Movies like American Yearbook (2004)
The best movies like American Yearbook (2004) are Light It Up (1999), The Truth About Emanuel (2013) and The House on Carroll Street (1988). If American Yearbook hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
American Yearbook
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWe Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)7.5/10 from 3,262 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
Light It Up (1999)
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarron's Cove (2025)
When his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the kidnapped boy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lords of Discipline (1983)
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (2017)
An adrenaline seeking snowboarder gets lost in a massive winter storm in the back country of the High Sierras where he is pushed to the limits of human endurance and forced to battle his own personal demons as he fights for survival....
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLuce (2019)
A star athlete and top student, Luce's idealized image is challenged by one of his teachers when his unsettling views on political violence come to light, putting a strain on family bonds while igniting intense debates on race and identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Boy Blue (1998)
Living in rural Texas is a dysfunctional family: an abusive dad, a Vietnam vet with a war wound that's left him impotent; a compliant wife and a son of about 20, two small sons who look a lot like their brother. The dad harbors a secret, and he goes to murderous lengths to keep it hidden. The young man, Jimmy, who has suspicions, but little comes out until a Yankee woman comes to town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
As the 15th anniversary of a fatal high school shooting approaches, former pupil Diana McFee is haunted by memories of the tragedy. After losing her best friend Maureen in the attack, Diana has been profoundly affected by the incident - her seemingly perfect life shaped by the events of that day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Girl (2016)
Bad girl Amy is given one last chance by her adoptive parents, who think her friendship with local girl Chloe is a step in the right direction. But when Amy discovers that Chloe harbors a dark secret, she finds herself fighting for her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuilty by Suspicion (1991)
Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe White Orchid (2018)
A social services investigator helps a local sheriff solve the brutal murder of a beautiful blonde known only as The White Orchid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisRoad to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLila & Eve (2015)
Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Desperate Hour (2022)
A woman desperately races to save her child after police place her hometown on lockdown due to an active shooter incident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hit List (2011)
A disgruntled man creates a hit list with a stranger during a drunken night out and must then race to try to save those he marked for extermination as the bodies begin to pile up and all fingers point to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPolytechnique (2009)
A dramatization of the École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, on December 9, 1989, where 14 female engineering students were murdered (and 13 were wounded) by a 25 year old psychotic misogynist armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWe Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHostage High (1997)
A former high school student, Jason Copeland, returns to his school to take his revenge on the teachers for failing him out of school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
State's Evidence (2004)
Six high school teenagers decide to commit suicide together, but their plans soon go awry when one of them has something darker in mind as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986)
The pupils at a high school next to a nuclear power plant start acting and looking strange after buying contaminated drugs from a plant worker.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisZero Day (2003)
Two troubled adolescents chronicle the events that ultimately lead up to a terrifying assault on their school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDuck! The Carbine High Massacre (1999)
Derwin and Derick, Neo-Nazis, plan to commit a school shooting and kill themselves after a sick joke by school jocks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Class (2007)
An average guy of an Estonian high-school decides to defend his bullied classmate. This starts a war between him and the informal leader of the class.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDawn Anna (2005)
The true story of a single mom who overcomes many of life's obstacles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Purgatory House (2003)
An inside glimpse of how it feels to be a teen in today's disconnected world. PURGATORY HOUSE chronicles the after-life journey of Silver Strand: a lonely teen who abandons her life of turmoil and drug addiction, only to find herself caught somewhere between heaven and hell. There, she must choose whether she will accept her drab existence or discover within herself the power to change.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like American Yearbook?
The closest matches to American Yearbook are Light It Up (1999), The Truth About Emanuel (2013) and The House on Carroll Street (1988). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after American Yearbook?
Start with Light It Up (1999), the closest match to American Yearbook.
What is the highest-rated movie like American Yearbook?
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), rated 7.5/10 by 3,262 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like American Yearbook?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like American Yearbook?
Yes: Light It Up (1999), The Truth About Emanuel (2013) and The House on Carroll Street (1988).
How are movies similar to American Yearbook chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside American Yearbook, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.