Movies like Killing (2018)
The best movies like Killing (2018) are Hana (2006), The Hidden Blade (2004) and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011). If Killing hooked you with its drama and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHarakiri (1962)8.5/10 from 1,321 votes
- NewestThe Samurai and the Prisoner (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseHana (2006)Also in Japanese
Hana (2006)
In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hidden Blade (2004)
Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
A tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDemons (1971)
Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai cast out as an Asano clan retainer, is given a second chance to join his brothers in arms to become the 48th Ronin against the Shogunate. His faithful servant gathers the 100 ryo required for his acceptance. Gengobe is also in love with a greedy geisha named Koman. About to be sold to another man, Gengobe learns that in order to keep her, her debt is exactly 100 ryo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisScabbard Samurai (2011)
Kanjuro Nomi is an aging samurai who only has a scabbard. Deserting his lord to wander the land with his daughter Tae, Kanjuro is captured and sentenced to an unusual punishment: he has 30 days to bring a smile to the sad prince who has lost his mother — or else he must die.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKaidan (2007)
Japan, 250 years ago. Soetsu is a moneylender who is killed by the cruel samurai Shinzaemon. His body is dumped in the Kasenega-Fuchi river. According to legend, all who drown in the river will never surface again. 20 Years later, Shinkichi, the handsome son of Shinzaemon, coincidentally meets Toyoshiga, the daughter of Soetsu. They fall in love. It is a doomed love, as the spirit of Soetsu is far from dead
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Harakiri (1962)
Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSerpent's Path (1998)
With the help of a mysterious acquaintance, a former low-level yakuza tracks down and kidnaps the man he believes kidnapped and murdered his daughter, but others are soon implicated in the death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
13 Assassins (2010)
A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBloody Spear at Mount Fuji (1955)
Tragicomic road movie set during the Edo period. It follows a samurai, his two servants – including spear-carrier Genpachi – and the various people they meet on their journey, including a policeman in pursuit of a thief, a young child and a woman who is to be sold into prostitution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Bullet Ballet (1998)
After his girlfriend commits suicide, a man becomes embroiled in gang warfare attempting to obtain a gun in hopes to kill himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sword of Doom (1966)
Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKotoko (2011)
When a single mother suffers a nervous breakdown, she is suspected of child abuse and her child is taken away. Her mental suffering escalates as she succumbs to her darkest fantasies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)
A deaf man and his girlfriend resort to desperate measures in order to fund a kidney transplant for his sister. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLady Snowblood (1973)
A strikingly beautiful young woman is trained from birth to be a deadly instrument of revenge against the swindlers who destroyed her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaboo (1999)
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Fist (1995)
A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPornostar (1998)
A young man decides one day to start killing yakuza. After he kills his first two he gets roped into helping a wannabe gangster and his bumbling underlings to perform a hit. While things work out in the beginning, this young psychopath quickly becomes more trouble than the gang expected. Will they be able to rid themselves of him, or will they be his next victims?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Zatoichi: The Last (2010)
A blind master swordsman attempts to lead a quiet life with his wife but he is provoked back into battle.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Cold Fish (2011)
When fish shop owner Shamoto's teenage daughter Mitsuko is caught stealing, a generous middle-aged man named Murata helps resolve the situation. The man and his wife offer to have Mitsuko work at their opposing fish store. Shamoto soon discovers that something far more sinister lives behind Murata's friendly demeanor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Twilight Samurai (2002)
Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisR100 (2013)
Ruthless dominatrixes pursue a mild-mannered salesman who wants to get out of his unbreakable contract with a secret bondage club.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Samurai and the Prisoner (2026)
When Lord Murashige rises up against the tyrannical Oda, he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei, a brilliant and dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon, as he must outwit his enemies and uncover the truth before time runs out.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Ugetsu (1953)
In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Snake of June (2003)
Rinko, a woman in a sexless marriage, is blackmailed by a stalker with intimate photos, forcing her into a series of erotic acts that disrupt her mundane life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhy Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress's career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLumberjack the Monster (2023)
A self-proclaimed psychopath, coldblooded lawyer Ninomiya becomes obsessed with stopping an ax-wielding serial killer who's made him their next target.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIzo (2004)
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost Story of Yotsuya (1959)
This horror tale adapts the Japanese legend about a man who faces the consequences of betraying his wife in order to acquire wealth and power.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRage (2016)
A man brutally murders a married couple and leaves the word “ikari” (“rage”) written with their blood. The killer undergoes plastic surgery and flees. At three different locations in Japan, a male stranger appears. People suspect that the stranger might be the murderer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Killing?
The closest matches to Killing are Hana (2006), The Hidden Blade (2004) and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Killing?
People who watched Killing most often go on to Hana (2006), The Hidden Blade (2004) and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011).
What is the highest-rated movie like Killing?
Harakiri (1962), rated 8.5/10 by 1,321 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Killing?
The Samurai and the Prisoner (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Killing?
Yes: Hana (2006), The Hidden Blade (2004) and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011).
How are movies similar to Killing chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Killing, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.