Movies like Cold Fish (2011)
The best movies like Cold Fish (2011) are The Yellow Sea (2010), Confessions (2010) and Strange Circus (2005). If Cold Fish 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 ratedMemories of Murder (2003)8.1/10 from 4,929 votes
- NewestLumberjack the Monster (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseConfessions (2010)Also in Japanese
The Yellow Sea (2010)
A Korean man in China takes an assassination job in South Korea to make money and find his missing wife. But when the job is botched, he is forced to go on the run from the police and the gangsters who paid him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConfessions (2010)
Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStrange Circus (2005)
The erotic novelist Taeko is writing a morbid story of a family destroyed by incest, murder and abuse. Her assistant, Yuji, sets on a mission to uncover the reality of this story, but the reality might be too much to bear.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCure (1997)
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLate Bloomer (2007)
Late Bloomer is the story of Sumida-san, a severely handicapped man, and his downward spiral into hell.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & crime
My Dead Ones (2018)
Behind the looks of a shy film student, Davi hides an obscure past that is about to be revealed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Mother (2009)
A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoth (2008)
Itsuki and Yoru share a passion for the dark and death, making them the perfect choice to track down a serial killer who is roaming the streets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Traces of Sin (2017)
A year has gone by without any progress on the Tako family's murder, in which an elite businessman, his beautiful and perfect wife, and adorable daughter were brutally killed. Weekly magazine journalist Tanaka gives the case another shot and digs for the truth, but people connected with the case describe a family far-flung from the seemingly picture-perfect couple, and then he discovers a reality more terrifying than anyone had imagined.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Ichi the Killer (2001)
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Saw the Devil (2010)
Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. Soo-hyeon, a top-secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLumberjack the Monster (2023)
A self-proclaimed psychopath, coldblooded lawyer Ninomiya becomes obsessed with stopping an ax-wielding serial killer who's made him their next target.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemoirs of a Murderer (2017)
The movie begins in the year 1995 where there were 5 peculiar murder cases. The murderer would always get someone close to the victim to witness how he would strangle the victim from behind with a rope but he would let the witnesses go and speak to the media on how the murders happened. Ito plays the role of Makimura, the police detective who was in charge of investigating the serial murders but failed to catch the cunning murderer and his respected superior ended up being killed as well. 22 years later in 2017 when the case is nearing its statute of limitations, a man named Sonezaki claims to be the culprit for the 1995 murders and even publishes a book titled "Watashi ga satsujinhan desu" to talk about the cases. Despite the disgust towards Sonezaki's actions, the intensive attention showered on him via the media and SNS makes him become the talk of town.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chaser (2008)
Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuicide Club (2001)
When the bizarre mass suicide of 54 high school girls throwing themselves in front of a subway train appears to instigate a string of suicides around the country, Detective Kuroda strives to find the answer, which isn't as simple as he had hoped.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemories of Murder (2003)
A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKillers (2014)
A psychotic executive triggers a journalist's dark side, and they begin to form a strange bond through the internet.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLesson of the Evil (2012)
Seiji Hasumi is a popular English teacher in a private high school. He is also a violent and sociopathic killer who concocts an extreme plan to deal with the rise of bullying and bad behavior among the student body.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCharacter (2021)
A kind man aspires to become a manga writer, but villains and evil deeds do not come easily to him, for he has little experience or natural inclination for them. Things take a surprise turn when he comes across a family who were described as idealized that are no more. He uses the real-life situation for his work.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCreepy (2016)
After having narrowly escaped an attempt on his life at the hands of a psychopath, detective inspector Takakura quits active service in the police force and takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. But his desire to get to the bottom of criminals’ motives remains, and he does not hesitate long when former colleague Nogami asks him to reopen an old case.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSchramm (1993)
Lothar Schramm is a simple man with complex problems, yet he seems like such a nice guy. He works as a taxi driver and lives by himself where he is happy to answer his door to strangers and kill them outright. As with many shy loner types he has a problem dealing with women so he drugs them and photographs their nude bodies for sexual stimulation. He then murders his helpless victims and so goes the life of a deranged serial killer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNoriko's Dinner Table (2005)
A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBedevilled (2010)
A disillusioned Seoul woman visits a remote island to reconnect with a childhood friend, only to find her trapped in an oppressive cycle of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. As tensions escalate, the situation spirals into a harrowing tale of survival and retribution.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe World of Kanako (2014)
When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Snow White Murder Case (2014)
A beautiful cosmetics company employee is found dead in a gruesome state. What's more, it becomes apparent that one of the victim's colleagues, a homely woman named Miki, has gone missing. Television director Akaboshi attempts to interview as many of Miki's friends and acquaintances as he can find, eliciting miscellaneous information from them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVillain (2010)
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAudition (2000)
Seven years after the death of his wife, widower Shigeharu seeks advice on how to find a new wife from a colleague. Taking advantage of their position as a film company, they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu is enchanted by the quiet Asami. But soon things take a twisted turn as Asami isn’t what she seems to be.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both horror & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCoin Locker Girl (2015)
Il-young tries to get away from her adoptive mother because she does not want to get involved in her mother's criminal activities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Blood of Wolves (2018)
Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the anti-organized crime law. A rumor exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they investigate a missing person case involving a financial company employee. Conflicts between opposing yakuza groups become more serious.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAntibodies (2005)
When a notorious German serial killer is captured after committing some of the most heinous acts against humanity ever imaginable, a farmer and police officer from a sleepy rural community on the outskirts of Berlin is drawn into the case as he searches for the answers to a murder that has shaken his tight-knit community.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Cold Fish?
The closest matches to Cold Fish are The Yellow Sea (2010), Confessions (2010) and Strange Circus (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Cold Fish?
People who watched Cold Fish most often go on to The Yellow Sea (2010), Confessions (2010) and Strange Circus (2005).
What is the highest-rated movie like Cold Fish?
Memories of Murder (2003), rated 8.1/10 by 4,929 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Cold Fish?
Lumberjack the Monster (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Cold Fish?
Yes: Confessions (2010), Strange Circus (2005) and Cure (1997).
How are movies similar to Cold Fish chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Cold Fish, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.