Movies like The Innocents (2021)
The best movies like The Innocents (2021) are Before I Wake (2016), The Keeping Hours (2017) and No Such Thing (2002). If The Innocents hooked you with its horror and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDonnie Darko (2001)7.8/10 from 13,959 votes
- NewestGood Boy (2026)Released 2026
Before I Wake (2016)
An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Keeping Hours (2017)
A supernatural love story that centers on two parents whose life together falls apart after their son dies. The man, now a successful lawyer, and the woman, now married and an author, get a chance at reconciliation ten years later.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNo Such Thing (2002)
A young journalist journeys to Iceland to find her missing fiancé only to encounter a mythical creature who longs to die.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossum (2018)
A disgraced children's puppeteer returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the secrets that have tortured him his entire life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaising Cain (1992)
Child psychologist Carter Nix is a loving and caring family man, but under this appearance lies a dark and troubled past. Grappling with the consequences of this past on his own psyche and the influence of his returning father and violent brother Cain, Carter becomes involved in a series of murders and kidnappings. Meanwhile, his wife Jenny rekindles an old love affair, placing herself in the crosshairs of her increasingly unstable husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDonnie Darko (2001)
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Frost (1990)
Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the garden. However, even while under psychiatric care and tight hospital security, it becomes obvious that Mr. Frost is not all he seems to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Surrender (2025)
A fraught mother-daughter relationship is put to a terrifying test when the family patriarch dies, and the grieving mother hires a mysterious stranger to bring her husband back from the dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Knight's War (2025)
A fearless knight braves a deadly realm to save the Chosen One’s soul. Facing witches, demons, and brutal foes, he discovers her return could ignite chaos and doom humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagic (1978)
A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDust Bunny (2025)
Ten-year-old Aurora asks her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed that she claims ate her family. To protect her, he must battle an onslaught of assassins while accepting that some monsters are real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisByzantium (2013)
Residents of a coastal town learn, with deadly consequences, the secret shared by the two mysterious women who have sought refuge at a local boarding house, the Byzantium.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConstantine: City of Demons - The Movie (2018)
A decade after a tragic mistake, family man Chas Chandler and occult detective John Constantine set out to cure his daughter Trish from a mysterious supernatural coma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisM.O.M. Mothers of Monsters (2020)
A distraught mother suspects her teenage son is a psychopath who may shoot up his high school, but when he outsmarts the mental healthcare system she is forced to take matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCastle Freak (1996)
John Reilly discovers that his family's newly inherited castle in Italy is haunted by a relentless, bloodthirsty creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTuesday (2024)
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImages (1972)
While holidaying in Ireland, a pregnant children's author finds her mental state becoming increasingly unstable, resulting in paranoia, hallucinations, and visions of a doppelgänger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Boy (2026)
Tommy, a volatile 19-year-old, revels in drugs, parties and violence. After getting separated from his friends on a drunken bender, he is abducted by a shadowy figure. He wakes to find himself imprisoned in the basement of a remote Yorkshire house, inhabited by a very strange family. But what unfolds is not what he could possibly expect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDream (2008)
In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEudaimonia (2024)
Prudence, a dishwasher and housecleaner with the telepathic power to eavesdrop on people’s consciousness, creates eccentric characters out of clothing she steals from her clients and stages confrontational performances in the street. She’s estranged from her mother, an artist, and the only person who shares this telepathic gift. As Prudence comes to terms with her mother's terminal illness and the knowledge that her telepathy comes at a cost, she gains a clearer understanding of how to find meaningful connections with others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNell (1994)
In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Deathmaker (1995)
Fritz Haarmann, who has killed at least 27 boys, is questioned by a psychology professor in order to find out whether he is sane and can be held responsible for his crimes. During this interrogation Haarmann reveals his motives and his killing methods.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutism (2019)
Autism by Salamtak, an awareness-evoking short cinema on how to discover and deal with autism.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Swayam (2017)
Swayam portrays the life of Meron, an autistic son of a Malayalee couple settled in Germany. His mother, Agnes is compassionate about her son's condition despite the indifference of her husband. When Meron shows interest in football, Agnes puts her weight behind him to pursue that dream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Odd Way Home (2013)
Two strangers, each living at the edges of society, are fatefully united for a harrowing and inspirational journey through the enchanting vistas of New Mexico. A passionate young woman escaping her abusive past and a reclusive young man with autism take a journey that redefines the notion of family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
X+Y (2015)
Struggling to connect with those around him, a teenage math prodigy trains for the International Mathematical Olympiad, where a budding romance with a fellow contestant breaks through his emotional walls and teaches him that love cannot be calculated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Child I Never Was (2002)
A serial killer dispassionately discusses the nuts and bolts of his grisly avocation, as well as the youthful traumas which helped to mold him into a psychopath, in this disturbing independent drama from Germany, based on the true story of of Germany's most famous child murderer Juergen Bartsch who, between the ages of 15 and 19, abused, tortured and killed four schoolboys in the Ruhr region of Germany from 1962 to 1966.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Innocents?
The closest matches to The Innocents are Before I Wake (2016), The Keeping Hours (2017) and No Such Thing (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Innocents?
Start with Before I Wake (2016), the closest match to The Innocents.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Innocents?
Donnie Darko (2001), rated 7.8/10 by 13,959 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Innocents?
Good Boy (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Innocents chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Innocents, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.