Movies like Running Away (2017)
The best movies like Running Away (2017) are The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023), Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009) and The Brotherhood of Justice (1986). If Running Away hooked you with its thriller and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOnce Upon a Time in America (1984)8.4/10 from 6,316 votes
- NewestMurder in Nashville (2025)Released 2025
The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023)
Based on a true story. 15-year-old Kara Robinson was kidnapped, assaulted and held captive for 18 hours. With her survival instincts kicking in, she plots a daring escape from the serial killer and leads police to his apartment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brotherhood of Justice (1986)
High-school students start a vigilante group in their neighbourhood but, as their power increases, they become more abusive and dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaken Back: Finding Haley (2012)
Unable to get over the abduction of her daughter, a mother is convinced she has finally found her, but is she simply a mother obsessed?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone With Her (2006)
The harrowing story of a disturbed young man's attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. When Doug first sees Amy, he instantly falls for her and begins to watch her every move, going so far as to set up spy cameras in her apartment. However, as his fascination grows into obsession he's no longer satisfied with just watching.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Basement (2021)
Sara is a teen girl who is looking forward to her 18th birthday to move away from her controlling father Don. But before she could even blow out the candles, Don imprisons her in the basement of their home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Neighbor in the Window (2020)
A suburban wife finds herself and the security of her family threatened by another seemingly friendly neighborhood mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBack Roads (2019)
A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAbducted by My Teacher: The Elizabeth Thomas Story (2023)
The story of Elizabeth Thomas, a 15-year-old high school student who was groomed and abducted by teacher Tad Cummins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Locksmith (2023)
A thief fresh out of prison, tries to work his way back into the life of his daughter and ex-fiancé. Determined, he is forced to use the skills he has as a gifted locksmith. Things take a tumultuous turn after an unexpected disappearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlowers in the Attic (2014)
After the sudden death of their father, four children face cruel treatment from their ruthless grandmother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeds of Yesterday (2015)
The Sheffield family reveal and go through some home truths as their middle child inherits the Foxworth mansion. The family's ghosts looming over, and more tragedies are in store as the curse lives on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCohen and Tate (1989)
A boy kidnapped by two mismatched hitmen puts them at each other's throats while being driven to their employers, possibly to be killed. Cohen, an older professional becomes increasingly irritated with his partner Tate, a brutish killer, when their prisoner uses unnatural guile and resourcefulness to play them off against each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnder Suspicion (2000)
A lawyer is asked to come to the police station to clear up a few loose ends in his witness report of a foul murder. "This will only take ten minutes", they say, but it turns out to be one loose end after another, and the ten minutes he is away from his speech become longer and longer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005)
Walker investigates a murder connected with a missing government weapon. In addition, he tries to track down a teen on the run from a crime syndicate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2016)
Two high school filmmakers decide to create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Clovehitch Killer (2018)
A picture-perfect family is torn apart after Tyler finds a cache of disturbing images in his father's possession. He begins to suspect that the man he trusts most in the world may be responsible for the murder of 13 women ten years prior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreaking In (2018)
Shaun Russell takes her son and daughter on a weekend getaway to her late father's secluded, high-tech vacation home in the countryside. The family soon gets an unwelcome surprise when four men break into the house to find hidden money. After managing to escape, Shaun must now figure out a way to turn the tables on the desperate thieves and save her captive children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMystic River (2003)
The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBad Education (2004)
When an old friend brings filmmaker Enrique Goded a semi-autobiographical script chronicling their adolescence, Enrique is forced to relive his youth spent at a Catholic boarding school. Weaving through past and present, the script follows a transvestite performer who reconnects with a grade school sweetheart. Spurred on by this chance encounter, the character reflects on her childhood sexual victimization and the trauma of closeting her sexual orientation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Long Way Home (2003)
Family members struggle to heal their emotional wounds after an incident of sexual abuse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Wrong Babysitter (2017)
A recent kidnapping has single mom Susan worried about leaving her daughter Christy at home for an out-of-town trip - until neighbor Teri offers to "babysit," looking in on Christy and spending the night. But Susan rushes home when Christy goes missing, under circumstances reminiscent of her police detective husband's death. Susan will have to open the past wound of her husband's death in order to rescue the only family she has left.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Murder in Nashville (2025)
Eden Perry, a talented young musician with big dreams, leaves behind her small-town roots and moves to Nashville, the heart of country music.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Signal 100 (2020)
A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLive Flesh (1997)
When Victor attempts to seduce Elena, all he gets for his trouble is a one-way, six-year ticket to prison, where he concentrates on strengthening his mind, his body... and his desire for vengeance on the man who put him there. After his release and still madly in love with her, Victor will stop at nothing to win her over even if means revenge, for Elena has married David, the cop who sent him to prison!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaken Too Far (2017)
A jealous dance mom takes extreme measures to ensure her daughter wins a scholarship to an exclusive dance academy. But the victim's mother will do whatever necessary to protect her own daughter from the rival mom's evil scheme.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Monster (2003)
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. She's raped by a trick, who she kills. A string of murder and robbery follows that ultimately leads Aileen to becoming America's first female serial killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Running Away?
The closest matches to Running Away are The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023), Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009) and The Brotherhood of Justice (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Running Away?
Start with The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023), the closest match to Running Away.
What is the highest-rated movie like Running Away?
Once Upon a Time in America (1984), rated 8.4/10 by 6,316 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Running Away?
Murder in Nashville (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Running Away?
Yes: The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023), Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009) and The Brotherhood of Justice (1986).
How are movies similar to Running Away chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Running Away, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.