Movies like The Secret of the Box Car (1916)
The best movies like The Secret of the Box Car (1916) are Safety Last! (1923), The Lady Vanishes (2013) and Black Widow (1987). If The Secret of the Box Car 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
Safety 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 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 thisBlack 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 thisFigures in a Landscape (1970)
Two escaped convicts are on the run in an unnamed Latin American country. But everywhere they go, they are followed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
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 thisStrange but True (2019)
A woman surprises the family of her deceased boyfriend by telling them she's pregnant with his child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 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 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 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 thisUnion Station (1950)
Police catch a break when suspected kidnappers are spotted on a train heading towards Union Station. Police, train station security and a witness try to piece together the crime and get back the blind daughter of a rich business man.
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 thisIndemnity (2022)
An ex-fireman with PTSD goes on the run when accused of a crime he doesn't even remember committing, leading him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy to the highest degree.
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 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 thisThe Lady Vanishes (1938)
On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 Lineup (1958)
In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGehenna (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
Speed Versus Death (1910)
Braggs, the young western settler, comes into view leading his broncho while he leads his little child on the horse's back. Placing the child on the ground and watering the pony, he takes his knife from his pocket to make an extra hole in the saddle strap. The knife slips and penetrates his wrist, severing an artery. His wife comes to his assistance, makes a tourniquet with strips of her apron, jumps on the broncho's back, bids her husband to care for the child and keep up courage while she rides to town for the doctor.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
C.O.D. (1932)
A man assists a woman to dispose of the body of her stepfather....
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The 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
The Silver Greyhound (1932)
A King’s Messenger has important documents stolen by a female spy. The plot follows the messenger’s uncle as he takes action to track down the culprit, retrieve the papers, and unmask the spy.
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
The Murderers (1973)
A reformed criminal is blackmailed when three girls are murdered.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Brown Wallet (1936)
Publisher John Gillespie faces a financial crisis after his business partner skips town with all the firm's assets. Facing ruin, he reluctantly approaches a wealthy aunt for assistance but is met with a stony-faced refusal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
A Prowler in the Heart (1973)
A mystery novelist meticulously creates an alibi to keep her husband from being convicted of murder.
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
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Secret of the Box Car?
The closest matches to The Secret of the Box Car are Safety Last! (1923), The Lady Vanishes (2013) and Black Widow (1987). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Secret of the Box Car?
Start with Safety Last! (1923), the closest match to The Secret of the Box Car.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Secret of the Box Car?
Safety Last! (1923), rated 7.7/10 by 614 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Secret of the Box Car?
Gehenna (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Secret of the Box Car?
Yes: Safety Last! (1923), The Lady Vanishes (2013) and Black Widow (1987).
How are movies similar to The Secret of the Box Car chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Secret of the Box Car, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.