Movies like The Plug (2016)
The best movies like The Plug (2016) are What Doesn't Kill You (2008), Braven (2018) and TalhotBlond (2012). If The Plug hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMidnight Cowboy (1969)7.5/10 from 1,716 votes
- NewestPetrichor (2026)Released 2026
What Doesn't Kill You (2008)
Two childhood friends from South Boston turn to crime as a way to get by, ultimately causing a strain in their personal lives and their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBraven (2018)
A logger defends his family from a group of dangerous drug runners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
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 thisTrue Colors (1991)
Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute (1996)
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAdulthood (2008)
After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.
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 thisAnother Day in Paradise (1998)
In the hope of a big score, two junkie couples team up to commit various drug robberies which go disastrously wrong, leading to dissent, violence, and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCold Pursuit (2019)
The quiet family life of Nels Coxman, a snowplow driver, is upended after his son's murder. Nels begins a vengeful hunt for Viking, the drug lord he holds responsible for the killing, eliminating Viking's associates one by one. As Nels draws closer to Viking, his actions bring even more unexpected and violent consequences, as he proves that revenge is all in the execution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThird Star (2010)
James and his three closest lifelong friends go on an ill-advised trip to the stunning coastal area of Barafundle Bay in West Wales. What follows is a touching and comical adventure dealing with friendship, heroism and love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBelly (1998)
Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?
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 thisMammal (2016)
After Margaret, a divorcée living in Dublin, loses her teenage son, she develops an unorthodox relationship with Joe, a homeless youth. Their tentative trust is threatened by his involvement with a violent gang and the escalation of her ex-husband's grieving rage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBunraku (2010)
In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter, a bartender and a young samurai plot revenge against a ruthless leader and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHome Run (2013)
A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoe (1970)
After murdering his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend, a wealthy ad executive stumbles into a bar and strikes up an uneasy alliance with Joe Curran, a drunken bigot with a bloodlust who works at a local factory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver's Edge (1986)
A group of high-school friends must come to terms with the fact that one of them, Samson, killed another, Jamie. Faced with the brutality of death, each must decide whether to turn their friend in to the police, or to help him escape the consequences of his dreadful deed.
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 thisSEAMUS. Now, Then and Before (2024)
An intertwining story of coincidence and closure. Now, then and before the "death" of his YouTube partner and best friend, Seamus tries to come to terms with his new predicament and create a final video for the channel, a sendoff to the last five years of friendship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Petrichor (2026)
Introverted Noah reluctantly spends his summer vacation with his family in the French countryside. One day, he meets siblings Julie and Léo at the lake. Despite the language barrier, a relationship develops between him and Julie that oscillates between attraction and repulsion, causing Noah to grapple with his sexual orientation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Shane (1953)
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Cowboy (1969)
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarried Life (2008)
A very gentle middle-aged man is married, but when he falls in love with another woman, he decides that to divorce his wife would humiliate her too much – so instead he decides to kill her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisChiko (2008)
This is the story of Isa, who grows up in a Hamburg suburb. It might be one of the world's richest cities but every beast has its belly and here, in the very underbelly, Chiko lives in a world where violence, staking and keeping a claim, and drug taking are the norm. Where down is not an option, Chiko is determined to rise to the top, whatever and whomever it costs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this21 (2008)
Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. who strives to succeed. Wanting a scholarship to transfer to Harvard School of Medicine to become a doctor, Ben learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 tuition as he comes from a poor, working-class background. But one evening, Ben is introduced by his unorthodox math professor to a small but secretive club of five students, Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Fisher, who are being trained by Professor Rosa to count cards at blackjack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbout You I Don't Know (2022)
One day, college student Keiko, who is looking for a job, learns that the person she had feelings for has committed suicide. Keiko wonders if she was the cause of this. Classmate Mami, through her boyfriend Takuya, tries to introduce Keiko to Kazuo, a member of Takuya's theater company. However, Keiko, who met Takuya, has a special feeling for him. Miyata, a young man who seems to be hiding in the darkness of everyday life, meets Keiko one day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Banger Sisters (2002)
In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball, rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off -- and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since the Banger Sisters earned their nickname -- or even laid eyes on each other. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn to live in the moment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Plug?
The closest matches to The Plug are What Doesn't Kill You (2008), Braven (2018) and TalhotBlond (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Plug?
Start with What Doesn't Kill You (2008), the closest match to The Plug.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Plug?
Midnight Cowboy (1969), rated 7.5/10 by 1,716 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Plug?
Petrichor (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Plug?
Yes: What Doesn't Kill You (2008), Braven (2018) and TalhotBlond (2012).
How are movies similar to The Plug chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Plug, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.