Movies like Shortwave (2016)
The best movies like Shortwave (2016) are The Signal (2014), Time Lapse (2014) and The Last Letter (2013). If Shortwave hooked you with its thriller and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Vast of Night (2019)6.6/10 from 1,276 votes
- NewestJonah (2023)Released 2023
The Signal (2014)
On a road trip, Nic and two friends are drawn to an isolated area by a computer genius. When everything suddenly goes dark, Nic regains consciousness – only to find himself in a waking nightmare.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Lapse (2014)
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Letter (2013)
Catharine Wright struggles with a debilitating sleep disorder. Her husband Michael struggles to cope when their new born son lay in the wake.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Starfish (2019)
Humanity is about to come to an end due to a mysterious signal; trapped at the home of a dead friend, Aubrey tries to turn things around after finding a mysterious cassette tape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisAt First Light (2018)
High school senior Alex has an encounter with mysterious lights that appear over her small town. She soon develops dangerous, supernatural abilities, and turns to her childhood friend Sean. The authorities target them and a chase ensues as officials try to discover the truth behind Alex's transformation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this57 Seconds (2023)
When a tech blogger lands an interview with a tech guru and stops an attack on him, he finds a mysterious ring that takes him back 57 seconds into the past.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtracted (2012)
Thomas Jacobs invents a way to watch people's memories from the inside. Going against his morals, he accepts an offer to enter a heroin addict's memories to literally see if he committed a crime. However,a malfunction causes his consciousness to become trapped inside the criminal's mind. He remains a prisoner in the addict's memories for more than four years until he discovers the possibility of escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTinker' (2018)
A hermit farmer discovers his late father's secret journal containing plans to a magnetic powered machine that could change the world, while unexpectedly becoming custodian of his gifted 6 year old nephew, after his mom's untimely death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
ARQ (2016)
Two old friends living in a dystopic future become trapped in a mysterious time loop — one that may have something to do with an ongoing battle between an omnipotent corporation and a ragtag band of rebels.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisProdigy (2017)
Jimmy is a committed child psychologist who uses his own playbook, but when he is brought in to work with Ellie, he is completely unprepared for his subject—a 9-year-old psychopathic genius with nothing to lose. As he begins to understand the extent of her capabilities and the fate that has been planned for her, he struggles to overcome her defenses before it is too late for them both.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Day (2001)
Kate's boyfriend dies in a fire after a fight over the couple's unborn child. After Kate is involved in a near-drowning accident a few years later, she wakes up on-shore to find that she's living two days before her boyfriend's fatal fire.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Jonah (2023)
After an alleged alien abduction of Margot's son Jonah, Ozzie and Darren, journalists investigating supernatural cases, are determined to expose the truth. During their investigation, Ozzie grapples with his own haunting memories, leading to intense skepticism about Margot's story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
12:01 (1993)
Office employee Barry Thomas is caught in a "time bounce" caused by a glitch in the company's secret project. Now the same day occurs again and again - and Barry's the only one who can do anything about it, including saving the life of beautiful research assistant Lisa Fredericks.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Twin (2016)
A radio host takes in her troubled sister’s twin daughters, unknowingly putting her family, her friends, and herself at risk.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Rapid Eye Movement (2019)
A publicity seeking radio DJ is driven to the edge of insanity when he attempts to break the 11 day world record for staying awake-under the threat of a deranged caller who will kill him if he falls asleep.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Knowing (2009)
A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad Genius (2017)
A young mad genius attempts to 'hack the human mind' in order to fix humanity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction
A Bluebird in My Heart (2018)
An ex-con's attempts to live a quiet life are derailed when the daughter of the woman sheltering him is the victim of a vicious attack.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeta Test (2016)
While testing the latest first person shooter from global game developer, Sentinel, video game champion Max Troy discovers the events happening within the game are being reflected in the real world. He soon determines that the game's protagonist is real-life Orson Creed, an ex-Sentinel employee who is being remotely controlled by the corporation for reasons unknown. As virtual and real worlds collide, Max and Creed must join forces to unravel the conspiracy before the game's sinister events escalate and overwhelm the city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Vast of Night (2019)
At the dawn of the space-race, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves in what becomes the most important night of their lives and in the history of their small town.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Light (2019)
A woman returns to her family home and discovers it to be inhabited by monsters.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mandela Effect (2019)
A man becomes obsessed with facts and events that have been collectively misremembered by thousands of people. Believing the phenomena to be the symptom of something larger, his obsession eventually leads him to question reality itself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn My Dreams (2015)
Natalie and Nick are frustrated with their luck in romance. After tossing coins into a fountain, the two then begin dreaming about each other. But, according to fountain mythology, they only have a week to turn those dreams into reality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeath Machine (1995)
Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine. So far, the Hardman project has been unreliable and has killed a number of innocent people. The genius behind this project is Jack who lives in a world of models, toys and magazines. When he is fired by Cale for killing a few corporate officers, he unleashes the ultimate killing machine called the 'Warbeast' against Cale and those who would help her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSouthbound (2015)
On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDoomsday (2008)
The lethal Reaper virus spreads throughout Britain—infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. Authorities brutally and successfully quarantine the country but, three decades later, the virus resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisHardware (1990)
Mark 13 is a government-built killing machine programmed with artificial intelligence, able to repair and recharge itself from any energy source. Through a series of coincidences, the cyborg's head ends up in the home of a sculptress as a bizarre Christmas present from her boyfriend. Once inside its new home, the cyborg promptly reconstructs the rest of its body using a variety of household utensils and proceeds to go on a murderous rampage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Cell (2000)
A psychotherapist journeys inside the mind of a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRepo Men (2010)
In the future, medical technology has advanced to the point where people can buy artificial organs to extend their lives. But if they default on payments, an organization known as the Union sends agents to repossess the organs. Remy is one of the best agents in the business, but when he becomes the recipient of an artificial heart, he finds himself in the same dire straits as his many victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Infernal Machine (2022)
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shortwave?
The closest matches to Shortwave are The Signal (2014), Time Lapse (2014) and The Last Letter (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shortwave?
People who watched Shortwave most often go on to The Signal (2014), Time Lapse (2014) and The Last Letter (2013).
What is the highest-rated movie like Shortwave?
The Vast of Night (2019), rated 6.6/10 by 1,276 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shortwave?
Jonah (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shortwave?
Yes: The Signal (2014), Time Lapse (2014) and The Last Letter (2013).
How are movies similar to Shortwave chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shortwave, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.