Movies like Death in Small Doses (1957)
The best movies like Death in Small Doses (1957) are Paradise Highway (2022), They Drive by Night (1940) and 180 (2026). If Death in Small Doses hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHunting Season (2025)7.4/10 from 490 votes
- Newest180 (2026)Released 2026
Paradise Highway (2022)
A truck driver has been forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a deadly prison gang. With FBI operatives hot on her trail, Sally's conscience is challenged when the final package turns out to be a teenage girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisThey Drive by Night (1940)
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like this180 (2026)
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisRun (1991)
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShimmer Lake (2017)
Shot in reverse day-by-day through a week—a local sheriff embarks on a quest to unlock the mystery of three small-town criminals and a bank heist gone wrong.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuburbicon (2017)
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordinary people. When a home invasion turns deadly, a picture-perfect family turns to blackmail, revenge and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisKing Ivory (2025)
Based on extensive research involving law enforcement and gang members, a never-before-seen, authentic look inside the underworld of fentanyl trafficking from gangs inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester a.k.a. "Big Mac."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisOne Night in Bangkok (2020)
A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it's too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive Minutes of Heaven (2009)
The story of former Ulster Volunteer Force member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffin's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood Ties (2013)
Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Season (2025)
When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAwake (2007)
While undergoing heart surgery, a man experiences a phenomenon called ‘anesthetic awareness’, which leaves him awake but paralyzed throughout the operation. As various obstacles present themselves, his wife must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & crime
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 & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleaner (2007)
Single father and former cop Tom Cutler has an unusual occupation: he cleans up death scenes. But when he's called in to sterilize a wealthy suburban residence after a brutal shooting, Cutler is shocked to learn he may have unknowingly erased crucial evidence, entangling himself in a dirty criminal cover-up.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Last Days of American Crime (2020)
In the not-too-distant future, as a final response to crime and terrorism, the U.S. government plans to broadcast a signal that will make it impossible for anyone to knowingly break the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCocaine Godmother (2017)
At the age of 17, Griselda Blanco, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Gravel (1961)
Tensions rise when a U.S. military base is built in a small village in post-war Germany.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Thieves' Highway (1949)
Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJoy Ride (2001)
Three young people on a road trip from Colorado to New Jersey talk to a trucker on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychotic killer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (2009)
While driving to Las Vegas for the bachelor party of her sister Melissa and her fiance Bobby, Kayla stops the car at a gas station to meet her date, Nik, a guy she met on the internet. Nik convinces her to take a secondary road under the protest of Bobby but the car breaks down. They find a house in the middle of nowhere and decide to take the car parked in the house's garage to the next city...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBreaker! Breaker! (1977)
Truck driver searches for his brother, who has disappeared in a town run by a corrupt judge.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bet (1971)
A young woman leaves her older husband, the owner of a village mill, for a truck driver whom she met while he was in their village by business. While trying to find him, she experiences the life in suburbia, and gets back to her husband disappointed, disgraced and humiliated.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Long Roads - Secret Love (1969)
Long-haul driver Hannes picks up a young hitchhiker, Herb, who had a falling-out with his parents after dropping out of college and now travels around doing odd jobs. After a series of adventures, they are joined by Johanna and her child, who missed their bus and need a ride to Berlin. Johanna has left her husband so that he can reflect on their broken relationship and both men gradually begin to fall in love with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kukurantumi (1983)
Addey is a lorry driver and an industrious family man who makes ends meet by plying his trade between Accra, the capital city, and his village , Kukurantumi. When he loses his job for reasons beyond his control, he plots a marriage between his daughter, Abena, and an affluent businessman but she refuses the union because she loved another. Abena disobeys her father Addey and, with Bob, the poor young man she loves, elopes to Accra where things worsen.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Stoner's Night Out (TBA)
Presented by Voices in Society and Travelers Insurance Indemnity, this untitled PSA-style film from the 1970s is a compilation of various anti-drug use PSAs from National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Information (NCADI). The films were assembled by a film collector who did public screenings of cult films; he often showed this compilation under the moniker “Stoner’s Night Out”. NCADI is the information service for the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The PSAs that comprise this film combine footage of drug use as well as interviews. Overall, this film warns of the short-term and long-term effects of drug use with the later segments of the film focusing on marijuana use specifically.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
Train Birds (1998)
Hannes is a beer truck driver in Dortmund. His biggest dream is to win the first prize at the International Timetable Contest in Inari (Finland). When his new boss cancels his extra holidays to go there, Hans goes mad… On his journey to Finland by train, followed by the police, he meets lot of folks and the love of his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Death in Small Doses?
The closest matches to Death in Small Doses are Paradise Highway (2022), They Drive by Night (1940) and 180 (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Death in Small Doses?
Start with Paradise Highway (2022), the closest match to Death in Small Doses.
What is the highest-rated movie like Death in Small Doses?
Hunting Season (2025), rated 7.4/10 by 490 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Death in Small Doses?
180 (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Death in Small Doses?
Yes: Paradise Highway (2022), They Drive by Night (1940) and 180 (2026).
How are movies similar to Death in Small Doses chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Death in Small Doses, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.