Movies like Man on a String (1972)
The best movies like Man on a String (1972) are Scum (1977), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022). If Man on a String hooked you with its tv movie and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Substitute (1996)7.0/10 from 621 votes
- NewestDesert Dawn (2025)Released 2025
Scum (1977)
Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of terror and neglect, with Carlin emerging as an unlikely leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)
Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1992)
At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiddled with Deceit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (2020)
Former detective Jeff Jackson teams up with Dr. Zee Madieras to track down their friend's missing emerald brooch, a thief, and also... a murderer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlower Shop Mystery: Snipped in the Bud (2016)
Former attorney-turned-small-town-florist, Abby Knight, has a nose for sleuthing, quickly embroiled in a murder investigation, grateful for the help when she teams with retired private eye, Marco Salvare, who now owns a local bar and grill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRedemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)
Redemption tells the story of Stan "Tookie" Williams, founder of the Crips L.A. street gang. Story follows his fall into gang-banging, his prison term, and his work writing children's novels encouraging peace and anti-violence resolutions which earned him multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. After exhausting all forms of appeal, Tookie was executed by lethal injection.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead (2021)
Tess gets invited to be a part of a popular game show, but when the host is unexpectedly murdered, she and Detective Logan O'Connor seek to uncover who was behind it all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Charlie (2023)
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Double (2011)
The mysterious murder of a US senator bearing the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin 'Cassius', forces retired CIA operative, Paul Shepherson to team with rookie FBI agent, Ben Geary to solve the crime. Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland. Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Perfect Weapon (1991)
Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of the Korean mafia families. Jeff tries to help his old friend, but is too late to prevent Kim's death at the hands of an unknown hitman. Vowing revenge, Jeff takes on all of the families, using his martial arts skills to find the man who killed his friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
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 crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Too Deep (1999)
Drug lord Dwayne Gittens rules Cincinnati with an iron fist. No wonder he's known as "God" on the streets. Determined to break Gittens' stranglehold on the city is undercover cop Jeffrey Cole. But as Cole takes on an assumed identity to penetrate Gittens' criminal empire, he makes a disturbing discovery -- he kind of likes being a gangster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder (2019)
When an old friend of New York Sentinel Crosswords editor Tess Harper is found murdered on the very day her puzzle includes his proposal of marriage, Tess unofficially teams up with Detective Logan O’Connor to find the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWalking Tall: Lone Justice (2007)
In Dallas, witnesses against a drug-lord are murdered in a safe-house.The testimony of FBI agents becomes the only chance to keep him in prison. They are lodged in another safe-house, but the place is invaded and the agents are executed. However, Kate is only wounded, and her boyfriend Nick believes there is a traitor in the agency and takes her to his ranch to protect her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpartan (2004)
U.S. government agent Scott is assigned to rescue the daughter of a high-ranking government official. As willing as he is to bend the rules to get things done, though, Scott is shocked to find that others are willing to go even further to protect a political career.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI-Man (1986)
When a man is exposed to an alien gas, he acquires the ability to heal instantly and survive any injury or toxin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Secretaria peligrosa (1958)
A secretary plans to rob her boss with the help of her gangster boyfriend and his gang, but a special agent attempts to stop them in their tracks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Police Story 4: First Strike (1996)
Hong Kong cop Chan Ka-Kui returns, working with Interpol to track down and arrest an illegal weapons dealer. Chan later realises that things are not as simple as they appear and soon finds himself to be a pawn of an organisation posing as Russian intelligence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilver (1999)
The story in "Silver" is about a female wrestler who is really an undercover agent. Disguised as a wrestling warrior, heroine Jun Shirogane (Atsuko Sakuraba) goes after the gang that killed her family in Takashi Miike's action-packed thriller. Aided by secret service colleague Yusuke Minamida (Kenji Haga), Jun goes undercover as Silver, a formidable fighter in the professional women's wrestling circuit. But Jun's success in the ring doesn't distract her from her primary mission: exacting revenge on the Paradise gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
As a swinging fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy. But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode Name: The Cleaner (2007)
Cedric the Entertainer plays Jake, a seemingly regular guy who has no idea who he is after being hit over the head by mysterious assailants. When he finds himself entangled in a government conspiracy, Jake and his pursuers become convinced that he is an undercover agent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Glimmer Man (1996)
A former government operative renowned for his stealth, Jack Cole is now a Los Angeles police detective. When a series of horrible murders occurs in the metro area, Cole is assigned to the case, along with tough-talking fellow cop Jim Campbell. Although the two men clash, they gradually become effective partners as they uncover a conspiracy linked to the killings, which also involves terrorism and organized crime.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisPoint of No Return (1993)
Hardened criminal Maggie Hayward's consistent violence, even in police custody, ends in the execution chamber. However, top-secret US government agent 'Bob' arranges a staged death, so Maggie can be elaborately trained as a phantom killer and subdued into obedience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYakeen (1969)
Rajesh Sharma, working with the Indian Government on a top secret research project, has to deal with enemy agents, explosions, murder and last but not least a dangerous look-alike.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Like Man on a String and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Man on a String?
The closest matches to Man on a String are Scum (1977), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Man on a String?
Start with Scum (1977), the closest match to Man on a String.
What is the highest-rated movie like Man on a String?
The Substitute (1996), rated 7.0/10 by 621 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Man on a String?
Desert Dawn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Man on a String?
Yes: Scum (1977), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022).
How are movies similar to Man on a String chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Man on a String, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.