Movies like What to Do in Case of Fire? (2001)
The best movies like What to Do in Case of Fire? (2001) are Run Lola Run (1998), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and Hostile Takeover (2025). If What to Do in Case of Fire? 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 ratedThe Lives of Others (2006)8.0/10 from 4,358 votes
- NewestHostile Takeover (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanRun Lola Run (1998)Also in German
Run Lola Run (1998)
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bourne Supremacy (2004)
A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHostile Takeover (2025)
Follows Pete, a professional hitman, as he faces a group of assassins after the boss of a crime syndicate suspects disloyalty due to his attendance at Workaholics Anonymous meetings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller Bean Forever (2008)
When things go bad in Beantown, top assassin Killer Bean is called to clean-up the mess. Detective Cromwell finds himself in the middle between Killer Bean and mob boss Cappuccino.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBerlin Blues (2003)
In October 1989, the part of the West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg called SO 36, had been largely shut off by the Wall from the rest of the city for 28 years. A lethargic sub-culture of students, artists, bohemians and barflys had flourished among crumbling buildings. Part of that microcosm is barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called 'Herr Lehmann' by friends and patrons. He hangs out drinking, sports utter disregard for anything beyond SO 36 and lazily pursues an affair with cook Katrin. His lifestyle is gradually disturbed, when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with Katrin and his best friend Karl starts to act strange. Meanwhile, political turmoil mounts on the other side of the Wall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlone in Berlin (2016)
Berlin in June of 1940. While Nazi propaganda celebrates the regime’s victory over France, a kitchen-cum-living room in Prenzlauer Berg is filled with grief. Anna and Otto Quangel’s son has been killed at the front. This working class couple had long believed in the ‘Führer’ and followed him willingly, but now they realise that his promises are nothing but lies and deceit. They begin writing postcards as a form of resistance and in a bid to raise awareness: Stop the war machine! Kill Hitler! Putting their lives at risk, they distribute these cards in the entrances of tenement buildings and in stairwells. But the SS and the Gestapo are soon onto them, and even their neighbours pose a threat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRetribution (2023)
When a mysterious caller plants a bomb under his car seat, a bank executive begins a high-speed chase across the city to complete a specific series of tasks — all with his kids trapped in the back seat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Coffee in Berlin (2012)
Niko, a twenty-something college dropout, lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReclaim Your Brain (2007)
Frustrated, because he is forced to produce bad TV-shows, a manager of a TV-station, enters the station and manipulates the ratings, to initiate a TV-revolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tunnel (2001)
Inspired by true events, Olympic swimmer Harry Melchior defects from East Germany in the 1960s and hatches a daring plot to help his sister and others flee East Berlin through a 145-yard underground tunnel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwo Lives (2012)
Europe 1990, the Berlin wall has just crumbled: Katrine, raised in East Germany, but now living in Norway for the last 20 years, is a “war child”; the result of a love relationship between a Norwegian woman and a German occupation soldier during World War II. She enjoys a happy family life with her mother, her husband, daughter and granddaughter. But when a lawyer asks her and her mother to witness in a trial against the Norwegian state on behalf of the war children, she resists. Gradually, a web of concealments and secrets is unveiled, until Katrine is finally stripped of everything, and her loved ones are forced to take a stand: What carries more weight, the life they have lived together, or the lie it is based on?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext Door (2021)
Berlin, the Prenzlauer Berg district. Daniel is a movie star accustomed to success. His loft apartment is stylish and so is his wife, and the nanny has the children under control. Everything is tip-top, bilingual and ready for him to jet off to an audition in London where a role in an American superhero film awaits the celebrated German-Spanish actor. Popping into the local bar on the corner, he finds Bruno sitting there. As transpires by the minute, Bruno has been waiting for this moment for a long time. And so this eternally overlooked man – one of reunification's losers and a victim of the gentrification of what was once East Berlin – takes his revenge. With Daniel as his target...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Track: No Limits (2008)
Four young thrill-seekers race cars on the streets of Germany.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lives of Others (2006)
In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Bye, Lenin! (2003)
Alex Kerner's mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell. When she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happened (as she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisValkyrie (2008)
Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHow to Rob a Bank (2007)
Caught in the middle of a bank robbery, a slacker and a bank employee become the ones who arbitrate the intense situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisAimée & Jaguar (1999)
In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women – one a Jewish member of the underground, the other an exemplar of Nazi motherhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Elementary Particles (2006)
Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised (aka The Elementary Particles) focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different half-brothers and their disturbed sexuality. After a chaotic childhood with a hippie mother only caring for her affairs, Michael, a molecular biologist, is more interested in genes than women, while Bruno is obsessed with his sexual desires, but mostly finds his satisfaction with prostitutes. But Bruno's life changes when he gets to know the experienced Christiane. In the meantime, Michael meets Annabelle, the love of his youth, again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeverly Hills Cop (1984)
Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case like only he can.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLive and Let Die (1973)
James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMinority Report (2002)
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA History of Violence (2005)
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWings of Desire (1987)
Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLili Marleen (1981)
The story of a German singer named Willie, who while working in Switzerland, falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert, whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreathless (1960)
A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Edukators (2004)
Three activists cobble together a kidnapping plot after they encounter a businessman in his home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDial M for Murder (1954)
When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like What to Do in Case of Fire??
The closest matches to What to Do in Case of Fire? are Run Lola Run (1998), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and Hostile Takeover (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after What to Do in Case of Fire??
Start with Run Lola Run (1998), the closest match to What to Do in Case of Fire?.
What is the highest-rated movie like What to Do in Case of Fire??
The Lives of Others (2006), rated 8.0/10 by 4,358 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like What to Do in Case of Fire??
Hostile Takeover (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like What to Do in Case of Fire??
Yes: Run Lola Run (1998), Berlin Blues (2003) and A Coffee in Berlin (2012).
How are movies similar to What to Do in Case of Fire? chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside What to Do in Case of Fire?, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.