Movies like The Stranger (2022)
The best movies like The Stranger (2022) are The Cat (2011), The Jester (2016) and Warning: Do Not Play (2019). If The Stranger hooked you with its horror and mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDeep Water (2026)7.4/10 from 721 votes
- NewestDeep Water (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanThe Cat (2011)Also in Korean
The Cat (2011)
So-yeon suffers from claustrophobia and inherits a Persian cat when its owner dies. She begins having nightmares and people around her begin dying as she searches for the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & 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 & horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWarning: Do Not Play (2019)
A struggling director makes a desperate bid to dig into the urban legend about a film shot by a ghost, at the risk of her own life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThree (2002)
An anthology consisting of three horror shorts from different Asian directors: Memories by Kim Jee-woon, The Wheel by Nonzee Nimibutr, and Going Home by Peter Chan.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBody Cam (2020)
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Jester: Chapter 2 (2017)
The Jester returns in this sequel short film to continue to spread his Halloween cheer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 horror & mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Piper (2015)
Shortly after the Korean war, a father and a son are wandering through the country and make a stop in a remote village, where strange and dangerous happenings occur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Red Shoes (2005)
A woman who finds a pair of pink high heels on a subway platform soon realizes that jealousy, greed, and death follow them wherever they go.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Watch (1973)
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery & horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoice (2005)
While practicing after hours in her high school, an aspiring singer is mysteriously killed and her body vanishes. Her invisible ghost is trapped in the school, but her best friend is able to hear her voice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror & mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurve (2016)
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOther Side of the Box (2018)
A couple receives a mysterious package from an old friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonster (2005)
A mother battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the closet, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDeep Water (2026)
A group of international passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoor Lock (2018)
Kyung-min lives alone in a one-room apartment. One day, she finds traces of a stranger breaking into her room and soon a mysterious murder case begins to unravel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Will Die in 6 Hours (2024)
Jung-yoon was approached by a random stranger named Jun-woo, who told her she'd be dead in six hours. As she follows him for answers, she begins to question whether he's her savior or the one trying to put her in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNoise (2025)
A young woman with a hearing impairment investigates her sister’s mysterious disappearance from her apartment, but as she searches for answers, strange sounds and an ominous presence begin to haunt her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVicious (2025)
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both horror
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLes Femmes (2022)
A young woman guides a man through a mysterious forest. In his eyes, everything seems normal, until he comes across two women waiting for him in a macabre ritual.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Pig (1999)
A young man journeys through a desert, where he is kidnapped by a sadistic stranger clad in a pig mask. The stranger proceeds to brutally torture the young man, who then finds himself escaping into his imagination, with fantasy and reality intersecting.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Willa (2019)
A classic, haunting ghost story based on Stephen King's original short.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
OSARU-CHAN (2021)
When two brothers steal a valuable heirloom from an elderly Japanese woman, they unknowingly awaken her demigod son, Osaru, who does not take kindly to thieves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
CLEAN (TBA)
"Have you ever answered the wrong call—only to change a life? When a middle-aged sanitation worker picks up a ringing helpline phone, she becomes an unexpected lifeline to a young woman in despair, revealing the quiet power of empathy from society’s most overlooked."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
MasterChat GPT (2024)
At 3 AM, a girl tries to cook instant ramen noodles with instructions from ChatGPT
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Thousand Year Sleep (2007)
Samantha, Lydia, Isabella, and Lisa. These four young women are about to learn that humanity is just an irrelevant flame burning nowhere in the vastness of space. Their dreams will be shattered and one man will marvel at the evil he has committed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Chad Gets The AxE (2019)
A self-absorbed social media personality investigates a murder house on his live stream, and gets what he deserves... Or does he?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both horror
Like The Stranger and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Stranger?
The closest matches to The Stranger are The Cat (2011), The Jester (2016) and Warning: Do Not Play (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Stranger?
Start with The Cat (2011), the closest match to The Stranger.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Stranger?
Deep Water (2026), rated 7.4/10 by 721 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Stranger?
Deep Water (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like The Stranger?
Yes: The Cat (2011), Warning: Do Not Play (2019) and Three (2002).
How are movies similar to The Stranger chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Stranger, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.