Movies like Based on a True Story (2017)
The best movies like Based on a True Story (2017) are Night Train to Lisbon (2013), Overdrive (2017) and The Bourne Identity (2002). If Based on a True Story hooked you with its thriller and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedVertigo (1958)8.1/10 from 6,621 votes
- NewestUnsubmissives (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchUnsubmissives (2025)Also in French
Night Train to Lisbon (2013)
Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOverdrive (2017)
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bourne Identity (2002)
Wounded to the brink of death and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne is rescued at sea by a fisherman. With nothing to go on but a Swiss bank account number, he starts to reconstruct his life, but finds that many people he encounters want him dead. However, Bourne realizes that he has the combat and mental skills of a world-class spy—but who does he work for?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Independent (2022)
It's the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history. America is poised to elect either its first female president or its first viable independent candidate. Reporting history as it's made, an idealistic young journalist teams up with her idol, legendary journalist Nick Booker, to uncover a conspiracy that places the fate of the election, and the country, in their hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVertigo (1958)
A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisObsession (1976)
A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLeave Her to Heaven (1945)
A socialite marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnsubmissives (2025)
Early 1990’s, south of France. Katy, Hélène, Laurence and Carole have been best friends since childhood. Now in their twenties, they find themselves struggling with hardship and limited opportunities in their sunny small hometown. Despite their challenging circumstances, they have maintained a resilient and cheerful spirit, supporting each other throughout life’s ups and downs. But their lives take a dramatic turn when Hélène, a single mother of three, receives a sudden notification that her welfare checks have been reduced, threatening her ability to support her family.Overwhelmed by this injustice and feeling powerless in the face of societal inequalities, the five women are driven by a fierce desire to change the course of their lives. They make the shocking decision to rob a bank, and soon, commit a series of increasingly daring heists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHammett (1982)
Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living, receives an unexpected visit from an old friend asking for help.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Past (2013)
After four years apart, Ahmad returns to his wife Marie in Paris in order to progress their divorce. During his brief stay, he cannot help noticing the strained relationship between Marie and her daughter Lucie. As he attempts to improve matters between mother and daughter Ahmad unwittingly lifts the lid on a long buried secret...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust a Breath Away (2018)
When a deadly mist engulfs Paris, people find refuge in the upper floors of the buildings. With no information, no electricity and hardly any supplies, Mathieu, Anna and their daughter Sarah try to survive the disaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorth Sea Hijack (1980)
When terrorists take over two oil rigs, and threaten to blow them up if their demands are not met, an eccentric anti-terrorism expert volunteers his unique commando unit to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoliath (2022)
Patrick is a tenacious lawyer specializing in environmental law. France is a schoolteacher who becomes an activist after her husband develops cancer from exposure to a pesticide. Mathias is an ambitious lobbyist working for an international chemical corporation. The paths of these characters collide as the lives of thousands are affected by a tragic act that sparks a powerful movement while the corporation fights to prevent the truth from being revealed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossession (2002)
Maud Bailey, a brilliant English academic, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel La Motte. Roland Michell is an American scholar in London to study Randolph Henry Ash, now best-known for a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to La Motte, they follow a trail of clues across England, echoing the journey of the couple over a century earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Words (2012)
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
A mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlast (2022)
In a Parisian parking lot Sonia finds herself trapped in her car with her son and the daughter of her boyfriend Fred, who has been left outside, powerless to deal with the situation: an anti-tank mine has been set under the car. Sonia is a bomb-disposal expert, who works for a NGO with Fred. She just got back from a mission in Ukraine and, while she's used to face dangerous situations, with the children's lives on the line the stakes have never been higher. Along with colleagues Igor and Camille, who came to the rescue, Sonia and Fred have 30 minutes to defuse the bomb and work out who could be the mastermind behind this. Will they stand united until the end or will the family implode under pressure?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inquisitor (1981)
Martinaud, an illustrious notary suspected of being the perpetrator of two horrendous crimes, voluntarily agrees to be questioned by Inspector Gallien on New Year's Eve. What initially is a routine procedure, soon becomes a harsh interrogation that seems to confirm the initial suspicions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYoung and Innocent (1937)
When a young writer is falsely accused of murdering a famous actress, he escapes custody and joins forces with the daughter of a police constable to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParis Connections (2010)
At the beginning of Paris fashion week, a beautiful young model is brutally murdered. Investigative journalist Madison Castelli, certain that it is more than the "crime of passion" the French press says, comes to Paris to follow her story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Prize (1963)
A group of Nobel laureates descends on Stockholm to accept their awards. Among them is American novelist Andrew Craig, a former literary luminary now writing pulp detective stories to earn a living. Craig, who is infamous for his drinking and womanizing, formulates a wild theory that physics prize winner Dr. Max Stratman has been replaced by an impostor, embroiling Craig and his chaperone in a Cold War kidnapping plot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Number 23 (2007)
Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Weekend Away (2022)
When her best friend vanishes during a girls' trip to Croatia, Beth races to figure out what happened. But each clue yields another unsettling deception.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSphere (1998)
A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesperation (2006)
When a sheriff arrests a writer, a family, a couple, and a hitchiker and throws them in a jail cell in the deserted town of Desperation, they must fight for their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisBattle Royale (2000)
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSherlock Holmes in the 20th Century (1987)
This film version was released before the premiere of the full two-part television version (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Twentieth Century Approaches). In this version the entire plot of the story Bruce-Partington Drawings was deleted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Based on a True Story?
The closest matches to Based on a True Story are Night Train to Lisbon (2013), Overdrive (2017) and The Bourne Identity (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Based on a True Story?
Start with Night Train to Lisbon (2013), the closest match to Based on a True Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Based on a True Story?
Vertigo (1958), rated 8.1/10 by 6,621 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Based on a True Story?
Unsubmissives (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Based on a True Story?
Yes: Unsubmissives (2025), The Past (2013) and Just a Breath Away (2018).
How are movies similar to Based on a True Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Based on a True Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.