Look of a Killer hooked you with its crime and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Night of the Hunter (1955)7.8/10 from 1,944 votes
- NewestHostile Takeover (2025)Released 2025
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Strangers (1949)
Ruthless Italian-American banker Gino Monetti is engaged in a number of criminal activities. Three of his four grown sons refuse to help their father stay out of prison after he's arrested for his questionable business practices. Three of them take over the business but kick their father out. Max, a lawyer, is the only son that remains loyal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Seven-Ups (1973)
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIndemnity (2022)
An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Parts You Lose (2019)
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
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 thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrime and Punishment (1983)
Former student Rahikainen is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Rahikainen struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinged Creatures (2009)
A psychotic man opens fire in a diner, murdering numerous people before killing himself. The survivors struggle in different ways following this horrendous event: a doctor doubts his own instincts and elects to use an experimental medical procedure on his wife, while a gambler believes he's on a lucky streak. A waitress begins engaging in promiscuous sex, and a young girl whose father is among the dead gains unexpected fame.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Outfit (1973)
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsuccessful bank robbery only to discover that a pair of gunmen killed his brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Saint (1997)
Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGotcha! (1985)
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Newton Boys (1998)
The story of the Newton gang, the most successful bank robbers in history, owing to their good planning and minimal violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHostile Takeover (2025)
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bourne Supremacy (2004)
A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wild One (1953)
The Black Rebels Motorcycle Club ride into the small California town of Wrightsville, eager to raise hell. Brooding gang leader Johnny Strabler takes a liking to Kathie, the daughter of the local lawman, as another club rolls into town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCry of the City (1948)
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFigures in a Landscape (1970)
Two escaped convicts are on the run in an unnamed Latin American country. But everywhere they go, they are followed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tamarind Seed (1974)
During a Caribbean holiday, a British civil servant finds herself falling in love with a Russian agent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Simple Plan (1998)
Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKiss the Girls (1997)
Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChopper (2000)
The true and infamous story of Australia's notorious criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Dragon (2002)
Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it seems Lecter is the only one who can help Graham track down a new serial killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaximum Risk (1996)
Alain Moreau's investigation into the death of his identical twin brother leads him from the beauty of the south of France to the mean streets of New York City and into the arms of his brother's beautiful girlfriend. Pursued by ruthless Russian mobsters and renegade FBI agents, the duo race against time to solve his brother's murder and expose an international conspiracy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRipley's Game (2002)
Tom Ripley - cool, urbane, wealthy, and murderous - lives in a villa in the Veneto with Luisa, his harpsichord-playing girlfriend. A former business associate from Berlin's underworld pays a call asking Ripley's help in killing a rival. Ripley - ever a student of human nature - initiates a game to turn a mild and innocent local picture framer into a hit man. The artisan, Jonathan Trevanny, who's dying of cancer, has a wife, young son, and little to leave them. If Ripley draws Jonathan into the game, can Ripley maintain control? Does it stop at one killing? What if Ripley develops a conscience?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSphere (1998)
A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
Based on an "actual event" that took place in 1943. About a US Navy Destroyer Escort that disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and sent two men 40 years into the future to 1984.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeliverance (1972)
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Look of a Killer?
The closest matches to The Look of a Killer are The Night of the Hunter (1955), House of Strangers (1949) and The Falcon and the Snowman (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Look of a Killer?
Start with The Night of the Hunter (1955), the closest match to The Look of a Killer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Look of a Killer?
The Night of the Hunter (1955), rated 7.8/10 by 1,944 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Look of a Killer?
Hostile Takeover (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Look of a Killer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Look of a Killer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.