Movies like The Circular Staircase (1915)
The best movies like The Circular Staircase (1915) are Brand Upon the Brain! (2007), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and I Wake Up Screaming (1941). If The Circular Staircase hooked you with its mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMr. Arkadin (1955)6.8/10 from 203 votes
- NewestBone Lake (2025)Released 2025
Brand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)
Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Wake Up Screaming (1941)
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmelia’s Children (2024)
When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnnabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket (2016)
Vacationing on historic Nantucket Island, a teenage mystery writer and her friends must outwit two scheming thieves to solve the secret behind a legendary ghost story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors (1992)
At the insistence of Ruth Van Rydock, an old schoolfriend who is convinced that there is something wrong, Miss Marple agrees to visit 'Stonygates', the country house of Ruth's sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Arkadin (1955)
Claiming that he doesn't know his own past, a rich man enlists an ex-con with an odd bit of detective work. Gregory Arkadin says he can't remember anything before the late 1920s, and convict Guy Van Stratten is happy to take the job of exploring his new acquaintance's life story. Guy's research turns up stunning details about his employer's past, and as his work seems linked to untimely deaths, the mystery surrounding Mr. Arkadin deepens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
A three-year-old boy disappears during his mother's high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBone Lake (2025)
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisCrooked House (2017)
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGarage Sale Mystery: The Deadly Room (2015)
A sleuthing garage sale maven suspects foul play when her friend dies in an old house with a cursed reputation. Even though police evidence - and even webcam footage of the death – point to natural causes – this mysterious death in a cursed” home poised for multi-million dollar sale seems too coincidental. Putting her keen instincts to work, she examines a few key suspects. As she digs into this deadly mystery, she uncovers clues that bring her closer to the truth, and even put her own life in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1983 (2009)
Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson is forced to remember the very similar disappearance of Clare Kemplay, who was found dead in 1974, and the subsequent imprisonment of local boy Michael Myshkin. Washed-up local solicitor John Piggott becomes convinced of Myshkin's innocence and begins to fight on his behalf, unwittingly providing a catalyst for Jobson to start to right some wrongs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery (1989)
While on vacation at a resort hotel in the West Indies, Miss Marple correctly suspects that the apparently natural death of a retired British major is actually the work of a murderer planning yet another killing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Black Book (2023)
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Assault (2014)
After a cheerleader is sexually assaulted by the high school football team, she must overcome her shame and use the evidence gathered from the subsequent social media firestorm to piece together the night that she can't remember in her fight for justice. Based on the true story of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Strangler (1973)
After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCome Into My Parlour (1932)
A barber who mistakenly believes he has killed a burglar and seeks shelter in the home of a manicurist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
The Men of Zanzibar (1922)
The American consul in Zanzibar is informed that a fugitive American has just reached the African coast, and becomes suspicious of a newly arrived man from Boston, Massachusetts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
The Black Spider (1920)
A young girl in Monte Carlo is engaged to a nobleman, but is really in love with someone else. A jewel thief named "The Black Spider" has been robbing the wealthy of Monte Carlo, and as a joke the girl steals her aunt's jewels. Unfortunately, a detective finds out and suspects her of being the real "The Black Spider".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Wenn Tote sprechen (1917)
After finding her sister dead, Maria tries to find out who or what is to blame.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Who's Guilty? (1946)
Feature version of the 1945 American serial film of the same name, composed for export only, never seen in the USA and now evidently a long-lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
The Road o' Strife (1915)
15 chapter mystery serial: [1] “The House of Secrets,” released 5 April 1915; [2] “The Face of Fear,” released 12 April 1915; [3] “The Silver Cup,” released 19 April 1915; [4] “The Ring of Death,” released 26 April 1915; [5] “No Other Way,” released 3 May 1915; [6] “The Strength of Love,” released 10 May 1915; [7] “Into the Night,” released 17 May 1915; [8] “In the Wolf’s Den,” released 24 May 1915; [9] “The Iron Hand of the Law,” released 31 May 1915; [10] “The Inspiring Sword,” released 7 June 1915; [11] “The Valley of the Shadow,” released 14 June 1915; [12] “The Sacrifice,” released 21 June 1915; [13] “The Man Who Did Not Die,” released 28 June 1915; [14] “A Story of the Past,” released 5 July 1915; [15] “The Coming of the Kingdom,” released 12 July 1915.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Paging Emma (1999)
An operator at a mobile pager company has her life turned upside down by a seemingly senseless abduction. Currently considered to be a lost film (never released to the general public, after its theatrical premiere in Puerto Rico).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
A Blind Bargain (1922)
Chaney plays two roles: mad scientist Arthur Lamb and Lamb's "experiment", known only as the Ape Man. This hideous creature was the result of Lamb's attempts to transplant animal glands into human beings. A lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
The Missing Rembrandt (1932)
Holmes goes on the trail of a Rembrandt painting, stolen by a drug-addicted artist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
A Midnight Adventure (1928)
A murder is committed at a country mansion. All the guests present at the estate fall under immediate suspicion as investigators attempt to solve the mystery before they strike again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Circular Staircase?
The closest matches to The Circular Staircase are Brand Upon the Brain! (2007), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and I Wake Up Screaming (1941). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Circular Staircase?
Start with Brand Upon the Brain! (2007), the closest match to The Circular Staircase.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Circular Staircase?
Mr. Arkadin (1955), rated 6.8/10 by 203 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Circular Staircase?
Bone Lake (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Circular Staircase?
Yes: Brand Upon the Brain! (2007), Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986) and I Wake Up Screaming (1941).
How are movies similar to The Circular Staircase chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Circular Staircase, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.