Movies like The Writer (2012)
The best movies like The Writer (2012) are The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988), Gunslingers (2025) and The Girl and Her Trust (1912). If The Writer hooked you with its western, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Hateful Eight (2015)7.8/10 from 15,812 votes
- NewestBroke (2025)Released 2025
The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988)
A grizzled, hard-of-hearing cowboy, Slim, and his two friends, Dusty and Pete, capture a mysterious, well-dressed Frenchman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunslingers (2025)
When the most wanted man in America surfaces in a small Kentucky town, his violent history -- and a blood-thirsty mob seeking vengeance and a king’s ransom -- soon follow. As brothers face off against one another and bullets tear the town to shreds, this lightning-fast gunslinger makes his enemies pay the ultimate price for their greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl and Her Trust (1912)
A train-station telegraphist warns the next station of approaching bandits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReturn of the Gunfighter (1967)
A gunfighter and a cowboy help a Mexican girl avenge the land-related murder of her parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)
A naive traveler in Laredo gets involved in a poker game between the richest men in the area, jeopardizing all the money he has saved for the purpose of settling with his wife and child in San Antonio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlaming Star (1960)
Pacer Burton, a young man of mixed Kiowa and white heritage, is caught between two worlds as conflict erupts between Native Americans and white settlers in Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Wagon (1956)
When a handful of settlers survive an Apache attack on their wagon train they must put their lives into the hands of Comanche Todd, a white man who has lived with the Comanches most of his life and is wanted for the murder of three men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbarosa (1982)
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisGo West (1940)
A con man heading west to search for gold teams up with a pair of scheming brothers along the way. The trio soon find themselves in the middle of a feud between two rival families and two underhanded land developers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Violent People (1956)
A rancher, his shady bride and his one-armed brother fight amid carpetbaggers in Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Call of the Wild (1972)
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Sunset (1961)
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
Cowboy John O'Hanlan is surprised to learn that someone's left him a business in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He sets out to claim it, only to discover it's a brothel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDavy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)
Davy Crockett and his sidekick Georgie compete against boastful Mike Fink ("King of the River") in a boat race to New Orleans. Later, Davy and Georgie, allied with Fink, battle a group of river pirates trying to pass themselves off as Native Americans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Missouri Breaks (1976)
When vigilante land baron David Braxton hangs one of the best friends of cattle rustler Tom Logan, Logan's gang decides to get even by purchasing a small farm next to Braxton's ranch. From there the rustlers begin stealing horses, using the farm as a front for their operation. Determined to stop the thefts at any cost, Braxton retains the services of eccentric sharpshooter Robert E. Lee Clayton, who begins ruthlessly taking down Logan's gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnion Pacific (1939)
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroke (2025)
A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlazing Saddles (1974)
Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBroken Ways (1913)
In this story the young wife concerned is called upon to solve a rather momentous question. After separating from her husband, whom she has discovered to be a brute and a criminal, she is about to give herself to another man, believing her husband dead, when he appears before her fleeing from justice. Shall she deliver him to the law or surrender to his claims? She yields in one instance, but not in the other. Then justice intervenes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Young Guns (1988)
A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAppaloosa (2008)
Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gunfighter (1950)
The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Marshal of Madrid (1972)
A gang of smugglers headed by an oil dealer are brought to justice by a lawman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Dust to Dust (1994)
Sampson Moses, the corrupt mayor of Brambles, Texas, hires a deadly gunfighter to remove orphaned landowner Billy, since a railroad company wants his land. Tough lawyer Neil Morris tries to settle things peacefully to no avail.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Ballad of the Sunset Kid (2025)
A granddaughter struggles to care for her grandfather, whose fading memories and haunting hallucinations blur reality, in this poignant tale of love and communication.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarty: A Wild West Neverland (2016)
Marty - A Wild West Neverland is an adventure-fantasy set in a world inhabited by only kids. Marty and Dee cross paths with the ruthless One-Eyed Johnny and the Krimson Kids where they experience the harsh realities of tyranny and violence in the West.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both western
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Writer?
The closest matches to The Writer are The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988), Gunslingers (2025) and The Girl and Her Trust (1912). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Writer?
Start with The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988), the closest match to The Writer.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Writer?
The Hateful Eight (2015), rated 7.8/10 by 15,812 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Writer?
Broke (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Writer?
Yes: The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988), Gunslingers (2025) and The Girl and Her Trust (1912).
How are movies similar to The Writer chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Writer, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.