Movies like Child's Play (1972)
The best movies like Child's Play (1972) are Absolution (1978), Cracks (2009) and Triage (2009). If Child's Play hooked you with its drama and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Holdovers (2023)7.7/10 from 2,775 votes
- NewestForsaken (2026)Released 2026
Absolution (1978)
At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCracks (2009)
Jealousy flares after the headmistress of an elite boarding school for girls becomes obsessed with a new student.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriage (2009)
The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEndless Night (1972)
Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute teacher in order to investigate Randall's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dry White Season (1989)
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne Eight Seven (1997)
When a Brooklyn high school student writes the police code for homicide, 187, inside a textbook owned by teacher Trevor Garfield, Garfield feels threatened. The principal dismisses the incident, but the same student stabs Trevor soon after. Fifteen months later, a physically and emotionally scarred Trevor relocates to California and takes up substitute teaching. To his dismay, his new school is as full of dangerously undisciplined students as his old one—including four Latin Americans and a European American claiming membership in tagging gang K.O.S. (Kappin' Off Suckers)—driving him over the edge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStowaway (2022)
A tenacious party girl fights to survive after three thieves commandeer her luxury yacht. Unable to escape and trapped on the yacht at high seas, the prey becomes the hunter as she turns the tables on the intruders and takes matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan with No Past (2025)
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that ultimately reveals the truth.
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 thisBrave the Dark (2025)
When Mr. Deen discovers one of his students has been living out of his car and thrown into jail, he decides to bail him out. Determined to curb Nate’s self-destructive behavior, Deen quickly discovers a host of dark secrets slowly tearing Nate apart. What began as a good deed becomes a desperate fight to save Nate from his own demons. As Nate spirals deeper into despair, Deen must decide how far he’s willing to go to save a kid on the brink of losing everything—even himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClass of 1984 (1982)
Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Commuter (2018)
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLight It Up (1999)
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe United States of Leland (2003)
A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.
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 thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver Wild (2023)
Follows a pair of siblings who love but distrust each other as they embark on a white-water rafting trip with a small group. One of their friends from childhood turns out to be more dangerous than he appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Holdovers (2023)
A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuspiria (1977)
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAndragogy (2023)
A schoolteacher's reputation is at risk when a video of her speaking up against injustice goes viral on the internet and is misinterpreted.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Flirting (1991)
Two freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShout (1991)
A new music teacher in a 1955 West Texas home for wayward boys brings new vision and hope for many of the interned boys.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisForsaken (2026)
Everyone knows the name of Samuel Paty, but few people really know his story. On October 16, 2020, Samuel Paty, professor of History-Geography, was murdered at the end of his college. In the light of investigations and trials, this film looks back on his last eleven days, and the gear that led to his tragic death.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)
Over several decades throughout the late 19th-century and early 20th-century, Mr Arthur Chipping rises from a shy, nervous teacher to the beloved, revered headmaster of Brookfield School, with his life and career shaped by his love for his wife and his unwavering dedication to his students.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Devil's Playground (1977)
Australia, 1953. Thirteen-year-old Tom Allen attends a strict Catholic seminary for boys administered by De La Salle Brothers. The adolescent students and their adult instructors struggle deeply with sexual repression and religious doubt.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Smokers (2000)
Three rebellious teenage girls decide to even the score in the battle of the sexes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Wide Awake (1998)
The tale of a ten-year-old boy in a Catholic school who, following the death of his beloved grandfather, embarks on a quest to discover the meaning of life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like Child's Play and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Child's Play?
The closest matches to Child's Play are Absolution (1978), Cracks (2009) and Triage (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Child's Play?
Start with Absolution (1978), the closest match to Child's Play.
What is the highest-rated movie like Child's Play?
The Holdovers (2023), rated 7.7/10 by 2,775 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Child's Play?
Forsaken (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Child's Play?
Yes: Absolution (1978), Cracks (2009) and Triage (2009).
How are movies similar to Child's Play chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Child's Play, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.