Movies like The Focusing Effect (2018)
The best movies like The Focusing Effect (2018) are I Sell the Dead (2008), Dave Made a Maze (2017) and It Runs in the Family (2003). If The Focusing Effect hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHappy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020)7.7/10 from 268 votes
- NewestThe Good Half (2024)Released 2024
I Sell the Dead (2008)
18th century justice catches up with a pair of grave robbers. With only a few hours to go before his date with the guillotine, Arthur Blake tells his life story to Father Francis Duffy. Before long, Arthur spills the beans on how he got started in the grim corpse peddling business with seasoned ghoul Willie Grimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisDave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt Runs in the Family (2003)
This is the story of a dysfunctional New York family, and their attempts to reconcile
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thinning: New World Order (2018)
Blake Redding is trapped in this dark room wanting to protect his love so the only thing he will do is escape like no failed student has done before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBetter Living Through Chemistry (2014)
A straight-laced pharmacist's uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Trip to Italy (2014)
Years after their successful restaurant review tour of Northern England, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are commissioned for a new tour in Italy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHappy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020)
Scooby-Doo and the gang team up with their pals, Bill Nye The Science Guy and Elvira Mistress of the Dark, to solve this mystery of gigantic proportions and save Crystal Cove!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChildren of the Damned (1964)
Six children are found spread through out the world that not only have enormous intelligence, but identical intelligence and have a strange bond to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrumline: A New Beat (2014)
A girl from New York attends a college in Atlanta to join their once-famous marching band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest Man Down (2012)
A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Half (2024)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother's funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly Kisses (2018)
A filmmaker discovers a box of video tapes depicting two students' disturbing film project featuring a local horror legend, The Peeping Tom. As he sets out to prove this story is real and release it as a work of his own, he loses himself and the film crew following him into his project.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAfterlife of the Party (2021)
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree Wise Men and a Baby (2022)
Three brothers get the surprise of their lives when they are forced to work together to care for a baby over the holidays. As they slowly get the hang of things, they find themselves on unexpected journeys of self-discovery and begin to rebuild their relationships as brothers, as well as the damaged romantic and professional relationships in their respective lives…all while rediscovering their love of Christmas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDear Eleanor (2016)
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBe Kind Rewind (2008)
A man whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Morgan's Last Love (2013)
A widowed professor living in Paris develops a special relationship with a younger French woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFree Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (2018)
As Bright Fields preps for its Mistletoe Ball, a broken ornament leads Zoe to a family secret, while Gaby finds herself at the mercy of new boss Mia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMadea Goes to Jail - The Play (2006)
Madea returns in another hilarious story in which she gets sent to the big house. But regardless of the circumstances, she gives her trademark advice and wisdom to her friends and family as they learn the importance of letting go, moving on, and forgiveness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReggie (2019)
When mild-mannered slasher Reggie is recognized while on the job, his entire way of life is changed forever.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & comedy
Cannes Man (1996)
Film producer Sy Lerner makes a bet with a fellow film executive that he can turn any nobody into a star at the Cannes Film Festival. A New York cab driver who is visiting the festival is chosen as the test subject to settle the bet and Sy uses his skills of hype and manipulation to try and turn the cab driver named Frank into the talk of the town. Many celebrities make cameos throughout the film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Diary of a Bad Lad (2010)
Frustrated filmmaker, Barry Lick, sets out to attempt to make a documentary about a local businessman who he believes is involved in property rackets, prostitution, pornography and the importation of large quantities of recreational drugs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Bad Ben (2016)
Tom Riley thought he was getting the deal of a lifetime when he bought a house below market value at a Sheriff's sale. He invested every penny he had with the plan of flipping the home for a profit. Once he owned it, however, he noticed strange happenings, all of which were captured on 21 Surveillance Cameras located throughout the home inside and out. At first, he thought people were breaking in, but he soon realized he was dealing with something Paranormal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & horror
Actress Apocalypse (2005)
This saucy mockumentary follows a first-time filmmaker with ambitions to make "the greatest movie ever made," a low-budget slasher boasting a Native American killer. The director knows buxom starlets are the key to his success. But when the ladies start disappearing one by one, his plan goes bust -- and he goes crazy. Indie rockers Space Probe Taurus provide the soundtrack to this unrated director's cut that leaves little to the imagination.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & comedy
Mars Attacks! (1996)
A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHonto ni Atta! Noroi No Video 78 (2018)
The top monopoly in the psychic horror documentary. A video was taken to post the railroad crossing rumored to be a ghost on a video site. Six other videos posted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Little Sister (1995)
After several years without contact, Martijn visits his sister Daantje, who just started to live on her own in Amsterdam. He tells her he is going to make a documentary from her life, and enters her home life with a video camera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHonto Ni Atta! Noroi No Video 72 (2017)
72nd entry in the popular "Honto ni Atta. Noroi no Video" series.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Honto Ni Atta! Noroi No Video 74 (2017)
74th entry in the popular "Honto ni Atta. Noroi no Video" series.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Focusing Effect?
The closest matches to The Focusing Effect are I Sell the Dead (2008), Dave Made a Maze (2017) and It Runs in the Family (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Focusing Effect?
Start with I Sell the Dead (2008), the closest match to The Focusing Effect.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Focusing Effect?
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020), rated 7.7/10 by 268 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Focusing Effect?
The Good Half (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Focusing Effect?
Yes: I Sell the Dead (2008), Dave Made a Maze (2017) and It Runs in the Family (2003).
How are movies similar to The Focusing Effect chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Focusing Effect, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.