Movies like Dark Water (2001)
The best movies like Dark Water (2001) are Mindcage (2022), The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) and Crescent City (2024). If Dark Water hooked you with its crime and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlue Velvet (1986)7.6/10 from 4,038 votes
- NewestThe Whisper Man (2026)Released 2026
Mindcage (2022)
Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
When hundreds of videotapes showing torture, murder and dismemberment are found in an abandoned house, they reveal a serial killer's decade-long reign of terror and become the most disturbing collection of evidence homicide detectives have ever seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrescent City (2024)
When a ruthless serial killer terrorizes a small Southern town, everyone becomes a suspect -- including local authorities. As the body count rises and the dark mystery deepens, the chief detective becomes haunted by the horrors of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Client (1994)
A street-wise kid, Mark Sway, sees the suicide of Jerome Clifford, a prominent Louisiana lawyer, whose current client is Barry 'The Blade' Muldano, a Mafia hit-man. Before Jerome shoots himself, he tells Mark where the body of a Senator is buried. Clifford shoots himself and Mark is found at the scene, and both the FBI and the Mafia quickly realize that Mark probably knows more than he says.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Places (2015)
A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisLike Minds (2006)
A forensic psychologist must determine if a minor should be charged with murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Velvet (1986)
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTightrope (1984)
Wes Block is a detective who's put on the case of a serial killer whose victims are young and pretty women. The murders are getting personal when the killer chooses victims who are acquaintances of Block. Even his daughters are threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStriking Distance (1993)
Demoted Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy works river patrol while a serial killer targets women from his past, forcing him to conduct an unauthorized investigation to prove his innocence and expose a dirty cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisEvilenko (2004)
For years, Andrei Evilenko eluded the obsessive Detective Lesiev and the psychiatric profiler Aron Richter. Spurred on by his rabid fury at the gradual crumbling of his precious Soviet Union, Evilenko is a man who will live, die and kill as a communist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Girl Who Got Away (2021)
A female serial killer who killed four young girls is sent away to prison, but a fifth victim escaped with her life. Twenty years later, the killer escapes and begins hunting for the one who got away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Whisper Man (2026)
When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho II (1983)
Norman Bates is declared sane and released from the facility in which he was being held, despite the complaints of Lila Loomis, sister of his most famous victim. Is he really cured, or will he kill again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House That Jack Built (2018)
Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & 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 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 mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBone Lake (2025)
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisPsycho Killer (2026)
Following the brutal murder of her husband, a Kansas highway patrol officer sets out on a journey to track down the perpetrator. As the hunt progresses, she comes to realize the man responsible is a sadistic serial killer, and the depth of his mental depravity and his sinister agenda is more twisted than anyone could have imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStrange Harvest (2025)
Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a cosmic force.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Psycho (2000)
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLos cómplices del infierno (1995)
Sandra and Deborah are two women trying to escape from a tragic recent event. They go for a vacation on a beach house but are then followed by an evil cult.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
Apocalypsis (2018)
Set in a parallel universe entering a black hole, a woman reading the book of Revelation has visions of regeneration during Anthropocene.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
The Watcher (2000)
FBI agent Joel Campbell, burnt-out and shell-shocked after years spent chasing serial killers, flees L.A. to begin a new life for himself in Chicago. But five months later, Joel's best laid plans are abruptly cut short when his new hometown becomes the setting for some particularly gruesome murders--murders that could only have been committed by one man: David Allen Griffin. One of Joel's most elusive and cunning nemeses, Griffin has followed his former pursuer to Chicago in order to play a sadistic game of cat and mouse. Taunting Joel with photographs of his intended victims and leaving his crime scenes meticulously free of clues in order to keep the police at bay, Griffin derives as much pleasure out of watching Joel react to every movement as watching his victims die. But when Griffin moves into Joel's inner circle, Joel must quickly find some way to stop him before someone close to him becomes the next one to die.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSuspect Zero (2004)
A killer is on the loose, and an FBI agent sifts through clues and learns that the bloodthirsty felon's victims of choice are other serial killers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFallen (1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHallam Foe (2007)
Hallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears-and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCapturing the Friedmans (2003)
An Oscar nominated documentary about a middle-class American family who is torn apart when the father Arnold and son Jesse are accused of sexually abusing numerous children. Director Jarecki interviews people from different sides of this tragic story and raises the question of whether they were rightfully tried when they claim they were innocent and there was never any evidence against them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPilgrim (2019)
In an attempt to remind her family of their privilege and help them bond, Ms. Anna Barker invites Pilgrim reenactors to stay with them over Thanksgiving. When the “actors” refuse to break character, the Barker family learns that there is such a thing as too much gratitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like Dark Water and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Dark Water?
The closest matches to Dark Water are Mindcage (2022), The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) and Crescent City (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Dark Water?
Start with Mindcage (2022), the closest match to Dark Water.
What is the highest-rated movie like Dark Water?
Blue Velvet (1986), rated 7.6/10 by 4,038 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Dark Water?
The Whisper Man (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Dark Water?
Yes: Mindcage (2022), The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) and Crescent City (2024).
How are movies similar to Dark Water chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Dark Water, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.