Movies like A Race for a Life (1916)
The best movies like A Race for a Life (1916) are Black Widow (1987), The Glass Key (1942) and Safety Last! (1923). If A Race for a Life hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSafety Last! (1923)7.7/10 from 614 votes
- NewestGehenna (2025)Released 2025
Black Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Glass Key (1942)
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSafety Last! (1923)
When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConflict (1945)
Unhappily married Richard Mason concocts a meticulous scheme to kill his shrewish wife so that he'll be free to marry her sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lady Vanishes (2013)
Young socialite Iris Carr befriends an older woman while traveling solo by train. When Iris wakes from a nap, the woman is gone and other passengers claim she never existed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSleep, My Love (1948)
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCornered (1945)
A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSide Street (1950)
A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000. When he decides to return the money, things go wrong - and that is only the beginning of his troubles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEach Dawn I Die (1939)
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightfall (1956)
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
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
SnoozefestMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's the Matter with Helen? (1971)
Two middle-aged women move to Hollywood after their sons are convicted of a notorious murder and open a dance school for children eager to tap their way to stardom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Blue Lamp (1950)
P.C. George Dixon is a long-serving traditional copper who is due to retire shortly. He takes a new recruit under his aegis and introduces him to the easy-going night beat. Dixon is a classic ordinary hero but also anachronistic, unprepared and unable to answer the violence of the 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time Shifters (1999)
Tom Merrick gets caught up in a time-traveling conspiracy and must set the timeline right before it is irrevocably altered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisYoung and Innocent (1937)
When a young writer is falsely accused of murdering a famous actress, he escapes custody and joins forces with the daughter of a police constable to prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Night Stalker (1972)
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan in the Shadow (1957)
In a modern cow town, the powerful ranch owner’s henchmen kill a ranch hand, prompting the sheriff to investigate despite facing strong opposition. He finds an unlikely ally in the rancher's overprotected daughter, but their quest for justice puts them both in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPickup on South Street (1953)
In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Film Lost To Time (2024)
A film buff's obsession with an elusive, possibly nonexistent film spirals into a dangerous descent, blurring the line between reality and madness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Gehenna (2025)
In this recently found and restored banned underground classic from 1984, four girls go into a bathroom to hide in the middle of a war and, after an impulsive act by one of them, they find themselves trapped there. As panic gives way to despair, tragedy approaches.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Batman Dracula (1964)
Batman Dracula is a 1964 black and white American film produced and directed by Andy Warhol, without the permission of DC Comics. The film was screened only at Warhol's art exhibits. A fan of the Batman series, Warhol made the movie as a homage. Batman Dracula is considered to be the first film featuring a blatantly campy Batman. The film was thought to have been lost until scenes from it were shown at some length in the documentary Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Unknown Treasures (1926)
A poor man refrains from proposing to the woman he loves until he can secure the fortune left him by his uncle. Believing the treasure awaits in his uncle's abandoned mansion, he begins searching... only to uncover mystery, murder, and a killer ape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Climax (1930)
Young Italian girl wants to become a great opera singer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Smashing Through (1918)
Claim jumper Dave Marco and his boss Earl Foster, a crooked investment broker, hire chemist Ralph Brandon to falsify papers that a certain worthless mine is valuable then convince Ralph's mother to invest all her money in the mine. Ralph’s sister Holly meets Jack Mason, whose mine is actually valuable though not yet profitable, and they fall for each other. Once Mrs. Brandon finds out she has been duped, though forced into silence by the threat of having Ralph’s malfeasance exposed, and Marco attempts to jump Jack’s claim events come to a head until the happy conclusion.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Wreck of the Dunbar or The Yeoman's Wedding (1912)
In August 1857, the clipper ship Dunbar arrived at Sydney Heads after a long voyage from England, only to be smashed against the jagged cliffs at the entrance to Port Jackson during a severe rainstorm. It remains one of Australia’s worst maritime disasters, resulting in the loss of 121 lives and only a single survivor. This is a dramatic reenactment of the tale.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Conn, the Shaughraun (1912)
Adapted from Dion Boucicault’s classic 1874 play, the story follows an unjustly exiled Irish patriot and the clever vagabond, Conn, who engineers his escape from a penal colony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Hands Across the Sea (1912)
Jack Dudley, an English farmer, is married to Lilian, who is desired by the evil Robert Stilwood. While Jack and Lilian are honeymooning in Paris, Stilwood frames Dudley for murder and he is sentenced to imprisonment in a French penal colony in New Caledonia. He escapes and is rescued by a British man-o-war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
One Hundred Years Ago (1911)
Young squire Jasper Hugh Lovel is wrongfully accused of a crime and sent away to the penal colony at Norfolk Island. Back in England, a woman who deeply loves him refuses to give up hope. She successfully works to secure his official pardon. Once cleared, the two are joyfully reunited. The historical melodrama is notable for featuring a dramatic, high-stakes duel sequence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like A Race for a Life?
The closest matches to A Race for a Life are Black Widow (1987), The Glass Key (1942) and Safety Last! (1923). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after A Race for a Life?
Start with Black Widow (1987), the closest match to A Race for a Life.
What is the highest-rated movie like A Race for a Life?
Safety Last! (1923), rated 7.7/10 by 614 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like A Race for a Life?
Gehenna (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like A Race for a Life?
Yes: Black Widow (1987), The Glass Key (1942) and Safety Last! (1923).
How are movies similar to A Race for a Life chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside A Race for a Life, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.