Movies like The Samaritan (2012)
The best movies like The Samaritan (2012) are Wasteman (2026), Waist Deep (2006) and The Limey (1999). If The Samaritan hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSleepers (1996)7.6/10 from 4,133 votes
- NewestWasteman (2026)Released 2026
Wasteman (2026)
Taylor's hopes for a fresh start post-parole are jeopardised by cellmate Dee's arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own chances at freedom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWaist Deep (2006)
An ex-convict gets tangled up with a gang after his car is hijacked with his son inside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Limey (1999)
The Limey follows Wilson, a tough English ex-con who travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death. Upon arrival, Wilson goes to task battling Valentine and an army of L.A.'s toughest criminals, hoping to find clues and piece together what happened. After surviving a near-death beating, getting thrown from a building and being chased down a dangerous mountain road, the Englishman decides to dole out some bodily harm of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHomefront (2013)
Phil Broker, a retired DEA agent, leads a quiet life with his daughter Maddy, until a school bullying incident draws them into a conflict with Morgan “Gator” Bodine, a local crime boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this5lbs of Pressure (2024)
Fresh out of prison after serving time for murder, Adam returns to his old stomping grounds to seek out a son who doesn't know him. Eli, the brother of the man he killed is looking for revenge. Mike, is trying to escape a life of crime living under the thumb of his gangster Uncle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRaw Deal (1948)
Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBraven (2018)
A logger defends his family from a group of dangerous drug runners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBad Boys (1983)
Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleepers (1996)
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRise of the Footsoldier (2007)
Carlton Leach rises from one of the most feared generals of the football terraces to becoming a member of a notorious gang of criminals who rampaged their way through London and Essex in the late '80s and early '90s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisButterfly on a Wheel (2007)
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Horseman (2008)
A tender drama unfolds between a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the quiet outback roads of Australia. What she doesn't know is that between stops, he is leaving behind a bloody trail of bodies in a revenge motivated killing spree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAt Close Range (1986)
Brad Whitewood Jr. lives in rural Pennsylvania and has few prospects. Against his mother's wishes, he seeks out his estranged father, the head of a gang of thieves in a nearby town. Though his new girlfriend supports his criminal ambitions, Brad Jr. soon learns that his father is a dangerous man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCape Fear (1991)
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSnitch (2013)
Construction company owner John Matthews learns that his estranged son, Jason, has been arrested for drug trafficking. Facing an unjust prison sentence for a first time offender courtesy of mandatory minimum sentence laws, Jason has nothing to offer for leniency in good conscience. Desperately, John convinces the DEA and the opportunistic DA Joanne Keeghan to let him go undercover to help make arrests big enough to free his son in return. With the unwitting help of an ex-con employee, John enters the narcotics underworld where every move could be his last in an operation that will demand all his resources, wits and courage to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Josiah Saw (2021)
A family with buried secrets reunite at a farmhouse after two decades to pay for their past sins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBreakwater (2023)
A young ex-con risks his newfound freedom to track down the estranged daughter of a fellow inmate, and unknowingly brings a devil from her past straight to her doorstep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Score to Settle (2019)
A former mob enforcer who is released from prison after serving 22 years for a crime he didn't commit sets out on a path for revenge against the people who wronged him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisKing of New York (1990)
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTraffik (2018)
A couple off for a romantic weekend in the mountains are accosted by a biker gang. Alone in the mountains, Brea and John must defend themselves against the gang, who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHannibal Rising (2007)
The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill and learnt sword skills from his Japanese girlfriend, who happened to have similar fate
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirst Blood (1982)
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Stand Alone (1999)
After completing jail time for beating up a man who tried to seduce his mentally-handicapped teenage daughter, the Butcher wants to start life anew. He institutionalizes his daughter and moves to the Lille suburbs with his mistress, who promises him a new butcher shop. Learning that she lied, the Butcher returns to Paris to find his daughter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCarne (1991)
After a dreadful incident coupled with an ungovernable paroxysm of violence, a butcher will fall into a downward spiral that will burn to the ground whatever dignity still remained in him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Butterfly Effect (2004)
A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Card Counter (2021)
William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Real McCoy (1993)
Karen McCoy is released from prison with nothing but the clothes on her back. Before being incarcerated, Karen was the bank robber of her time, but now she wishes for nothing more than to settle down and start a new life. Unfortunately, between a dirty parole officer, old business partners, and an idiot ex, she will have to do the unthinkable in order to save her son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies 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: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReindeer Games (2000)
After assuming his dead cellmate's identity to get with his girlfriend, an ex-con finds himself the reluctant participant in a casino heist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Samaritan?
The closest matches to The Samaritan are Wasteman (2026), Waist Deep (2006) and The Limey (1999). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Samaritan?
Start with Wasteman (2026), the closest match to The Samaritan.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Samaritan?
Sleepers (1996), rated 7.6/10 by 4,133 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Samaritan?
Wasteman (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Samaritan?
Yes: Wasteman (2026), Waist Deep (2006) and The Limey (1999).
How are movies similar to The Samaritan chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Samaritan, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.