Movies like Reality (2023)
The best movies like Reality (2023) are The Truth About Emanuel (2013), The House on Carroll Street (1988) and The Company You Keep (2012). If Reality hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJust Mercy (2019)7.8/10 from 2,573 votes
- NewestLast Breath (2025)Released 2025
The Truth About Emanuel (2013)
A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House on Carroll Street (1988)
A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Company You Keep (2012)
A former Weather Underground activist goes on the run from a journalist who discovers his identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKiller's Kiss (1955)
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Naked City (1948)
After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caveman's Valentine (2001)
Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisLast Breath (2025)
Seasoned deep-sea divers battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInsomnia (2002)
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Street with No Name (1948)
After two gang-related killings in "Center City," a suspect (who was framed) is arrested, released on bail...and murdered. Inspector Briggs of the FBI recruits a young agent, Gene Cordell, to go undercover in the shadowy Skid Row area (alias George Manly) as a potential victim of the same racket. Soon, Gene meets Alec Stiles, neurotic mastermind who's "building an organization along scientific lines." Stiles recruits Cordell, whose job becomes a lot more dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009)
A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Believe in Unicorns (2015)
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThick as Thieves (2009)
A master thief recruits a notorious thief to help him steal two famous Faberge eggs from an impenetrable vault in an effort to pull off one final job and repay his debt to the Russian mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl in the Book (2015)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNormal (2003)
A Midwestern husband and father announces his plan to have a sex change operation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTalhotBlond (2012)
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)
An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove You to Death (2019)
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSaint Judy (2018)
The true story of immigration attorney Judy Wood and how she singlehandedly changed the U.S. law of asylum to save women's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJust Mercy (2019)
The powerful true story of Harvard-educated lawyer Bryan Stevenson, who goes to Alabama to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned — including Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence. Bryan fights tirelessly for Walter with the system stacked against them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCall Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisParmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018)
A look at India's second confidential nuclear test series at Pokhran lead by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, during the time of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBaby Snatcher (1992)
A woman is delighted to have given birth to a baby girl but her life is turned into a nightmare when she goes missing. The police mount a frantic search but to the woman's horror she finds out that it's herself who is the main suspect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not (2002)
A talented art student named Angélique is passionately in love with Dr. Loïc Le Garrec, a handsome married man whom she believes will leave his wife. When he eventually decides to stay in his marriage, it causes Angélique to spiral. However, as the story shifts from Angélique's perspective to Loïc's, the surprising truth about their relationship is revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hurt Locker (2008)
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnce Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019)
Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Investigation (2002)
Tells the true story of a bungled and obstructed police manhunt for a serial killer who could and should have been imprisoned after his first crime. Two young RCMP officers, each separately investigating a rape and murder, captured the culprit, but because of legal red tape, jurisdictional chaos and incompetence, the suspect was allowed to continue his rampage until he was finally arrested and imprisoned - several murders later.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Dark Horse (2014)
One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThirteen Days (2000)
The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus (1980)
The protagonists of this docudrama are old farmers who migrated to Banat after the First World War, in 1922. The film is focused on a couple of important events in their impressive lives, which are woven into lively scenes and stories full of wise instances. Their statements become spontaneous recounts of the lives of people in this region.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lilya 4-ever (2002)
In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Reality?
The closest matches to Reality are The Truth About Emanuel (2013), The House on Carroll Street (1988) and The Company You Keep (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Reality?
Start with The Truth About Emanuel (2013), the closest match to Reality.
What is the highest-rated movie like Reality?
Just Mercy (2019), rated 7.8/10 by 2,573 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Reality?
Last Breath (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Reality?
Yes: The Truth About Emanuel (2013), The House on Carroll Street (1988) and The Company You Keep (2012).
How are movies similar to Reality chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Reality, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.