Movies like Deadly Puppet (2021)
The best movies like Deadly Puppet (2021) are Mindcage (2022), Citizen X (1995) and Fallen (1998). If Deadly Puppet hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCitizen X (1995)7.2/10 from 408 votes
- NewestDetective Chinatown 1900 (2025)Released 2025
- In ChineseDetective Chinatown 1900 (2025)Also in Chinese
Mindcage (2022)
Detectives Jake Doyle and Mary Kelly seek the help of an incarcerated serial killer named The Artist when a copycat killer strikes. While Mary searches for clues in The Artist's brilliant but twisted psyche, she and Jake are lured into a diabolical game of cat and mouse, racing against time to stay one step ahead of The Artist and his copycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisCitizen X (1995)
Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and those in power. The story is told from the viewpoint of the detective in charge of the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFallen (1998)
Homicide detective John Hobbes witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese's style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Corner (1997)
An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Chinatown 1900 (2025)
In 1900, the mysterious murder of a white woman and a Native American man in San Francisco's Chinatown triggers a race against time as the Chinese suspect and the Native American's adopted Chinese son work to uncover the truth while a politician seeks to leverage the Chinese Exclusion Bill as well as the prevailing xenophobia and racism to close down Chinatown and elect himself as the mayor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFoul Play (1978)
A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDouble Vision (2002)
An FBI Agent pairs with a troubled Taiwan cop to hunt for a serial killer who's embedding a mysterious fungus in the brains of victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ritual Killer (2023)
Unable to process the death of his daughter, Detective Boyd embarks on a hunt for a serial killer who murders according to a brutal tribal ritual: Muti. The only person who can help Boyd is Professor Mackles, an anthropologist who hides an unspeakable secret. The line between sanity and madness thins as Boyd goes deeper into the killer’s world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisKung Fu Jungle (2014)
A martial arts instructor working at a police academy gets imprisoned after killing a man by accident. But when a vicious killer starts targeting martial arts masters, the instructor offers to help the police in return for his freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Tycoon (2012)
Cheng, a young man who is set up by the chief of police, must leave the life he knows and Qiu, the woman he loves, to start again. After escaping prison Cheng quickly and violently moves his way up the ladder of Shanghais criminal underworld to become on the most powerful mob bosses in Shanghais history. But fame and notoriety take their toll when Cheng finds himself stuck between the looming Japanese army and the scheming local secret service. Matters are only made worse when he bumps into the love of his life QIU, along with her writer husband. Will love re-kindle in the dusk of an era?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYoung Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013)
Young Dee Renjie arrives in the empire's capital to join the Supreme Court as police judge of his region. He wants to become a prosecutor. Empress Wu, who is at the beginning of her reign, has commissioned the fierce detective Yuchi to investigate a sea monster that stalks the city at night and makes it unsafe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Odessa File (1974)
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLost in the Stars (2023)
He Fei's wife, Li Muzi, disappears during their anniversary trip. When she reappears, he insists that she is not his wife. As Chen Mai, a top lawyer gets involved in this bizarre case, more mysteries start to emerge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Touch of Sin (2013)
Four people in different provinces are driven to violent ends: An angry miner is enraged by corruption in his village. A migrant discovers the possibilities of owning a firearm. A receptionist is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. A young factory worker goes from one job to the next.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Joy Luck Club (1993)
Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFull River Red (2023)
During China's Song Dynasty, a mysterious murder occurs at Chancellor Quin Hui's palace after meeting delegates from the neighboring Jin Dynasty. The members become embroiled not just in a murder mystery, but a larger conspiracy concerning the fate of the empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTen Little Indians (1965)
Ten strangers are invited as weekend guests to a remote mountain mansion. When the host doesn't show up, the guests start dying, one by one.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Deadly Puppet?
The closest matches to Deadly Puppet are Mindcage (2022), Citizen X (1995) and Fallen (1998). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Deadly Puppet?
Start with Mindcage (2022), the closest match to Deadly Puppet.
What is the highest-rated movie like Deadly Puppet?
Citizen X (1995), rated 7.2/10 by 408 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Deadly Puppet?
Detective Chinatown 1900 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Chinese movies like Deadly Puppet?
Yes: Detective Chinatown 1900 (2025), Double Vision (2002) and Kung Fu Jungle (2014).
How are movies similar to Deadly Puppet chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Deadly Puppet, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.