Movies like Friends Games: The Movie (2017)
The best movies like Friends Games: The Movie (2017) are Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009), Kakegurui: The Movie (2019) and Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011). If Friends Games: The Movie hooked you with its drama and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLook Back (2024)8.2/10 from 718 votes
- NewestLook Back (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseKaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009)Also in Japanese
Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009)
Kaiji Ito moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life is no better. A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money owed. The debt collector offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt & possibly make a boat load of money. Could the debt collector Endo actually be setting up Kaiji? One way or another, for Kaiji it's going to be the night of his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKakegurui: The Movie (2019)
Hyakkaou Private Academy. An institution for the privileged with a very peculiar curriculum. You see, when you're the sons and daughters of the wealthiest of the wealthy, it's not athletic prowess or book smarts that keep you ahead. It's reading your opponent, the art of the deal. What better way to hone those skills than with a rigorous curriculum of gambling? At Hyakkaou Private Academy, the winners live like kings, and the losers are put through the wringer. But when Yumeko Jabami enrols, she's gonna teach these kids what a high roller really looks like!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011)
3 years after the ultimate life-or-death game with Teiai Group, Kaiji was entrapped by Teiai and again back in the underground, forced to do hard labour. One day, Kaiji wins a bet to get out of the underground with 1 million yen, and promises the other workers that he will save them. But to do so, he only has 14 days and needs 200 million yen! Kaiji meets his former rival Tonegawa and learns that there is a chance to turn the tables in the game. It was a monster casino machine that will make 1 billion yen if you win...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiar Game: The Final Stage (2010)
In Liar game: Final Stage, Players are encouraged to trust each other to win the tournament. However, a mysterious player named X is secretly plotting to sabotage everyone of their chances to win the LGT.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaiji: Final Game (2020)
Kaiji is about to have his life changed. The thrill is beyond anything he, or most people, have experienced. The adventure is not without risk and danger however. He is given four games, which are challenges, and include life and death situations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: Guilty Until Proven Innocent (2016)
When Jenn's old pal Sandra becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, it'll be up to her to discover who done it before time runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElephant Song (2015)
A psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game when he questions a disturbed patient about the disappearance of a colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like this12 Suicidal Teens (2019)
A group of boys and girls, twelve in total, gather at an abandoned hospital to die for various different reasons. There, they find the body of a dead boy. The group of twelve attempt to find the person who killed the boy. During their search, the reasons why they want to die are revealed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2023)
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDetective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths (2005)
Fifteen years ago in a barren stretch of the Pacific, a cruise ship collided with an iceberg and was lost at sea. More than a decade later, Hideto Yashiro—a ship engineer—died in a fatal car accident. The unlikely connection between these events only comes to light on the luxury liner St. Aphrodite during her maiden voyage. Aboard it on a much needed vacation, Kogorou Mouri, his daughter Ran, Conan Edogawa, and the Detective Boys enjoy a trip provided by Sonoko Suzuki's family. But their fun is soon cut short when a game of hide-and-seek leads to Sonoko's disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: The Eleventh Striker (2012)
Kogoro's detective agency receives a mysterious phone call. Someone on the other end warns about a bomb and leaves behind a code, which if Conan can decipher the riddle, he can stop the bomb. An adventure begins for Conan and the Detective Boys, taking place at a soccer match between Hideo Akagi of the Tokyo Spirits and Ryusuke Higo of Big Osaka.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem (2006)
Synopsis Kogoro and Conan came to Yokohama according to a request from a mysterious man. But that was a trap of this man. Ran and the Detective Boys will be taken as hostages. If they don't solve the request of the man within 12 hours, the bombs attached to the hostages will explode. Furthermore, the man know that Conan`s true identity is Kudo Shinichi. Also Hattori Heiji, the High School Detective of the West, and Kaito Kid enter the stage. Will they be able to solve the mystery within the time limit and save Ran and the others? And who in the world is the client?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLook Back (2024)
Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a competitive fervor in Fujino. What starts as jealousy transforms when Fujino realizes their shared passion for drawing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost (2010)
Accused of terrorism and feeling the heat, Saki's high-tech crew is in the crosshairs. Meanwhile, the shroud of mystery covering Takizawa is lifted as he and his fellow Selecao make their final moves. Every game must come to an end. For those playing Mr. Outside's twisted game of conspiracy thrills, the end comes now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Gantz (2011)
Before finding out the Perfect Answer, discover Another Gantz. Aired on Nippon Television network before the theatrical release of Gantz: The Perfect Answer, this film is an alternate perspective version of the first Gantz film from the same writing-directing team of the two-part theatrical film. In addition to condensed scenes from the Gantz film, Another Gantz features a new subplot that follows an investigative journalist not included in the theatrical film. Delving deep into the mystery, Another Gantz offers another piece towards solving the complex puzzle that is the world of Gantz.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno (2015)
Conan tries to track down Kaito Kid, who supposedly steals a replica of one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers paintings during an auction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack★Rock Shooter (2010)
The story of two girls bound in friendship, as well as Black Rock Star's struggle unfolding in another world. But when the two worlds come together... what will happen?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLiz and the Blue Bird (2018)
In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlaciers (2021)
Robby Miller (Bralyn Stokes), a former army soldier leaves the military after his wife's sudden death to raise his son JJ (Jackson Hammer). As the pressures of single fatherhood and his wife's death start to build, Robby finds himself in a place he never thought he'd be.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rounders (1998)
Poker addict Mike McDermott knows the game inside out, but loses his money one night in a game to Russian-American gangster Teddy KGB. Promising his partner Jo he'll give up, he meets up with best friend Lester 'Worm' Murphy, just out of prison and owing lots of money to the wrong kind of people. McDermott becomes his co-guarantor and now there's only one way to raise the money, the pair have to get back into the game.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Simple Plan (1998)
Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Walk to Remember (2002)
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSnow White (2005)
The life of 20-year-old Nico from upper class Zurich is all party, sex and drugs when she meets Paco, the front man of a rap band. She finds herself drawn to his independent, creative and profound way of life, so different from her own. With naiveté and infinite self-confidence, she tries to adopt his lifestyle - without anticipating the consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
White Men Can't Jump (1992)
Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot in Textbooks 5 (2019)
A school romantic comedy about the cohabitation life of a popular high school girl in a class and a Japanese language teacher who is swayed by her in the fifth in the series "Not in Textbooks!". Aya Shirakaba, a high school girl who attends Otome High School, and homeroom teacher Arihiko Tairaku lived together at the command of the leader of Yakuza, the father of Aya. One weekend, Tairaku invites a longing colleague, Yayoi Satsuki, to date, which was also Aya's birthday. Aya learns that Tairaku is going to date May. Ayaka Morikawa, who plays Aya Shirakaba, and Ryouma Baba, who plays Arihiko Tairaku, continue to star in the series, while Moemi Katayama and Anna Hongo have played the role of May, who is now gravure idol Natsuki Sena.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Zorba the Greek (1964)
An uptight English writer traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbershop (2002)
A day in the life of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Calvin, who inherited the struggling business from his deceased father, views the shop as nothing but a burden and waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin slowly begins to see his father's vision and legacy and struggles with the notion that he just sold it out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAirport (1970)
An airport manager tries to keep his terminals open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Friends Games: The Movie and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Friends Games: The Movie?
The closest matches to Friends Games: The Movie are Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009), Kakegurui: The Movie (2019) and Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Friends Games: The Movie?
Start with Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009), the closest match to Friends Games: The Movie.
What is the highest-rated movie like Friends Games: The Movie?
Look Back (2024), rated 8.2/10 by 718 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Friends Games: The Movie?
Look Back (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Friends Games: The Movie?
Yes: Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009), Kakegurui: The Movie (2019) and Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011).
How are movies similar to Friends Games: The Movie chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Friends Games: The Movie, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.