Movies like Unwritten (2018)
The best movies like Unwritten (2018) are The Ninth Gate (1999), Following (1999) and Promising Young Woman (2020). If Unwritten hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRosemary's Baby (1968)7.8/10 from 4,582 votes
- NewestHorror Hotel: The Phone (2026)Released 2026
The Ninth Gate (1999)
A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFollowing (1999)
Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPromising Young Woman (2020)
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSafe Haven (2013)
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGlass (2019)
In a series of escalating encounters, former security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Meanwhile, the shadowy presence of Elijah Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Words (2012)
The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMatchstick Men (2003)
A phobic con artist and his protege are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the con artist's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2022)
A young woman with psychokinetic powers breaks out of a Louisiana asylum and makes her way to New Orleans, where she falls into the city’s netherworld of misfits and miscreants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaults (2014)
Claire is under the grip of a mysterious new cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire's parents recruit one of the world's foremost experts on mind control, Ansel Roth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSafety Last! (1923)
When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNight of the Hunted (2023)
When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she's made the plaything of a sociopath sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive, she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her life, but also figure out who wants her dead and why.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caller (1987)
One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOdd Thomas (2013)
In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Deliverance (2024)
Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRetroactive (1997)
A psychiatrist makes multiple trips through time to save a woman that was murdered by her brutal husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Number 23 (2007)
Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRosemary's Baby (1968)
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Calling (2014)
Detective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Port Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisDie Hard 2 (1990)
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDesperado (1995)
El Mariachi plunges headfirst into the dark border underworld when he follows a trail of blood to the last of the infamous Mexican drug lords, Bucho, for an action-packed, bullet-riddled showdown. With the help of his friend and a beautiful bookstore owner, El Mariachi tracks Bucho, takes on his army of desperados, and leaves his own trail of blood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHollow Man (2000)
Cocky researcher Sebastian Caine is working on a project to make living creatures invisible. Determined to achieve the ultimate breakthrough, Caine pushes his team to move to the next phase — using himself as the subject. The test is a success, but when the process can't be reversed and Caine seems doomed to future without flesh, he starts to turn increasingly dangerous.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad Max (1979)
In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKingdom: Ashin of the North (2021)
Tragedy, betrayal and a mysterious discovery fuel a woman's vengeance for the loss of her tribe and family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHorror Hotel: The Phone (2026)
A drunken stumbling to the bathroom at a house party leads Caleb to face his greatest fear.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
When his longtime partner on the force is killed, reckless U.S. Secret Service agent Richard Chance vows revenge, setting out to nab dangerous counterfeit artist Eric Masters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGentlemen (2014)
Beaten up, bruised, and scared, a young writer hides in a Stockholm apartment, writing the story of its disappeared inhabitants: the flamboyant and charismatic Morgan brothers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
England, at the start of World War Two. Mysterious wireless broadcasts, apparently from Nazi Germany are heard over the BBC. They warn of acts of terror in England, just before they take place. Baffled, the Defense Committee call in Sherlock Holmes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEternal (2004)
Detective Raymond Pope is a detective of questionable morals, searching for his missing wife. His investigation leads him to the wealthy estate of the enigmatic Elizabeth Kane and her young maid Irina. Under Elizabeth's fascinating looks and aristocratic manners hides a terrifying secret,shared by her companion Irina. As Detective Pope finds himself perversely drawn to the powerful Elizabeth, bodies begin to surface, his inquiries only deepening the mystery surrounding Elizabeth's past. Pope's obsession grows so intense that he completely fails to anticipate Elizabeth's reaction to his intrusion into her dark world, a fatal mistake that might cost him his life and the lives of those close to him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Unwritten?
The closest matches to Unwritten are The Ninth Gate (1999), Following (1999) and Promising Young Woman (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Unwritten?
Start with The Ninth Gate (1999), the closest match to Unwritten.
What is the highest-rated movie like Unwritten?
Rosemary's Baby (1968), rated 7.8/10 by 4,582 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Unwritten?
Horror Hotel: The Phone (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Unwritten?
Yes: The Ninth Gate (1999), Following (1999) and Promising Young Woman (2020).
How are movies similar to Unwritten chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Unwritten, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.