Movies like Ascendent (2019)
The best movies like Ascendent (2019) are Rabbits (2002), Maniac (1963) and Original Sin (2001). If Ascendent hooked you with its mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMeshes of the Afternoon (1943)7.6/10 from 463 votes
- NewestMārama (2026)Released 2026
Rabbits (2002)
A story of a group of humanoid rabbits and their depressive, daily life. The plot includes Suzie ironing, Jane sitting on a couch, Jack walking in and out of the apartment, and the occasional solo singing number by Suzie or Jane. At one point the rabbits also make contact with their “leader”.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisManiac (1963)
When a stranger enters a quiet, country town and is seduced by a sensuous married woman he unwittingly finds himself at the centre of a storm of sexual guilt and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOriginal Sin (2001)
A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caller (1987)
One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmelia’s Children (2024)
When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBrand Upon the Brain! (2007)
After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlackwater Lane (2024)
An American school teacher in England drives past an abandoned car late one night, unaware that the driver was the victim of a murder. As she comes to terms with the realization, seemingly supernatural events start to affect the gothic manor she lives in with her husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Inhabitant (2022)
Like any other teenage girl, Tara is just surviving high school — yet her father and mother seem strangely distant. Amidst a nearby spree of gruesome ax murders, Tara has sightings of terrifying entities, forcing her to question her own sanity and shocking ancestry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014)
In this epic two-part finale, the Doctor comes face to face with the mysterious Missy, and an impossible choice is looming. With Cybermen on the streets of London, old friends unite against old enemies, and the Doctor takes to the air in a startling new role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMeshes of the Afternoon (1943)
A woman returning home falls asleep and has vivid dreams that may or may not be happening in reality. Through repetitive images and complete mismatching of the objective view of time and space, her dark inner desires play out on-screen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRaging Grace (2023)
An undocumented Filipina immigrant lands a job as a careworker for a seemingly terminal old man, securing a better life for her and her daughter. But a dark discovery threatens to destroy everything she’s strived for and holds dear.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930)
The boys think their days of fishing to feed themselves have come to an end, when Stan's rich uncle Ebenezer dies leaving a large estate. But they soon learn that Ebenezer was murdered and all the relatives, including Stan, are suspects.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Limits of Control (2009)
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him across Spain, but also through his own consciousness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnon (2018)
Set in a near-future world where there is no privacy, ignorance or anonymity, our private memories are recorded and crime almost ceases to exist. In trying to solve a series of unsolved murders, Sal Frieland stumbles onto a young woman who appears to have subverted the system and disappeared. She has no identity, no history and no record. Sal realizes it may not be the end of crime but the beginning. Known only as 'The Girl', Sal must find her before he becomes the next victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCa$h (2010)
A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan and his wife Leslie when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence – all in the name of money.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisMārama (2026)
1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers her horrific colonial heritage and is compelled to confront and destroy the titled Englishman who devastated her family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jester (2016)
The Jester is the titular main antagonist of the horror/thriller analogy short films of the same name. He is an enigmatic and malevolent being who enjoys inducing suffering to individuals he comes across who don't appreciate his own tricks or break the rules of Halloween.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1988)
When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe International (2009)
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTehom 33 (2024)
In search of a missing girl, a detective uncovers a mysterious alternate reality game on the dark web with roots in an elite occult society.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Feral (2008)
A disturbed young man pushes away his exurban family to seek wildness in the woods. The boy's urge for the primitive manifests in his bedroom at home and in a wild dog he follows through the countryside.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Harvey's Dream (2016)
A typical Saturday morning for an unhappily married couple decades into their lives together becomes anything but typical when the husband's neurological decline and uncertain memory may or may not reveal unthinkable tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Dedication (2017)
"Dedication" is the story of a maid working in a hotel who uses a black magic spell in the hopes of harnessing the talent of one of the hotel's frequent guests - an eccentric writer - and passing it on to her unborn son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Storm Child (2020)
Storm Child is a nightmarish incursion in the tormented mind of a four year old child. Yasmine and her family are Algerian refugees who just arrived in Québec during the infamous 1998 ice storm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Francis (2013)
Francis is a short story written by american novelist Dave Eggers. This is the story of a young boy growing up in the suburbs of chicago. He spent his vacations in Quetico Provincial Park, up on the border of Minnesota and Canada. But he won't be going back any day soon, not after what happened to a girl called Francis Brandywine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Don't Look Back (2021)
The plot of the film takes place in a foreign company located in southern Serbia. The warehouse manager enjoys his free weekend, which is interrupted by a warehouse worker who invites him to come to the warehouse in order to have a serious conversation with a new client from London. The manager had no idea what had happened there and what is yet to happen in the warehouse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Meurtre du tableau (2025)
An artist, surrounded by the mess in her studio, struggles with frustration as she tries to find inspiration for her new painting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Double Helix (2021)
Late at night, KONG Xianyun and her younger brother Yuanyuan escape from their family house. They trek into an abandoned school, where Yuanyuan’s memories are awakened – the sound of books, piano, and laughter. Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire engulfs everything. Adapted from The Song of Life by the worldrenowned sci-fi writer WANG Jinkang, this speculative short contemplates on the future of AI. Soaked in a never-shredding atmosphere and accompanied by the secret tune of a piano, DOUBLE HELIX tells a gripping story of intelligence robot, family trauma and a pair of run-away siblings who trek into an abandoned school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Pan (2017)
Juno, a twenty-year-old girl becomes obsessed with Pan. Her obsession turns her into an animal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Ascendent?
The closest matches to Ascendent are Rabbits (2002), Maniac (1963) and Original Sin (2001). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Ascendent?
Start with Rabbits (2002), the closest match to Ascendent.
What is the highest-rated movie like Ascendent?
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), rated 7.6/10 by 463 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Ascendent?
Mārama (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Ascendent?
Yes: Rabbits (2002), Maniac (1963) and Original Sin (2001).
How are movies similar to Ascendent chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Ascendent, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.