Movies like Bad Genius (2024)
The best movies like Bad Genius (2024) are 21 (2008), The Line (2024) and The Riot Club (2014). If Bad Genius hooked you with its thriller and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedParasite (2019)8.5/10 from 21,672 votes
- NewestGuru (2026)Released 2026
21 (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: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Line (2024)
Tom, a passionate ‘brother’ of his fraternity, is charmed by the promises of high social status and alumni connections that open doors. But as Annabelle, a classmate outside his social circle, enters his life, his devotion begins to falter. Once the scheduled hazing of new fraternity members comes to a disturbing head, Tom faces the decision of a lifetime.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Riot Club (2014)
Two first-year students at Oxford University join a secret society and learn that their reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of one evening.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisCTRL (2024)
Nella and Joe are the perfect influencer couple. But when he cheats on her, she turns to an AI app to erase him from her life — until it takes control.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bank (2001)
The Bank, a world ripe with avarice and corruption, where O'Reilly and his ilk can thrive and honest Aussie battlers lose everything. Enter Jim Doyle a maverick mathematician who has devised a formula to predict the fluctuations of the stock market. When he joins O'Reilly's fold, he must first prove his loyalty to the "greed is good" ethos. Which way will he go? What does he have to hide?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisEmily the Criminal (2022)
Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaltburn (2023)
Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Game (1997)
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCompliance (2012)
On a particularly busy day at a suburban Ohio fast food restaurant, manager Sandra receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee has stolen money from a customer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuru (2026)
Matt, a charismatic coach, captivates crowds until he spirals into a disturbing downward spiral.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSearching (2018)
After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArbitrage (2012)
A troubled hedge fund magnate, desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire, makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParasite (2019)
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBatch '81 (1982)
Sid Lucero, a 21-year old pre-Med student, is an aspiring neophyte of the Alpha Kappa Omega fraternity. Over a six-month initiation period, he and six other neophytes are subjected to severe physical and psychological torture in and outside the fraternity house.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Kakegurui: The Movie (2019)
Hyakkaou Private Academy. An institution for the privileged with a very peculiar curriculum. You see, when you're the sons and daughters of the wealthiest of the wealthy, it's not athletic prowess or book smarts that keep you ahead. It's reading your opponent, the art of the deal. What better way to hone those skills than with a rigorous curriculum of gambling? At Hyakkaou Private Academy, the winners live like kings, and the losers are put through the wringer. But when Yumeko Jabami enrols, she's gonna teach these kids what a high roller really looks like!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAn Honest Life (2025)
When a cynical law student in search of inspiration joins a band of anarchists, he becomes entangled in a web of crime where he is more pawn than player.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
The Lesson (2023)
Liam, an aspiring and ambitious young writer, eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author J.M. Sinclair. But soon, Liam realizes that he is ensnared in a web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution. Sinclair, his wife Hélène, and their son Bertie all guard a dark past, one that threatens Liam’s future as well as their own.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies 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: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThoroughbreds (2018)
Lily and Amanda, two high school students living in suburban Connecticut, rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of drifting apart. Together, they devise a plan to kill Lily's abusive stepfather by hiring a lowlife drug dealer.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this13 Sins (2014)
Drowning in debt as he's about to get married, a bright but meek salesman receives a mysterious phone call informing him that he's on a hidden-camera game show where he must execute 13 tasks to receive a multi-million dollar cash prize.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler (2011)
3 years after the ultimate life-or-death game with Teiai Group, Kaiji was entrapped by Teiai and again back in the underground, forced to do hard labour. One day, Kaiji wins a bet to get out of the underground with 1 million yen, and promises the other workers that he will save them. But to do so, he only has 14 days and needs 200 million yen! Kaiji meets his former rival Tonegawa and learns that there is a chance to turn the tables in the game. It was a monster casino machine that will make 1 billion yen if you win...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009)
Kaiji Ito moves to Japan after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life is no better. A debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money owed. The debt collector offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off his loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay his debt & possibly make a boat load of money. Could the debt collector Endo actually be setting up Kaiji? One way or another, for Kaiji it's going to be the night of his life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Powder (2013)
When a teen from the wrong side of the tracks falls in love with a wealthy girl at the local boarding school, he agrees to help her smuggle drugs from Ecuador for the benefit of her upper crust friends. But when the plan unravels and he becomes the fall guy for their crimes, he is forced to decide how far he will go for the girl he loves.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Uncut Gems (2019)
A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Social Network (2010)
In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSignal 100 (2020)
A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Nightcrawler (2014)
When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFree Falling (2024)
Marisol is the national rhythmic gymnastics coach, methodical, demanding and authoritative. The World Championship is approaching and she places all her gold medal hopes on Angelica, the team's most promising newcomer. Two weeks before the final, Marisol discovers that her husband is having an affair with a much younger woman with whom she is expecting a child. Marisol does not contemplate failure, so she embarks on a desperate race to win him back, without taking into account her motives and feelings. Her pain is transferred to her tatami, where she becomes even more implacable towards Angelica, in whom she places her hopes of success. At this point, winning gold is all that's left for him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
Skincare (2024)
Famed aesthetician Hope Goldman is about to take her career to the next level by launching her very own skin care line. However, she soon faces a new challenge when a rival opens a boutique directly across from her store. Suspecting that someone is trying to sabotage her, she embarks on a quest to unravel the mystery of who's trying to destroy her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFarrey (2023)
An orphan genius, Niyati, gets a scholarship to attend an elite school. But she soon gets entangled in a cheating racket after she helps a rich but academically weak classmate during the exams.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Bad Genius?
The closest matches to Bad Genius are 21 (2008), The Line (2024) and The Riot Club (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Bad Genius?
People who watched Bad Genius most often go on to 21 (2008), The Line (2024) and The Riot Club (2014).
What is the highest-rated movie like Bad Genius?
Parasite (2019), rated 8.5/10 by 21,672 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Bad Genius?
Guru (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Bad Genius?
Yes: 21 (2008), The Line (2024) and The Riot Club (2014).
How are movies similar to Bad Genius chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Bad Genius, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.