Movies like Joshua (2007)
The best movies like Joshua (2007) are The Good Son (1993), Gerald's Game (2017) and Evil Nanny (2016). If Joshua hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Shining (1980)8.2/10 from 19,665 votes
- NewestSinners (2025)Released 2025
The Good Son (1993)
A young boy stays with his aunt and uncle, and befriends his cousin who's the same age. But his cousin begins showing increasing signs of psychotic behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGerald's Game (2017)
When her husband's sex game goes wrong, Jessie (who is handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house) faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEvil Nanny (2016)
A couple hires a live-in nanny to watch the offspring while they work. At first, everything goes perfectly, but when an unsafe incident means the parents no longer want the nanny around, they find out this nanny is savvy at not being evicted from her live-in situation. So savvy, in fact, that she can make these parents' lives a true nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)
A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders as their newborn's nanny. Only much later does the infant's mother, Claire Bartel, realize Peyton's true intentions -- to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoodnight Mommy (2022)
When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack Roads (2019)
A young man cares for his younger sisters after their mother is imprisoned for murdering their abusive father. When he strikes up an affair with a married woman, long-dormant family secrets bubble to the surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFirstborn (1984)
Because he's the oldest, Jake has been the man of the house, since his parents divorce. When Mom starts seeing Sam, who always seems to be trying some new way to get rich quick, and declares he's the man of the house now, Jake puts up with it. Until he discovers Sam's illegal activities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Shining (1980)
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBurnt Offerings (1976)
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellion (2014)
When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for their actions and each other in order to bring Wes home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Endless (2017)
Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group's beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMothers' Instinct (2024)
Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel their sisterly bond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass House (2001)
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the beginning of a new life for them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Places (2015)
A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFunny Games (2008)
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarrie (1976)
Withdrawn and sensitive teenager Carrie White faces bullying from her classmates and abuse from her fanatically pious mother. When she begins to suspect that she has supernatural powers, things take a dark and violent turn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSinners (2025)
Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Painter (2024)
In a secluded estate in the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a young couple battles the crushing weight of grief after losing two children. The wife is pregnant again, and their isolation only deepens the husband’s growing sense of dread and hopelessness. Haunted by the fear of another tragedy, he wrestles with his darkest instincts as the line between love and madness blurs. But when an unexpected decision pulls him back from the edge, the arrival of their child brings consequences far more disturbing than he could have ever imagined.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror & drama
Shotgun Stories (2007)
Shotgun Stories tracks a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father. Set against the cotton fields and back roads of Southeast Arkansas, these brothers discover the lengths to which each will go to protect their family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFeeling Minnesota (1996)
Sam Clayton's marriage to ex-stripper Freddie comes about when she's strong-armed into the match by Red, a club proprietor who once did her a favor. But Freddie falls in love with Jjaks, Sam's brother, and the pair tries to escape the situation together. It isn't long before both Sam and Red catch up with them, resulting in threats against the two of them -- although tension also starts to build between Sam and Red.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisAn American Crime (2007)
The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Acid House (1998)
A surreal triptych adapted by "Trainspotting" author Irvine Welsh from his acclaimed collection of short stories. Combining a vicious sense of humor with hard-talking drama, the film reaches into the hearts and minds of the chemical generation, casting a dark and unholy light into the hidden corners of the human psyche.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight of the Red Balloon (2008)
The first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, 'Flight of the Red Balloon' tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. It is based on the classic French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGenova (2009)
A man moves his two daughters to Italy after their mother dies in a car accident, in order to revitalize their lives. Genoa changes all three of them as the youngest daughter starts to see the ghost of her mother, while the older one discovers her sexuality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Nanny Diaries (2007)
A college graduate goes to work as a nanny for a rich New York family. Ensconced in their home, she has to juggle their dysfunction, a new romance, and the spoiled brat in her charge.
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 Joshua?
The closest matches to Joshua are The Good Son (1993), Gerald's Game (2017) and Evil Nanny (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Joshua?
Start with The Good Son (1993), the closest match to Joshua.
What is the highest-rated movie like Joshua?
The Shining (1980), rated 8.2/10 by 19,665 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Joshua?
Sinners (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Joshua?
Yes: The Good Son (1993), Gerald's Game (2017) and Evil Nanny (2016).
How are movies similar to Joshua chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Joshua, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.