Movies like The Penultimate (2021)
The best movies like The Penultimate (2021) are Kafka (1991), The Good Neighbor (2022) and The Carpetbaggers (1964). If The Penultimate hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)8.2/10 from 916 votes
- NewestNot Without Hope (2025)Released 2025
Kafka (1991)
After a colleague is murdered, insurance worker Kafka gets embroiled in an underground group who are attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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 drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Carpetbaggers (1964)
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Experiment (2010)
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHardball (2001)
An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlex of Venice (2015)
After her stay-at-home husband leaves her, a workaholic lawyer finds that she is not completely up to the tasks of caring for her young son, ailing father and household all by herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Cut (2025)
A retired boxer intends to return to the ring for one last shot at the title, but first he must make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas with an unscrupulous trainer, he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight-cutting program.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNot Without Hope (2025)
A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam (2020)
A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMurk (2005)
The psychological thriller "Murk" tells the story of Jacob, who is investigating into the circumstances surrounding his sister's death on her wedding night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTenure (2025)
When a dedicated college professor is denied tenure, he turns to black magic in a moment of desperation but finds himself trapped in a private hell of his own making.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Inertia (2015)
During a walk in the woods a man stumbles upon a gate blocked by a guard who refuses to let him through. Gaining entry quickly becomes his obsession and only goal, to the detriment of all else, including his own physical and mental health.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEscape (2024)
A young man becomes convinced that the solution to all his problems is to live in jail, and he will do whatever it takes to get it.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisVignettes (2024)
Alex bleeds out at a get-together. Thom searches for a vanished shoe. Jimmy seeks revenge through mind control.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Human Body (2004)
An adaptation of Kafka's "A Country Doctor". A doctor is to make out a death certificate to a little boy, but the disorder is different from what he assumed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
K (2015)
A mongolian interpretation of Kafka's "The Castle".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Prosessen (1962)
Adaptation of Kafka’s famous novel for Norwegian TV. Joseph K. discovers two policeme in his appartment, while in the middle of the morning routine. These men lead him into a nonsensical labyrith of a legal system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Metamorphosis (2014)
Loosely based on Franz Kafka's novella Metamorphosis 'Swaroopa' narrates the story of Gregory Samson and his family of father, mother, sister assisted by a maid within the social transformations taking place in late colonial and early postcolonial Sri Lanka.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mr. K (2025)
Mr. K, a traveling magician, finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of his hotel. His attempts to get out only pull him deeper, entangling him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.
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 The Penultimate?
The closest matches to The Penultimate are Kafka (1991), The Good Neighbor (2022) and The Carpetbaggers (1964). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Penultimate?
Start with Kafka (1991), the closest match to The Penultimate.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Penultimate?
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), rated 8.2/10 by 916 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Penultimate?
Not Without Hope (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Penultimate chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Penultimate, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.