Movies like Bystander Effect (2015)
The best movies like Bystander Effect (2015) are The Experiment (2010), A Corner in Wheat (1909) and The Human Voice (2020). If Bystander Effect hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedReservoir Dogs (1991)7.5/10 from 222 votes
- NewestLa Percée (2026)Released 2026
- In GermanKings of the Road (1976)Also in German
The 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 thisA Corner in Wheat (1909)
On a whim, a greedy tycoon decides to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing grain producers into charity lines and others further into poverty. The film contrasts the differences between the lives of those who work to grow the wheat and the life of the man who dabbles in its sale for profit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Human Voice (2020)
A woman watches time pass beside the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn't understand that his master has abandoned him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReservoir Dogs (1991)
Short film made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute and serving as a proof-of-concept for the subsequent feature film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKings of the Road (1976)
Itinerant projection-equipment repairman Bruno Winter and depressed hitchhiker Robert Lander - a doctor who has just been through a break-up with his wife and a half-hearted suicide attempt - travel along the Western side of the East-German border in a repair truck, visiting worn-out movie theaters, learning to communicate across their differences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Neighbors' Window (2019)
The story of a middle-aged woman with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMagazine Dreams (2025)
Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHungry Hearts (2015)
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKisses (2008)
Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home on Christmas Day and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImperial Dreams (2014)
A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Silence (2019)
A successful "house tuner" in New York City, who calibrates the sound in people's homes in order to adjust their moods, meets a client with a problem he can't solve.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisWhen We Leave (2010)
Umay is a young woman of Turkish descent, fighting for an independent and self-determined life in Germany against the resistance of her family. Her struggle initiates a dynamic, which results in a life-threatening situation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnthinkable (2010)
The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.
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 thisNo One Would Tell (1996)
Shy sixteen-year-old Stacy Collins can't believe that the most popular guy in school, an attractive athlete named Bobby Tennison, is interested in her. At first she is flattered by his constant attention, but then he becomes possessive and jealous-telling her who she can speak to and what she can wear. Threats escalate into violence when Bobby thinks Stacy has stepped out of line. Soon she is walking on egg shells and living in fear. Having seen the tell-tale bruises, Stacy's best friend convinces her to break things off with Bobby-but in a moment of weakness, Stacy goes to meet him. It will be the last time she is seen alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Straight A's to XXX (2017)
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisThe Idiots (1998)
A group of perfectly intelligent young people decide to react to society's cult of aimless, non-creative and non-responsible form intellect by living together in a community of 'idiots'. Their primary activity becomes going out into the world of 'normal' people and pretending to be mentally incompetent. They take advantage of this situation to create anarchy, and, by every possible means, to make those around them miserable.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaseo por una guerra antigua (1949)
Madrid, Spain. A mutilated man, a war veteran, walks, leaning on a crutch, through the stadium of the Ciudad Universitaria, a place that still preserves in walls and buildings the terrifying traces of one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish Civil War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
This Too Shall Pass (2020)
An unsuccessful meeting with her estranged father leaves Noel questioning whether or not he deserves a role in her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Youth China hits headlines (2019)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Mirror/Mirror The (2022)
A socially awkward teen gets caught between a changing friendship and a life-altering discovery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pepper (2014)
The painful awakening of a couple after an evening of fantasies ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
La Percée (2026)
An 11-year-old boy is preparing for his performance at the end-of-year show. But he gets stage fright and spills something on his costume. He runs off to wash the stain out and embarks on a journey of self-discovery that, after many detours, gives him new self-confidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Höfliche fünfzehn Minuten (2026)
On her 40th birthday, Lena's carefully constructed life falls apart: her long-term partner Stefan leaves her the day before, and the friends she thought were her friends take his side. She desperately tries to hold them back, but the situation escalates.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hell (2011)
In the course of one afternoon, Raphael's paradise turns into a spiral of guilt and paranoia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Fire (2011)
“There must be a different solution than the one from hell’. Full unadulterated terror (and music). 'The best class always ends with a lesson'. Almost baroque in its ambition and detail, Akerman and Seabra Lopes’ mesmerising short film delves deeply into the hard-wired dread of music lessons. Sewn around Schubert’s steely Opus 1, which is itself based on the no less terrifying legend of Goethe's Erlkönig, their film is a revelation.” International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Bystander Effect and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Bystander Effect?
The closest matches to Bystander Effect are The Experiment (2010), A Corner in Wheat (1909) and The Human Voice (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Bystander Effect?
Start with The Experiment (2010), the closest match to Bystander Effect.
What is the highest-rated movie like Bystander Effect?
Reservoir Dogs (1991), rated 7.5/10 by 222 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Bystander Effect?
La Percée (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Bystander Effect?
Yes: Kings of the Road (1976), When We Leave (2010) and Höfliche fünfzehn Minuten (2026).
How are movies similar to Bystander Effect chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Bystander Effect, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.