Movies like Shanghai Surprise (1986)
The best movies like Shanghai Surprise (1986) are Sheroes (2023), Mr. Right (2016) and Something Wild (1986). If Shanghai Surprise hooked you with its romance and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDinner in America (2022)7.8/10 from 252 votes
- NewestPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)Released 2025
Sheroes (2023)
When four thick-as-thieves friends arrive in Thailand, they quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fighting to stay alive, they employ their unique set of skills and unleash their fierce loyalty in a heart-pumping battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisMr. Right (2016)
A girl falls for the "perfect" guy, who happens to have a very fatal flaw: he's a hitman on the run from the crime cartels who employ him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomething Wild (1986)
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPrizzi's Honor (1985)
Charley Partanna is a hitman who works for the Prizzis, one of the richest crime families in the US. When he sees Irene Walker, it's love at first sight. But he soon finds that she, too, is a killer for hire. Charley can overlook his suspicions, but he can't turn off his heart. And the couple must remember that even if they love each other, the Prizzis love only money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Kill Me (2007)
While drying out on the West Coast, an alcoholic hit man befriends a tart-tongued woman who might just come in handy when it's time for him to return to Buffalo and settle some old scores.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFairy Tales (1978)
On his twenty-first birthday, the Prince goes on a quest that takes him across the land searching for the one woman that gets him sexually excited, Princess Sleeping Beauty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Right Kind of Wrong (2013)
A stubborn idealist spies a bride on her way to her wedding and immediately falls in love with her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBreathless (2012)
Lorna is a strong-willed Texas woman who’s had enough of her untrustworthy husband Dale’s criminal acts and lack of husbandry. Fed up, she enlists the help of her old friend, Tiny, to help her figure out what to do with Dale after his latest double-cross involving the theft of $100,000 from a bank.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisCa$h (2010)
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence – all in the name of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisCotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Favorite Brunette (1947)
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Sassy Girl (2008)
A guy has his life planned out until he is wooed, groomed and then dumped by an elusive woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this5lbs of Pressure (2024)
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWho Is Cletis Tout? (2001)
With a hitman’s gun aimed at him, Finch tells the story of how he broke out of jail, fell in love, and took the identity of a man wanted by the Mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisMechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Arthur Bishop thought he had put his murderous past behind him when his most formidable foe kidnaps the love of his life. Now he is forced to travel the globe to complete three impossible assassinations, and do what he does best, make them look like accidents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to the Punch (2013)
When notorious criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London, it gives detective Max Lewinsky one last chance to take down the man he's always been after.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisShaft (2019)
JJ, aka John Shaft Jr., may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he needs an education only his dad can provide. Absent throughout JJ’s youth, the legendary locked-and-loaded John Shaft agrees to help his progeny navigate Harlem’s heroin-infested underbelly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDinner in America (2022)
An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPsycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025)
A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLong Weekend (2021)
Bart's chance encounter with the enigmatic Vienna leads to a whirlwind weekend together. The two fall fast and hard, but both carry secrets that could be their undoing or the chance for a fresh start.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAsterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (2023)
Gallic heroes and forever friends Asterix and Obelix journey to China to help Princess Sa See save the Empress and her land from a nefarious prince.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhat a Girl Wants (2003)
American Daphne Reynolds heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her boho mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost father is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Fish Called Wanda (1988)
While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMission: Impossible III (2006)
Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who's as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear – including the woman Hunt loves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBroken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919)
A frail waif, abused by her brutal boxer father in London's seedy Limehouse District, is befriended by a sensitive Chinese immigrant with tragic consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dreamers (2003)
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMongolian Ping Pong (2005)
Bilike has never seen a ping-pong ball before. He and his family live without electricity and running water in a solitary tent home among the vast steppe grasslands. The magnificent landscape here has changed little since the days of Genghis Kahn. But life in the middle of nowhere can be exciting for a young boy. The smallest of details become big events for curious Bilike and his best friends Erguotou and Dawa. The mystery of the small white ball floating in the creek leads to questions about the world around them, as well as innocent mischief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Tanguy (2001)
Tanguy is 28 years old and still living with his parents. They think it's time he moves out. He doesn't, so they hatch a plan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)
Off the coast of the volcanic island of Santorini, the intrepid archaeologist Lara Croft makes the unexpected discovery of a pulsating golden orb able to guide its holder to the mythical Pandora's Box. As the legendary artifact contains ancient mysteries of unfathomable power - said to contain one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, Lara is tasked by MI6 to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. With the aid of former Marine turned mercenary Terry Sheridan, she travels the world in pursuit of the precious item in a race against time; she must beat the unscrupulous Nobel Prize-winning scientist turned bioterrorist, Jonathan Reiss, to it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisBalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2002)
During the Cultural Revolution, two young men are sent to a remote mining village where they fall in love with the local tailor's beautiful granddaughter and discover a suitcase full of forbidden Western novels.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shanghai Surprise?
The closest matches to Shanghai Surprise are Sheroes (2023), Mr. Right (2016) and Something Wild (1986). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shanghai Surprise?
Start with Sheroes (2023), the closest match to Shanghai Surprise.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shanghai Surprise?
Dinner in America (2022), rated 7.8/10 by 252 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shanghai Surprise?
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Shanghai Surprise?
Yes: Sheroes (2023), Mr. Right (2016) and Something Wild (1986).
How are movies similar to Shanghai Surprise chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shanghai Surprise, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.