Movies like Death Note: The Musical (2017)
The best movies like Death Note: The Musical (2017) are Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022), A Fugitive from the Past (1965) and The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008). If Death Note: The Musical hooked you with its crime and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Green Mile (1999)8.5/10 from 20,129 votes
- NewestMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseA Fugitive from the Past (1965)Also in Japanese
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Fugitive from the Past (1965)
Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them kills the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman's interest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008)
July 1998 - After a group of delinquents is found dead in their hangout place with all their limbs twisted and torn off, Aozaki Touko receives a request to find the murderer and asks Shiki for help. The main suspect is Asagami Fujino; a girl who was the boys' plaything until recently, who Shiki believes to be "one of her kind".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Wings of the Kirin (2012)
A man's body is found under the statue of a winged kirin in the Nihombashi area of Tokyo. A suspect named Yashima has a car accident and falls unconscious while he is attempting to run away. Yashima's lover Kaori comes from Fukushima and tells detectives that he is absolutely not a criminal. Meanwhile, Detective Kyoichiro Kaga's (Hiroshi Abe) investigates and uncovers a point of contact between the dead body and Yashima. A hidden fact of the victim is revealed which even his children did not know about...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Assault (2014)
After a cheerleader is sexually assaulted by the high school football team, she must overcome her shame and use the evidence gathered from the subsequent social media firestorm to piece together the night that she can't remember in her fight for justice. Based on the true story of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Reunited and It Feels So Deadly (2020)
Aurora's high school reunion turns deadly when a body is found in the hotel pool. Aurora and her Real Murders Club help investigate which classmate was most likely to kill.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Man's Folly (1986)
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2015)
Aurora finds a member of her crime buff group, the Real Murders Club, killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. As other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Aurora will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMurder in Three Acts (1986)
In Acapulco, Hercule Poirot attends a dinner party in which one of the guests clutches his throat and suddenly dies. The causes seem to be natural until another party with most of the same guests produces another corpse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (1986)
Faced with two false confessions and numerous suspects after a despised civil magistrate is found shot in the local vicarage, Detective Inspector Slack reluctantly accepts help from Miss Marple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJigen Daisuke (2023)
Feeling unhappy with his gun, Jigen is looking for the world’s best gunsmith. He finally finds out that Chiharu, who runs a watch shop, is the person he’s been seeking. Then, Jigen meets Oto, who comes to Chiharu’s shop looking for a gun. Jigen finds out about Oto's secrets and the mysterious organization that’s after her. After Oto is kidnapped, Jigen gets into a desperate battle to save her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl from the Other Side (2023)
Once upon a time, in a far, faraway place, there were two lands. The world was divided into an inner land and an outer land. People feared the outer land, inhabited by eerie beings, the carriers of curse. One day, on the border to the inner land inhabited by humans, one such being finds a girl on heaps of abandoned dead bodies. The girl says her name is Shiva and shows affection to the "being" who found her, calling him "Teacher." This is a story of two people—one human, one inhuman—who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Tribe (2014)
In an alternate Japan, territorial street gangs form opposing factions collectively known as the Tokyo Tribes. Merra, leader of the Wu-Ronz tribe of Bukuro, joins forces with heavy-hitting gangster Buppa of Buppa Town. With Buppa's support, Merra aims to initiate a gang war between the Wu-Ronz and the Musashino Saru, and in a confrontation between the two attempts to kill Kai of the Musashino Saru. The inadvertent murder of Kai's friend Tera (a Musashino Saru member beloved by all Tribes since before their formation) leads to the joining of forces between all of the Tribes in an all-out war against Merra and Buppa.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDetective Conan: Full Score of Fear (2008)
Serial murders involving all kinds have happened. All the victims are from a Music School led by a famous pianist. Conan and company have been invited to a opening concert of the Music Hall built by the pianist. The biggest attraction of this concert is the world famous violin called "Stradivarius" and a special appearance of a singer who has perfect pitch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Revengers (2021)
An unemployed man learns that his ex-girlfriend was murdered. He suddenly finds himself travelling through time to his middle school years and has chance to change the future and save the girl. He aims to rise to the top of the most brutal delinquent gang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMr. Long (2017)
Long is a Taiwanese killer known for his sword skills. After Long fails a Tokyo mission, he moves to a small town where no one knows about him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral (2008)
Tomoe Enjou is attacked by bullies from his old school and saved by Shiki Ryougi. He asks her to hide him at her place and admits that he killed someone. Several days later, there are still no broadcasts about the murder as if it didn't happen... and when the victims are found, they're alive and unharmed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2009)
L's successor must ponder L's defeat if he hopes to succeed where his famed predecessor failed. At the headquarters of the SPK, he calls upon the Japanese task force to declare war on Light. A recap of Death Note episodes 27–37, with new footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLonely Castle in the Mirror (2022)
Shy outcast Kokoro has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. When a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game, the teens must work together to uncover the mysterious connection that unites them. However, anyone who breaks the rules will be eaten by a wolf.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (2016)
One day, Koyomi Araragi encounters the horrifying vampire, Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade A.K.A. the "King of Apparitions." He saves the fatally wounded Kiss-shot by offering his blood at the expense of his own life as a human. Now Koyomi has to face the vampire hunters to retrieve Kiss-shot’s limbs which were taken by these hunters...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Green Mile (1999)
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
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 & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)
Haunted by a childhood romance and recollections of love lost during the 1947 Partition of India, 95-year-old Ishar Singh Grewal shares his story with his grandson Nirvair, the past unfolding through memories of migration, longing, and a romance that endures across generations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
The Cotton Club (1984)
Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFriends Games: The Movie (2017)
This is a continuation of Friends Games. Now the group of friends realises they have fallen into this game and they are in the second set of game, Kageguchi Sugoroku. Will Katagiri Yuichi find out who led them into this deceptive game between money and friends?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & mystery
The Wave (2025)
A music student’s testimony ignites a feminist uprising on her campus, where protest becomes performance and collective voice becomes an act of resistance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Husbandhood (2016)
In January of 2014, five filmmakers suddenly disappear while shooting in the nearby Drigh Lake Larakana woods. One week later, their camera was found.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
The Bloody Way of Ehraman (2021)
A film crew travels out to a village in Anatolia to shoot a movie. But after each were affected by a dream they saw, the remaining four team members decide to stay and investigate the incident.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Sherlock: The Musical (2022)
An original musical about the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes and his partner John Watson.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Bang Bang Baby (2014)
A small town teenager in the 1960s believes her dreams of becoming a famous singer will come true when her rock star idol gets stranded in town. But a leak in a nearby chemical plant that is believed to be causing mass mutations threatens to turn her dream into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Death Note: The Musical and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Death Note: The Musical?
The closest matches to Death Note: The Musical are Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022), A Fugitive from the Past (1965) and The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Death Note: The Musical?
Start with Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022), the closest match to Death Note: The Musical.
What is the highest-rated movie like Death Note: The Musical?
The Green Mile (1999), rated 8.5/10 by 20,129 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Death Note: The Musical?
Main Vaapas Aaunga (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Death Note: The Musical?
Yes: A Fugitive from the Past (1965), The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain (2008) and The Wings of the Kirin (2012).
How are movies similar to Death Note: The Musical chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Death Note: The Musical, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.