Movies like The Pining (2019)
The best movies like The Pining (2019) are God Told Me To (1976), Body Cam (2020) and Nocebo (2022). If The Pining hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Name of the Rose (1986)7.5/10 from 3,454 votes
- NewestPsycho Killer (2026)Released 2026
God Told Me To (1976)
A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random citizens who claim that 'God told them to'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisBody Cam (2020)
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNocebo (2022)
A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOlder Gods (2023)
After the disappearance of his troubled friend, American Chris Rivers travels to the remote Welsh countryside to investigate what happened – leading him to a dark apocalyptic cult.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHome Sweet Home: Rebirth (2025)
When a city is overrun with a demonically-possessed crowd, a cop must find the source of evil to save his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren encounter what would become one of the most sensational cases from their files. The fight for the soul of a young boy takes them beyond anything they'd ever seen before, to mark the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defense.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll the Devils Are Here (2025)
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Strangler (1973)
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrooked House (2017)
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMindcage (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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisGod Is a Bullet (2023)
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Seven-Ups (1973)
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPsycho Killer (2026)
Following the brutal murder of her husband, a Kansas highway patrol officer sets out on a journey to track down the perpetrator. As the hunt progresses, she comes to realize the man responsible is a sadistic serial killer, and the depth of his mental depravity and his sinister agenda is more twisted than anyone could have imagined.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Book (2023)
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady in the Lake (1946)
Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStriking Distance (1993)
Demoted Pittsburgh cop Tom Hardy works river patrol while a serial killer targets women from his past, forcing him to conduct an unauthorized investigation to prove his innocence and expose a dirty cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHusbandhood (2016)
In January of 2014, five filmmakers suddenly disappear while shooting in the nearby Drigh Lake Larakana woods. One week later, their camera was found.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
The Name of the Rose (1986)
14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Cursed Village (2025)
Chu Qi and his friend Xu Yiming set out to find his missing sister, Shi San, in Fengming Village. Along the way, they uncover deep-rooted superstitions and oppressive traditions. Determined to bring change, they fight to free the village from its harmful beliefs, delivering a powerful message of breaking superstition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
Saw (2004)
Two men wake up to find themselves shackled in a grimy, abandoned bathroom. As they struggle to comprehend their predicament, they discover a disturbing tape left behind by the sadistic mastermind known as Jigsaw. With a chilling voice and cryptic instructions, Jigsaw informs them that they must partake in a gruesome game in order to secure their freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAlguien mató algo (1999)
In this silent style short, filmed in black and white with intertitles instead of spoken dialog, a precocious little girl surrounded by Tv violence and bloody church images of Catholicism, yearns to stay alive forever, as a vampire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
The Hole (2001)
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCube 2: Hypercube (2002)
Eight strangers awaken with no memory, in a puzzling cube-shaped room where the laws of physics do not always apply.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlong Came a Spider (2001)
After the harrowing death of his partner, forensic psychologist and best-selling author Alex Cross cannot forgive himself and has retreated to the peace of retirement. But when a brilliant criminal kidnaps a senator's young daughter, he is lured back into action as the kidnapper wants to deal with Alex personally. Teamed with Jezzie Flanigan, the Secret Service agent assigned to protect the missing girl, Alex follows a serpentine trail of clues that leads him to a stunning discovery - the kidnapper wants more than just ransom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Side of the Moon (1990)
It is the year 2022. A mysterious systems failure causes the crew of a spaceship to be stranded on the dark side of the moon, while rapidly running out of fuel and oxygen. They are surprised to discover a NASA space shuttle floating in space, and board it in the hope of salvaging some supplies. One by one, the crew is possessed and killed, and it is up to Paxton Warner to find the links between the dark side of the moon, the Bermuda Triangle, and the Devil himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisMummy Save Me (2016)
A pregnant widow moves into a seaside villa along with her daughter, mother and sister. Strange incidents happen in the house, which scare them. Will they be able to tackle this mess?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Pining?
The closest matches to The Pining are God Told Me To (1976), Body Cam (2020) and Nocebo (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Pining?
Start with God Told Me To (1976), the closest match to The Pining.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Pining?
The Name of the Rose (1986), rated 7.5/10 by 3,454 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Pining?
Psycho Killer (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Pining?
Yes: God Told Me To (1976), Body Cam (2020) and Nocebo (2022).
How are movies similar to The Pining chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Pining, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.