Movies like Cave (2016)
The best movies like Cave (2016) are The Descent: Part 2 (2009), River Wild (2023) and The Deep (1977). If Cave hooked you with its adventure 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 1,938 votes
- NewestThe Devil's Mouth (2026)Released 2026
The Descent: Part 2 (2009)
Distraught, confused, and half-wild with fear, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where she encountered unspeakable terrors. Unable to plausibly explain to the authorities what happened - or why she's covered in her friends' blood - Sarah is forced back to the subterranean depths to help locate her five missing companions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver Wild (2023)
Follows a pair of siblings who love but distrust each other as they embark on a white-water rafting trip with a small group. One of their friends from childhood turns out to be more dangerous than he appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deep (1977)
A pair of young vacationers are involved in a dangerous conflict with treasure hunters when they discover a way into a deadly wreck in Bermuda waters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGold (2022)
In the not-too-distant future, two drifters traveling through the desert stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found and the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. They hatch a plan to excavate their bounty, with one man leaving to secure the necessary tools while the other remains with the gold. The man who remains must endure harsh desert elements, ravenous wild dogs, and mysterious intruders, while battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungle (2017)
In 1981, an enthusiastic young adventurer follows his dreams into the Bolivian Amazon jungle with two friends and a guide with a mysterious past. Their journey quickly turns into a terrifying ordeal as the darkest elements of human nature and the deadliest threats of the wilderness lead to an all-out fight for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLimbo (1999)
Traumatized by a fishing boat accident many years before, Joe Gastineau has given up his hopes for a life beyond the odd jobs he takes to support himself. That quickly changes when nomadic club singer Donna de Angelo and her troubled teen-age daughter enter Joe’s life. Both mother and daughter fall for Joe, increasing the friction between them. The tension continues to build when Joe invites them on a pleasure cruise up the Alaskan coast, discovering too late that the trip may cost them their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Abyss (1989)
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSanctum (2011)
Master diver Frank McGuire has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team—including 17-year-old son Josh and financier Carl Hurley are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApex (2026)
A grieving woman pushing her limits on a solo adventure in the Australian wild is ensnared in a twisted game with a cunning killer who thinks she's prey.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Mouth (2026)
A group of college friends' Thailand adventure turns deadly when they become trapped in submerged caves with a dangerous predator. As oxygen runs low, past conflicts emerge in their desperate fight for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver of Blood (2024)
Four kayakers take the wrong river into a jungle inhabited by a tribe of merciless cannibals.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKraken (2026)
A marine biologist is doing research on a fish farm when she encounters several strange occurrences. Along with the brutal deaths of two teenagers, all signs point to the deep fjord; can there be more to the depths than the eye can see?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Descent (2005)
After a personal tragedy, Sarah joins her friends on a caving expedition in the Appalachian Mountains. But when a rockfall traps them deep underground, their adventure turns into a nightmare. As they search for a way out, the group discovers they are not alone—lurking in the darkness are savage, cave-dwelling creatures. With rising tension and dwindling trust, the women must fight to survive against both the predators and each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Sea (2024)
Stranded in the open sea after a fatal accident, a young woman and her two friends are rescued by a fishing vessel's captain, unaware that the ship harbors a chilling secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBird Box (2018)
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCube (1998)
A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Season (2025)
When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrimeval (2007)
A news team is sent to Burundi to capture and bring home a legendary 25-foot crocodile. Their difficult task turns potentially deadly when a warlord targets them for death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBone Lake (2025)
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisAbove & Below (2026)
A group of friends' dream diving vacation turns into a fight for survival when brutal criminals attack their boat in open waters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaise-moi (2000)
Nadine and Manu are two mad women, as tidy as can be, almost perfectionists. They have several things in common: extreme sex, drugs, beer and the trigger. They find the solution to their problems with guns and beware to those who dare to get in their way!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
A horrible massacre strikes up after an outcast teenage girl is taunted by a group of high school jocks, all of them unaware of her cutthroat telekinetic powers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisGet Shorty (1995)
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWander (2020)
After getting hired to probe a suspicious death in the small town of Wander, a mentally unstable private investigator becomes convinced the case is linked to the same 'conspiracy cover up' that caused the death of his daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrapped (2002)
Held hostage in different cities after their daughter is kidnapped by a master extortionist, a desperate couple must find a way to outsmart a seemingly foolproof plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Cause (1995)
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBound (1996)
Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.
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 Cave?
The closest matches to Cave are The Descent: Part 2 (2009), River Wild (2023) and The Deep (1977). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cave?
Start with The Descent: Part 2 (2009), the closest match to Cave.
What is the highest-rated movie like Cave?
The Night of the Hunter (1955), rated 7.8/10 by 1,938 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cave?
The Devil's Mouth (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Cave chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cave, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.