Movies like Promising Young Woman (2020)
The best movies like Promising Young Woman (2020) are 180 (2026), The Iceman (2012) and Dead Man Down (2013). If Promising Young Woman 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 ratedThe Green Mile (1999)8.5/10 from 20,132 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
180 (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 & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Iceman (2012)
The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDead Man Down (2013)
In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisViolent Ends (2025)
A man raised in a violent crime family struggles to build an honest life with his fiancée but is dragged back into the criminal world after his cousin’s armed robbery leaves an innocent person caught in the crossfire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCollision (2022)
Over the course of one fateful day, a corrupt businessman and his socialite wife race to save their daughter from a notorious crime lord.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisCape Fear (1962)
Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
A successful woman in New York City finds her life upended when she is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Dr. Steven Murphy is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon who presides over a spotless household with his wife and two children. Lurking at the margins of his idyllic suburban existence is Martin, a fatherless teen who insinuates himself into the doctor's life in gradually unsettling ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJust Cause (1995)
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this12 Rounds 3: Lockdown (2015)
Detective Shaw returns to active duty after the death of his partner. When he uncovers evidence linking his fellow officers to a murder, they frame him for a homicide he didn't commit. Trapped in his own precinct, Shaw will do whatever it takes to expose the dirty cops and clear his name. With twelve rounds in the clip and one shot at redemption, nothing will stand in Shaw's way in this action-packed thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight of the Juggler (1980)
When a twisted psychotic kidnaps a young girl, mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy developer, her father, a hardened ex-cop, doggedly hunts them through New York's seamy streets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Friend Dahmer (2017)
Jeffrey Dahmer struggles with a difficult family life as a young boy. During his teenage years he slowly transforms, edging closer to the serial killer he was to become.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCopycat (1995)
An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crossing Guard (1995)
Unable to move on from the loss of his daughter, Freddy, now a shell of the person he was before, swears to kill the man responsible for her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBunraku (2010)
In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter, a bartender and a young samurai plot revenge against a ruthless leader and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMs .45 (1981)
After being attacked and raped twice in one day, a timid, mute seamstress becomes a violent agent of revenge for wronged women.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Crush (1993)
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlitz (2011)
A tough cop is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShaft (2000)
New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Green Mile (1999)
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOcean's Thirteen (2007)
Danny Ocean's team of criminals are back and composing a plan more personal than ever. When ruthless casino owner Willy Bank doublecrosses Reuben Tishkoff, causing a heart attack, Danny Ocean vows that he and his team will do anything to bring down Willy Bank along with everything he's got. Even if it means asking for help from an enemy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in America (1984)
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBend It Like Beckham (2002)
Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this36 Fillette (1988)
A 14-year-old pursues romance with a man while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBeyond Silence (1996)
Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Cake (2006)
A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006)
A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonsoon Wedding (2001)
A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Promising Young Woman?
The closest matches to Promising Young Woman are 180 (2026), The Iceman (2012) and Dead Man Down (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Promising Young Woman?
Start with 180 (2026), the closest match to Promising Young Woman.
What is the highest-rated movie like Promising Young Woman?
The Green Mile (1999), rated 8.5/10 by 20,132 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Promising Young Woman?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Promising Young Woman?
Yes: 180 (2026), The Iceman (2012) and Dead Man Down (2013).
How are movies similar to Promising Young Woman chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Promising Young Woman, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.