Movies like Contact (2019)
The best movies like Contact (2019) are Barbarosa (1982), Savior (1998) and The Second Civil War (1997). If Contact hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJoint Security Area (2000)7.8/10 from 906 votes
- NewestTaquito Patrol (2022)Released 2022
Barbarosa (1982)
Karl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSavior (1998)
A hardened mercenary in the Foreign Legion begins to find his own humanity when confronted with atrocities during the fighting in Bosnia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Second Civil War (1997)
When a planeload of Pakistani orphans are shipped to his state for permanent relocation, the governor of Idaho defies the president and closes the state's border. News Net Television, a cable news program that makes hay by reporting on political scandals, quickly spins the racist act into an overnight media sensation, creating a divide in national opinion over the issue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Passing through a border town, a man is caught up in a Mexican's murder of a member of the town's most powerful family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Bravados (1958)
Jim Douglass arrives in the small town of Rio Arriba in order to witness the hanging of the four men he believes murdered his wife. When the convicts escape, Jim tracks them into Mexico, determined to see that justice is done. But the farther Jim goes in his quest for vengeance, the more merciless he becomes, losing himself in an unrelenting spiral of hatred and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSavaged (2014)
After thugs brutalize a deaf-mute woman, the spirit of an Apache warrior takes over her lifeless body and sets out on a bloodthirsty quest for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Journal for Jordan (2021)
Based on the true story of First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a soldier deployed to Iraq begins to keep a journal of love and advice for his infant son. Back at home, senior New York Times editor Dana Canedy revisits the story of her unlikely, life-altering relationship with King and his enduring devotion to her and their child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWerewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012)
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisJane Got a Gun (2015)
After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn't seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband's gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008)
A Texas cop battles ex-navy seals who are trying to traffic drugs from Mexico into the USA.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spikes Gang (1974)
Three teenage farm boys stumble upon Harry Spikes, a local bandit wounded in a gun battle. While Harry is recuperating, he regales the young men with stories of his exciting past. The adventurous tales inspire them to start a gang of their own. Failing at their first attempt to rob a bank, the boys convince the gruff Spikes to teach them the ways of the desperado.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCocaine Godmother (2017)
At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Sold His Skin (2021)
To be able to travel to Europe and find the love of his life, Sam Ali, a Syrian refugee, accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the most sulfurous contemporary artist; becoming that way a precious work of art.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisContainment (2015)
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Shipment (2021)
A former U.S. Navy Seal is forced to become the international criminal he once fought against when a powerful and violent drug cartel kidnaps his wife and daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBorn in East L.A. (1987)
Rudy, an American of Hispanic descent, whose south-of-the-border looks show him no mercy during an immigration raid in a migrant worker factory. As his luck goes, he is caught with neither money nor his ID and is deported to Mexico - without speaking a word of Spanish!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisDistant Lights (2003)
Two countries, two towns, one river. The Oder River separates not only Frankfurt in Germany from Slubice in Poland, but entire worlds. People, whether rich or poor, come here in search of happiness—and often find themselves pushed to their limits. A film about people who, by a twist of fate, are inextricably linked for two days—stealing and cheating, loving and helping, hoping and despairing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Touch of Evil (1958)
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Coast Guard (2002)
A member of Coast Guard Platoon 23, Private Kang monitors a high-infiltration stretch of beach lined with barbed-wire fencing. Driven by the belief that killing a spy is the highest honor, he waits for a chance to prove his worth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaquito Patrol (2022)
After being captured by a self-proclaimed border guard, a Mexican boy tries to cook his way to freedom.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
...And Your Love Too (1962)
On August 13th, 1961 - the night that the Berlin Wall goes up - three people must make a decision that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Joint Security Area (2000)
Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation by a neutral body. The lead investigator receives differing accounts from the two sides.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeavy Trip (2018)
Turo is stuck in a small village and the best thing in his life is being the lead vocalist for the amateur metal band Impaled Rektum. He and his bandmates have practiced for 12 years without playing a single gig. The guys get a surprise visitor from Norway -- the promoter for a huge heavy metal music festival -- and decide it's now or never. They steal a van, a corpse, and even a new drummer to make their dreams a reality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLatvian Coyote (2019)
An absurd game of “finding happiness” is being played by local Latvian coyotes* and illegal immigrants on the Russian and the European Union border. It is a game with no winner – all participants are driven to play by the sense of despair. While one side leaves home and undertakes a perilous journey to the other side of the globe, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in a free country, the other side risks their freedom to earn a chance to stay right where they are, in their homeland. *coyote – someone who smuggles illegal immigrants
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Sauna (2008)
It is 1595. Brutal wars have just ended in an uneasy peace between Protestant Sweden and Orthodox Russia. We focus on the spiritual defeats of two conquered Finnish brothers, one a hardened near-psychopathic war hero, the other a gentle scientist in an age with no use for such men. They find themselves in the swampy interior, demarcating the new border with a unit of sadistic Russians.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTreinta Segundos Para Morir (1981)
Three brothers smuggle arms and drugs from Mexico into the US.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Like Contact and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Contact?
The closest matches to Contact are Barbarosa (1982), Savior (1998) and The Second Civil War (1997). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Contact?
Start with Barbarosa (1982), the closest match to Contact.
What is the highest-rated movie like Contact?
Joint Security Area (2000), rated 7.8/10 by 906 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Contact?
Taquito Patrol (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Contact chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Contact, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.