Movies like The Ugly American (1963)
The best movies like The Ugly American (1963) are Rogue Agent (2022), The Wasp (2024) and Luce (2019). If The Ugly American 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 ratedZ (1969)7.8/10 from 668 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
Rogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wasp (2024)
Heather bumps into Carla, having not spoken to her in years, and presents her with a very unexpected proposition that could change both of their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLuce (2019)
A star athlete and top student, Luce's idealized image is challenged by one of his teachers when his unsettling views on political violence come to light, putting a strain on family bonds while igniting intense debates on race and identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevil's Pond (2003)
After a brief courtship, Julianne marries her handsome boyfriend, Mitch. To celebrate their honeymoon, the couple travel to a remote cabin on a small island. When they arrive, however, Mitch becomes aggressive and physically abusive, and Julianne soon realizes he's not the ideal husband she once thought he was. Knowing that Mitch doesn't plan on ever letting her leave the island, Julianne, who is afraid of water, must find a way to escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLila & Eve (2015)
Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNot Without Hope (2025)
A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lords of Discipline (1983)
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisTyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned private investigator – Marley’s search for what really happened leads her down a treacherous maze of deception and betrayal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hummingbird Project (2019)
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLockdown (2000)
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and end up in prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLight It Up (1999)
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAwake (2007)
While undergoing heart surgery, a man experiences a phenomenon called ‘anesthetic awareness’, which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Escape (2015)
In their new overseas home, an American family soon finds themselves caught in the middle of a coup, and they frantically look for a safe escape in an environment where foreigners are being immediately executed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCity of Ghosts (2002)
A con man who is on the run from law enforcement in the U.S. travels to Cambodia to collect his share in an insurance scam but discovers more than he bargained for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisWardriver (2026)
He’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Infernal Machine (2022)
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZ (1969)
A prominent politician is murdered during a demonstration. The government and army are trying to suppress the truth, but a tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath of a President (2006)
A fictional investigative documentary looks back on the "assassination" of George W. Bush and attempts to answer the question of who committed the murder. Perhaps less morbid and disturbing to watch now than during Bush's presidency, the film doesn't address Bush's policies at all, instead focusing on the way a nation assigns blame in a time of crisis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisStudent Body (2015)
Marcus Payne (Salman Sheikh) has only one aspiration: to become Student Body president. As such, he's gone to great lengths to ensure that he's a leg up on his entire competition- outspending them on various campaign materials, and even going insofar as to hire his own campaign manager Scott (Jordan Noriega). In his mind, it seems as though his victory is all but assured - that is, until the most popular girl in school- Skylar Morgan (Sara Thiboult) enters the race. With his victory suddenly far from assured, Marcus decides to take matters into his own hands and force Skylar from the competition by any means necessary. After a few unsuccessful attempts at persuading Skylar to leave the race- he enlists the help of an intrepid journalist for the school newspaper (Bailey Cooper) to leak damning misinformation regarding Skylar's personal life. This in turn causes a chaotic spiral of controversy and conspiracy that might do more than determine the victor for the Student Body election."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
The Photograph (1987)
A young Greek man goes to Paris seeking help from a solitary and almost misanthropic distant relative who works as a furrier. With him, he takes nothing from his homeland but a photograph of a woman that he finds on the pavement. A misunderstanding regarding the photograph sets off a series of dramatic misunderstandings which trap him in a vicious circle of lies and fantasies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
One hundred and first senator (1967)
Senator Fromm summoned to court, as it became known that he was involved in the Bobbi Beykera, the Secretary of the Democratic majority in the Senate. He is accused of stealing money from the fund of the party of bribing senators, blackmail, in tax evasion and other fraud. Investigation of the case of Senator Fromm leads the FBI. Parallel to this matter do Fromm's secretary and progressive journalist, her friend. They got incriminating documents closely related to senators in politics. But FBI agents taking care of the honor of politicians, millionaires do their best to hush up the case, and removed out of the way of those who want to tell people the truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Killing of a Nation (TBA)
Anderson Toussaint, an American lobbyist in Haiti, gains access to President Moïse's inner circle and uncovers corruption. Amid political turmoil, Moïse is assassinated, plunging Haiti into chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Quite Like Paradise (2024)
Ugo Conti, charismatic Italian aristocrat and influencer, arrives in Mexico where he seduces the Mexican high society. When he meets Frida Becker again, the love of his past, he will end up in the center of a struggle for political power.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
In 1429, a French teenager stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. As she reclaims God's diminished kingdom, this courageous young woman has various amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Saint (1997)
Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMilk (2008)
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ugly American?
The closest matches to The Ugly American are Rogue Agent (2022), The Wasp (2024) and Luce (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ugly American?
Start with Rogue Agent (2022), the closest match to The Ugly American.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ugly American?
Z (1969), rated 7.8/10 by 668 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ugly American?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Ugly American?
Yes: Rogue Agent (2022), The Wasp (2024) and Luce (2019).
How are movies similar to The Ugly American chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ugly American, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.