Movies like Darkness Falls (2020)
The best movies like Darkness Falls (2020) are Pocket Dial Murder (2023), The Night Clerk (2020) and Sleeping Dogs (2024). If Darkness Falls hooked you with its thriller and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSe7en (1995)8.4/10 from 24,183 votes
- NewestThe Stranger in My Home (2025)Released 2025
Pocket Dial Murder (2023)
Stacey receives a pocket dial from her husband, Jeff, where she hears the sudden death of a woman on the other end. When Jeff comes home, he says he lost his phone she doesn’t know what to think. Could Stacey be married to a murderer?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
The Night Clerk (2020)
Hotel night clerk Bart Bromley is a highly intelligent young man on the Autism spectrum. When a woman is murdered during his shift, Bart becomes the prime suspect. As the police investigation closes in, Bart makes a personal connection with a beautiful guest named Andrea, but soon realises he must stop the real murderer before she becomes the next victim.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeping Dogs (2024)
Roy Freeman, an ex-homicide detective with a fractured memory, is forced to revisit a case he can't remember. As a man's life hangs in the balance on death row, Freeman must piece together the brutal evidence from a decade-old murder investigation, uncovering a sinister web of buried secrets and betrayals linking to his past. With only instincts to trust, he faces a chilling truth - sometimes, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInsomnia (2002)
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNightmare Alley (2021)
An ambitious carnival man with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychologist who is even more dangerous than he is.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
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: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrisoners (2013)
After his six-year-old daughter is abducted, a desperate father takes justice into his own hands when he loses faith in the detective leading the investigation, setting both men on a collision course as the search descends into obsession and moral compromise.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Postcard Killings (2020)
After suffering a personal tragedy, and desperate for justice, Jacob Kanon, a veteran New York City police detective, embarks on the search for a twisted killer who is leaving a bloody trail of elaborate murders across Europe.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Stranger (2022)
Two strangers strike up a conversation on a long journey. However, neither is who they appear to be, each carry secrets that threaten to ruin them — and in the background, one of the nation's largest police operations is closing in.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Pledge (2001)
A police chief, about to retire, pledges to help a woman find her daughter's killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Things (2021)
Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil You Know (2022)
Once-incarcerated Marcus Cowans is trying to turn over a new leaf with the support of his loving family. Upon discovering that one of his brothers may have been involved in a horrific crime, Marcus grapples with the limits of brotherhood and loyalty. He and his family, increasingly weary of the justice system’s failings, end up in the crosshairs of a seasoned but jaded detective.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeneath the Dark (2010)
Driving to a wedding in Los Angeles through the Mojave Desert, Paul and Adrienne pull off the highway and into Roy's Motel and Cafe. This roadside artifact proves to be a strange and surreal place with an unsettling mix of travelers, who force our couple to discover the secret hidden between them and ultimately, the horrifying reality of their current situation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Neighbor (2020)
A middle-aged man in a stagnant marriage, finds his life upended when an attractive young woman and her seemingly abusive husband move in next door.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFrailty (2002)
A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Stranger in My Home (2025)
A handsome stranger's claim that a couple's 15-year-old daughter was switched at birth throws their perfect family into turmoil, unearthing shattering secrets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisShutter Island (2010)
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDelia's Gone (2022)
Living with an intellectual disability, Louis is wrongfully accused of the murder of his sister Delia and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Upon release, he is visited by one of the last men to see her alive who implies there is more to her killing than meets the eye. Armed with this new information, Louis embarks on a personal mission to find who is responsible for Delia's mysterious death.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Grim Sleeper (2014)
Journalist Christine Pelisek helps law enforcement investigate the alleged serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Se7en (1995)
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisShattered (2017)
Shattered is a story based on true events about family betrayal, love lost, and a dark destructive secret that swirls around a high powered political family in the Deep South. Kate Stenson dreams of an enviable life as the quintessential Southern Belle. She marries Ken Burnett, the son of the town's powerful Mayor - a controlling father who will do anything to protect his position. Kate has two children with Ken - a biological daughter, and an adopted son, named Logan (Tate Birchmore). But Kate's seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to fray at the edges as she discovers that Logan suffers from severe mental health issues. Kate's journey to uncover the true story of Logan's past reveals a dark secret that can destroy the entire Burnett legacy. As Kate investigates - with the aid of a new friend - to unmask the history behind Logan's illness, these unimaginable family secrets surface, putting her in unforeseen danger.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
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: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Abandoned (2023)
When a mysterious corpse is found in a river, a distressed police officer delves into a string of grisly murders as danger quickly approaches.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Night in Bangkok (2020)
A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it's too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Darkness Falls and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Darkness Falls?
The closest matches to Darkness Falls are Pocket Dial Murder (2023), The Night Clerk (2020) and Sleeping Dogs (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Darkness Falls?
People who watched Darkness Falls most often go on to Pocket Dial Murder (2023), The Night Clerk (2020) and Sleeping Dogs (2024).
What is the highest-rated movie like Darkness Falls?
Se7en (1995), rated 8.4/10 by 24,183 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Darkness Falls?
The Stranger in My Home (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Darkness Falls?
Yes: Pocket Dial Murder (2023), The Night Clerk (2020) and Sleeping Dogs (2024).
How are movies similar to Darkness Falls chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Darkness Falls, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.