Movies like The Forest (2016)
The best movies like The Forest (2016) are No Such Thing (2002), Medusa (2020) and Starve Acre (2024). If The Forest hooked you with its drama and horror, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHilda and the Mountain King (2021)7.6/10 from 208 votes
- NewestThe Surrender (2025)Released 2025
No Such Thing (2002)
A young journalist journeys to Iceland to find her missing fiancé only to encounter a mythical creature who longs to die.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMedusa (2020)
After being bitten by a lethal snake, a young woman experiences changes in her senses and appearance, as she sheds her old self and slowly turns into a deadly weapon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarve Acre (2024)
When their son starts acting strangely, a couple unwittingly allow dark and sinister forces into their home, awakening a long-dormant ancient evil rooted deep in the countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCelia (1989)
In 1950s Australia, young Celia is growing up with a sense of isolation and mistrust of the world that surrounds her. Her mother and father won't let her play with the kids next door because their parents are communists. Then her pet bunny is taken away because of rabbit overpopulation. And, more traumatizing yet, when her grandmother dies, she's the one to discover the corpse. To cope, she retreats into elaborate fantasies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Shepherd (2023)
On Christmas Eve, a fighter pilot on his way home becomes lost while flying over water and needs a miracle to land safely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNine Days (2021)
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWerewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012)
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisGame of Thrones The IMAX Experience (2015)
The first episode of this IMAX screening takes place entirely at The Wall with the Night’s Watch (S4 EP9) hopelessly outnumbered as they attempt to defend Castle Black from the Wildings and features one the fiercest and most intense battle scenes ever filmed for television. The second episode (S4 EP10), features Dany coming to grips with the realities of ruling a kingdom, Bran learning the startling reality of his destiny and Tyrion facing the truth of his unfortunate situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Surrender (2025)
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisDonovan's Echo (2011)
A series of uncanny déjà vu events force a man to re-examine his tragic past, memory, instinct, and future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBasilisk: The Serpent King (2006)
Two millennia ago, a Lybian king has a basilisk (snake-shaped dragon), which petrifies people, subjected to the same fate with a golden scepter during a solar eclipse. Both these and several victims are dug up by modern archaeologist Harrison 'Harry' McColl's expedition. Despite a cryptic warning from tribal locals, everything goes to his Colorado university's museum. It's all exhibited during another eclipse, which leads to the monster reviving. Harry and some of his friends must try to petrify the monster again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNocebo (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 horror & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorns (2013)
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Transfiguration (2016)
When troubled teen Milo, who has a fascination with vampire lore, meets the equally alienated Sophie, the two form a bond that begins to blur Milo's fantasy into reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBefore I Fall (2017)
Samantha Kingston has everything. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, she wakes up with no future at all. Trapped into reliving the same day over and over, she begins to question just how perfect her life really was.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Knight's War (2025)
A fearless knight braves a deadly realm to save the Chosen One’s soul. Facing witches, demons, and brutal foes, he discovers her return could ignite chaos and doom humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPinocchio (2009)
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHilda and the Mountain King (2021)
When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Corpse for Christmas (2023)
NecroPhiladelphia splatter punks celebrate Christmas with old pagan customs and putrifaction passion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Territory (2024)
Discovering a territory in the Sierra Nevada mountains that has been shut down since the 1950s because of mysterious disappearances, Loretta leaves to explore, her husband Randy goes in after her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Thawing of Ice (2024)
Louise Denoncourt, a parole officer, skillfully operates an experimental rehabilitation wing for criminals who have committed homicides. When she finds herself in front of Marc St-Germain, a new inmate whom her father suspects of being her mother's murderer, she embarks on a mission that quickly overwhelms her. She then puts everything at stake, even her life, in order to prevent any desire to reoffend. But will she be overtaken by the desire to avenge her family history?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lizzie Lazarus (2024)
Summer Solstice, 1990, two strangers carry a corpse through the woods looking for a mythical zone they believe will bring the dead body back to life. But what secrets will come back with it?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
The Playhouse (2005)
The Playhouse follows the story of a young orphan who is picked on by a group of girls at her new school. She then decides to go adventuring off on her own in an abandoned house, but who or what will she find lurking in the shadows of The Playhouse...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Lieutenant Kachura's Plot. The Illusion of Hunting (2010)
A girl accused of murder must prove her innocence. A detective about the mysteries of the Belarusian countryside.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Guerrilla Girl (1953)
During World War II, Helmut Dantine specialized in playing villainous Nazis in Hollywood melodramas. He offers a compelling performance in a variation of these earlier roles in this suspense filled and politically loaded tale of intrigue. The story opens in German-occupied Athens during the darkest hours of the war. Civilians are not allowed on the streets after dark.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sk8 Life (2006)
A skater group's attempt to shoot a movie at a famous location, only to discover plans for its demolition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wes and Ella (2010)
The randomness in your life is never the randomness you think. Wes, a mobile artist, randomly discovers Ella during a pivotal moment in her life. After an introspective road trip, Ella comes to discover a few things about herself which might give her the strength to make some changes and find out who Wes really is.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Confessions of a Cam Girl (2024)
Kristen is set to become the first in her family to graduate college. Her working-class parents are furious when she reveals a plan to attend fashion school instead of college. Her parents refuse to use her college fund for her farfetched dream. Determined to pay for it herself, Kristen secretly creates an online explicit content page to raise $10,000 for dream program. Confident that she can keep her side hustle under wraps, Kristen’s secret unravels and threatens not just her future, but the safety of her family as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Forest and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Forest?
The closest matches to The Forest are No Such Thing (2002), Medusa (2020) and Starve Acre (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Forest?
Start with No Such Thing (2002), the closest match to The Forest.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Forest?
Hilda and the Mountain King (2021), rated 7.6/10 by 208 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Forest?
The Surrender (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Forest chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Forest, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.