Movies like Notes on an Appearance (2018)
The best movies like Notes on an Appearance (2018) are The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Remember (2015) and The Ritual Killer (2023). If Notes on an Appearance 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 ratedSearching (2018)7.6/10 from 4,438 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
The Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisRemember (2015)
With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Deadly Affair (1967)
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Without Pity (1957)
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEndless Night (1972)
Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriage (2009)
The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
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 thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
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 thisAll the Devils Are Here (2025)
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
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 thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisStowaway (2022)
A tenacious party girl fights to survive after three thieves commandeer her luxury yacht. Unable to escape and trapped on the yacht at high seas, the prey becomes the hunter as she turns the tables on the intruders and takes matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInside Man (2023)
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
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 mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTell No One (2006)
A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSearching (2018)
After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMissing (2022)
Depressed and in debt, Santoshi tells his young daughter that he is going to find an infamous serial killer and collect a reward. However, when Santoshi disappears without a trace, she starts to fear the worst and begins searching for him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Sicilian Ghost Story (2017)
In a little Sicilian village at the edge of a forest, Giuseppe, a boy of 13, vanishes. Luna, his classmate who loves him, refuses to accept his mysterious disappearance. She rebels against the silence and complicity that surround her, and to find him she descends into the dark world which has swallowed him up and which has a lake as its mysterious entrance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHusbandhood (2016)
In January of 2014, five filmmakers suddenly disappear while shooting in the nearby Drigh Lake Larakana woods. One week later, their camera was found.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Bête Noire (2016)
Eleven-year-old Ariel and eight-year-old Maxence live in a small, remote farm. After a fit of madness, their mother Marine is obliged to leave the family home. Maxence believes his mother's disappearance was caused by monsters in the forest. Ariel enters the forest with the aim of killing the beast lurking their and bringing back his mother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
Meghnadbodh Rohoshyo (2017)
A professor mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a host of suspects, a shadowy history and a clue: the anonymous birthday gift of a Bengali classic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Flourish (2006)
A tutor recounts a frantic night that culminated in a 16-year old girl's disappearance. Unfolding in front of a video camera direct from a psychiatric ward, Gaby Winters recalls a dreadful babysitting job that sent her on a frantic search for a missing teenager out into the heart of a mysterious city. Woven into the story are a multitude of subplots that add up to one chaotic night that Gaby will never forget.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
The Quiet Earth (1985)
After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKissing Candice (2018)
Candice longs to escape the boredom of her seaside town, but when a boy she dreams about turns up in real life, she becomes involved with a dangerous local gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Notes on an Appearance?
The closest matches to Notes on an Appearance are The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Remember (2015) and The Ritual Killer (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Notes on an Appearance?
Start with The Caveman's Valentine (2001), the closest match to Notes on an Appearance.
What is the highest-rated movie like Notes on an Appearance?
Searching (2018), rated 7.6/10 by 4,438 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Notes on an Appearance?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Notes on an Appearance?
Yes: The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Remember (2015) and The Ritual Killer (2023).
How are movies similar to Notes on an Appearance chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Notes on an Appearance, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.