Movies like El Desconocido (1974)
The best movies like El Desconocido (1974) are Jolene (2010), Scarecrow (1973) and Paradise Highway (2022). If El Desconocido hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLilies of the Field (1963)7.2/10 from 237 votes
- NewestMonster Summer (2024)Released 2024
Jolene (2010)
A teenage orphan spends ten years traveling to experience life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarecrow (1973)
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParadise Highway (2022)
A truck driver has been forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a deadly prison gang. With FBI operatives hot on her trail, Sally's conscience is challenged when the final package turns out to be a teenage girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Missing (2003)
When rancher and single mother of two Maggie Gilkeson sees her teenage daughter, Lily, kidnapped by Apache rebels, she reluctantly accepts the help of her estranged father, Samuel, in tracking down the kidnappers. Along the way, the two must learn to reconcile the past and work together if they are going to have any hope of getting Lily back before she is taken over the border and forced to become a prostitute.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy (2015)
An intimate portrait of a 9 year old sociopath as he discovers his taste for killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisTransamerica (2005)
A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParadise (1982)
After their caravan is attacked and their respective families butchered by Arab marauders, teenagers David and Sarah flee across the desert. But the desert is filled with danger from the elements, animals and the unwholesome appetite of the Jackal, a sheik who wants Sarah for himself. However, the desert also holds temptation and love. David and Sarah hide out in an oasis and build a life for themselves, discovering each other in new ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBones and All (2022)
Abandoned by her father, a young woman embarks on a thousand-mile odyssey through the backroads of America where she meets a disenfranchised drifter. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnd of the Road (2022)
Recently widowed mom Brenda fights to protect her family during a harrowing road trip when a murder and a missing bag of cash plunge them into danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisOdd Thomas (2013)
In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Grifters (1990)
A small-time conman has his loyalties torn between his estranged mother and his new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mexican (2001)
Jerry Welbach, a reluctant bagman, has been given two ultimatums: The first is from his mob boss to travel to Mexico and retrieve a priceless antique pistol, known as "the Mexican"... or suffer the consequences. The second is from his girlfriend Samantha to end his association with the mob. Jerry figures alive and in trouble with Samantha is better than the more permanent alternative, so he heads south of the border.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild Rovers (1971)
Ross Bodine and Frank Post are cowhands on Walt Buckman's R-Bar-R ranch. Bodine is older and broods a bit about how he will get along when he's too old to cowboy. Post is young and rambunctious and ambitious for a better life than wrangling cows. When one of their fellow cowboys is killed in a corral accident, Post suggests a way into a better life for himself and his friend: robbing a bank. Bodine reluctantly joins in the plan and the two contrive to rob the local bank. They make good their escape initially, but Walt Buckman and his two sons, John and Paul, are incensed at this betrayal by their own trusted employees. John and Paul set out to bring Bodine and Post to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanda (1970)
After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRunning Wild (2017)
Stella Davis is a widow who saves her ranch by working with convicts to rehabilitate a herd of wild horses that wandered on to her property. Stella must fight prejudice, greed, bureaucracy and vanity (including her own) to finally understand that there is no better remedy to misfortune than helping another living creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone (2020)
A recently widowed traveler is kidnapped by a cold blooded killer, only to escape into the wilderness where she is forced to battle against the elements as her pursuer closes in on her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWild at Heart (1990)
Young lovers Sailor and Lula hit the road to start a new life together away from the wrath of Lula’s deranged, disapproving mother, who has hired a team of hitmen to cut the lovers’ surreal honeymoon short.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurphy's Romance (1985)
Emma, a divorced single mother seeking to start her life over, moves to a small town in Arizona. She befriends Murphy, the older local pharmacist, but things turn complicated when her ex-husband shows up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLilies of the Field (1963)
An unemployed construction worker heading out west stops at a remote farm in the desert to get water when his car overheats. The farm is being worked by a group of East European Catholic nuns, headed by the strict mother superior, who believes the man has been sent by God to build a much needed church in the desert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMonster Summer (2024)
When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like El Desconocido?
The closest matches to El Desconocido are Jolene (2010), Scarecrow (1973) and Paradise Highway (2022). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after El Desconocido?
Start with Jolene (2010), the closest match to El Desconocido.
What is the highest-rated movie like El Desconocido?
Lilies of the Field (1963), rated 7.2/10 by 237 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like El Desconocido?
Monster Summer (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like El Desconocido?
Yes: Jolene (2010), Scarecrow (1973) and Paradise Highway (2022).
How are movies similar to El Desconocido chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside El Desconocido, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.