Movies like The Stepmother (1972)
The best movies like The Stepmother (1972) are Dream Lover (1994), Careful What You Wish For (2015) and Reptile (2023). If The Stepmother hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedDial M for Murder (1954)8.0/10 from 2,997 votes
- NewestReptile (2023)Released 2023
Dream Lover (1994)
Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCareful What You Wish For (2015)
A guy gets more than he bargained for after entering into an affair with the wife of an investment banker. Soon, a suspicious death and substantial life insurance policy embroil him in a scandal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReptile (2023)
Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGone Girl (2014)
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPacific Heights (1990)
A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrime of Passion (1956)
Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFatale (2020)
After a wild one-night stand, successful sports agent Derrick Tyler watches his perfect life slowly disappear when he discovers the sexy and mysterious woman he risked everything for is determined police detective Valerie Quinlan who entangles him in her latest investigation. As he desperately tries to put the pieces together, he falls deeper into her trap, risking his family, his career, and even his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Gigolo (1980)
Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay. One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdulterers (2016)
On a steamy New Orleans afternoon, Sam Deuprey decides to surprise his beautiful wife, Ashley, for their anniversary and comes home early. But Ashley is not alone in the bedroom. She and her lover, Damien are about to learn how far a jealous husband will go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Fall from Grace (2020)
When a law-abiding woman gets indicted for murdering her husband, her lawyer soon realizes that a larger conspiracy may be at work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisActs of Vengeance (2017)
A fast-talking lawyer transforms his body and takes a vow of silence, not to be broken until he finds out who killed his wife and daughter and has his revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleeping with the Enemy (1991)
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Water (2022)
A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Good Woman Is Hard to Find (2019)
The recently widowed mother of two, Sarah, is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she's forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother Man's Poison (1951)
Mystery novelist Janet Frobisher, lives in an isolated house, having been separated for years from her criminal husband. She has fallen in love with her secretary's fiancé and when her estranged husband unexpectedly returns, Janet poisons him, but just as she's about to dispose of the body, one of her husband's criminal cohorts also shows up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDolores Claiborne (1995)
Dolores Claiborne was accused of killing her abusive husband twenty years ago, but the court's findings were inconclusive and she was allowed to walk free. Now she has been accused of killing her employer, Vera Donovan, and this time there is a witness who can place her at the scene of the crime. Things look bad for Dolores when her daughter Selena, a successful Manhattan magazine writer, returns to cover the story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Door in the Floor (2004)
A writer's young assistant becomes both pawn and catalyst in his boss's disintegrating household.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGang Related (1997)
After murdering an undercover DEA agent, two corrupt cops scramble to cover up what they've done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKill for Me (2013)
Rent’s a bitch. And that is why, six months after her best friend went missing, Amanda finally gives in to getting another roommate, Hailey. The two college students turn out to have something in common, however: abusive men. For Hailey, it’s her dad. For Amanda, it’s a stalkery ex-boyfriend. But problems can be solved and, you know, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. In other words, Kill for Me, I kill for you.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHollywoodland (2006)
When Hollywood superstar George Reeves dies in his home, private detective Louis Simo is hired to investigate his death and gets caught in a web of lies involving a big studio executive's wife. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonsoon Wedding (2001)
A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTough Enough (2006)
From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRomeo + Juliet (1996)
In this contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this36 Fillette (1988)
A 14-year-old pursues romance with a man while vacationing with her family in Switzerland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisKlute (1971)
A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKilling Zoe (1993)
Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDial M for Murder (1954)
When her American lover visits London, a wealthy woman’s jealous husband hatches a plan to murder her and inherit her fortune.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCasino (1995)
In Las Vegas, two best friends-a casino executive and a Mafia enforcer--compete for a gambling empire and a fast-living, fast-loving socialite.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInnuendo (2017)
Tuuli grows up in an oppressively religious and abusive family in Finland. To escape from the shadow of her angelic twin sister she travels to Melbourne, Australia. Curious of sexuality, she becomes a nude model for art classes. Her innocent surface reveals sordid cracks as she sets about exerting her twisted version of righteousness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Stepmother and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Stepmother?
The closest matches to The Stepmother are Dream Lover (1994), Careful What You Wish For (2015) and Reptile (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Stepmother?
Start with Dream Lover (1994), the closest match to The Stepmother.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Stepmother?
Dial M for Murder (1954), rated 8.0/10 by 2,997 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Stepmother?
Reptile (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Stepmother?
Yes: Dream Lover (1994), Careful What You Wish For (2015) and Reptile (2023).
How are movies similar to The Stepmother chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Stepmother, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.





























