Movies like Wander (2020)
The best movies like Wander (2020) are Desert Dawn (2025), Solace (2015) and Righteous Kill (2008). If Wander 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 ratedBlue Velvet (1986)7.6/10 from 4,032 votes
- NewestDesert Dawn (2025)Released 2025
Desert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSolace (2015)
A psychic doctor, John Clancy, works with an FBI special agent in search of a serial killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRighteous Kill (2008)
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlue Velvet (1986)
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFarewell, My Lovely (1975)
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Electric Mist (2009)
Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. When the star of the film, Elrod Sykes, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man whose murder he witnessed 35 years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss the Girls (1997)
Forensic psychologist and detective Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReptile (2023)
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDon't Say a Word (2001)
When the daughter of a psychiatrist is kidnapped, he is horrified to discover that the abductors' demand is that he break through to a young woman, suffering from PTSD, who knows a secret six digit code number.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiss Me Deadly (1955)
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNeighborhood Watch (2025)
When a mentally ill young man thinks he witnesses an abduction and the police refuse to believe him, he reluctantly turns to his next door neighbor – a bitter, retired security guard – to help him find the missing woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010)
Brad has committed murder and barricaded himself inside his house. With the help of his friends and neighbours, the cops piece together the strange tale of how this nice young man arrived at such a dark place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI See You (2019)
When a 12-year-old boy goes missing at a local park, a detective investigates the case to help the boy's family find answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn a Lonely Place (1950)
A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Long Goodbye (1973)
In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrailty (2002)
A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like this2 Days in the Valley (1996)
In a sleepy bedroom community of LA's San Fernando Valley, the murder of a professional athlete by two hit men sets into motion a chain of events that puts the mundane lives of a dozen residents on a collision course. This clever tale tells the story of two hit men, a mistress, a nurse, a vindictive ex-wife, a wealthy art dealer and his lovelorn assistant, a suicidal writer and his dog, and a bitter cop and his partner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSecret Window (2004)
Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEdge of Darkness (2010)
As a seasoned homicide detective, Thomas Craven has seen the bleakest side of humanity. But nothing prepares him for the toughest investigation of his life: the search for his only daughter Emma's killer. Now, he is on a personal mission to uncover the disturbing secrets surrounding her murder, including corporate corruption, government collusion and Emma's own mysterious life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPathology (2008)
Medical student Ted Grey graduates at the top of his class and quickly joins an elite pathology program, whose top students invite him into their circle. There he uncovers a gruesome secret: They play a game in which one tries to commit the perfect, undetectable murder, then the others compete to determine the victim's cause of death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisCurdled (1996)
A death-obsessed cleaning woman uncovers a clue identifying a Florida bartender for a series of socialite murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisHunting Housewives (2024)
Four harried housewives plan a weekend spa getaway but end up stranded in the wilderness when their plane goes down.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Life Eternal (2015)
Brenner returns to Graz, the city where he grew up. When confronted with his old friends, his former girlfriend and the major sin he committed when he was young, murders and a fateful gunshot to the head result. After Brenner comes out of a coma, he begins to search for the person who tried to kill him - however, everybody claims that he himself is responsible. In the beginning Brenner was at the end of his rope, but he could face a new beginning in the end.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInstinct (1999)
In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything—even put his very life on the line—in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChain Reaction (1996)
At the University of Chicago, a research team that includes brilliant student machinist Eddie Kasalivich experiences a breakthrough: a stable form of fusion that may lead to a waste-free energy source. However, a private company wants to exploit the technology, so Kasalivich and physicist Dr. Lily Sinclair are framed for murder, and the fusion device is stolen. On the run from the FBI, they must recover the technology and exonerate themselves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBad Lieutenant (1992)
While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeadly Game (1982)
A hunting party arrives at a lodge in the Tatra mountains in Slovakia, where one woman in the party had “accidentally” shot and killed her first husband some time ago.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Wander?
The closest matches to Wander are Desert Dawn (2025), Solace (2015) and Righteous Kill (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Wander?
Start with Desert Dawn (2025), the closest match to Wander.
What is the highest-rated movie like Wander?
Blue Velvet (1986), rated 7.6/10 by 4,032 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Wander?
Desert Dawn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Wander?
Yes: Desert Dawn (2025), Solace (2015) and Righteous Kill (2008).
How are movies similar to Wander chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Wander, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.