Movies like The Borderline (2022)
The best movies like The Borderline (2022) are The Marksman (2021), Desierto (2015) and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). If The Borderline hooked you with its animation and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTouch of Evil (1958)7.7/10 from 1,683 votes
- NewestArthur the King (2024)Released 2024
The Marksman (2021)
Jim Hanson’s quiet life is suddenly disturbed by two people crossing the US/Mexico border – a woman and her young son – desperate to flee a Mexican cartel. After a shootout leaves the mother dead, Jim becomes the boy’s reluctant defender. He embraces his role as Miguel’s protector and will stop at nothing to get him to safety, as they go on the run from the relentless assassins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesierto (2015)
A group of Mexican emigrants attempts to cross the Mexican-US border. What begins as a hopeful journey becomes a harrowing, bloody and primal fight for survival when a deranged, rifle-toting vigilante and his loyal Belgian Malinois dog chase the group of unarmed men and women through the treacherous borderland. In the harsh, unforgiving desert terrain, the odds are stacked firmly against them as they discover there’s nowhere to hide from the unrelenting, merciless killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
When brash Texas border officer Mike Norton wrongfully kills and buries the friend and ranch hand of Pete Perkins, the latter is reminded of a promise he made to bury his friend, Melquiades Estrada, in his Mexican home town. He kidnaps Norton and exhumes Estrada's corpse, and the odd caravan sets out on horseback for Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Border (1982)
A corrupted border agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMonsters (2010)
Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear and half of Mexico was quarantined as an infected zone. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures," while a journalist agrees to escort a shaken tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the U.S. border.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dog's Way Home (2019)
The adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCry Macho (2021)
A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man's young son home from Mexico.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisBorderline (1980)
Jeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTexas Rangers (2001)
Ten years after the Civil War has ended, the Governor of Texas asks Leander McNelly to form a company of Rangers to help uphold the law along the Mexican border. With a few veterans of the war, most of the recruits are young men who have little or no experience with guns or policing crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisArthur the King (2024)
Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrontera (2014)
After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel, a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGerry (2002)
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOld Yeller (1957)
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860s. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Sunset (1961)
At a Mexican ranch, fugitive O'Malley and pursuing Sheriff Stribling agree to help rancher Breckenridge drive his herd into Texas where Stribling could legally arrest O'Malley, but Breckenridge's wife complicates things.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarmen (2023)
A young and fiercely independent woman, Carmen, is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother. She survives an illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard. When the border guard and his patrol partner Aidan become embroiled in a deadly standoff, the pair is forced to escape together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMax (2015)
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWendy and Lucy (2008)
A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Trail (1930)
Young scout Breck Coleman leads a wagon train along the dangerous trail to Oregon as he tries to get the affection of the beautiful pioneer Ruth Cameron and plans his revenge on the harsh scoundrels who murdered a friend of his in the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tree of Life (2011)
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScarecrow (1973)
Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDinosaur (2000)
An orphaned dinosaur raised by lemurs joins an arduous trek to a sancturary after a meteorite shower destroys his family home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather (TBA)
A boy struggles to understand his strange, silent father - a Lithuanian immigrant who has become an emotional refugee in his own home.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Host (2006)
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTouch of Evil (1958)
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police investigation led by crooked captain Hank Quinlan, setting off a deadly struggle over power, justice, and truth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhite Fang (2018)
A loyal wolfdog’s curiosity leads him on the adventure of a lifetime while serving a series of three distinctly different masters.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLive and Become (2005)
In 1980, the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews and are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoonstruck (1987)
37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Lake House (2006)
When architect Alex Wyler moves into an unusual glass house on stilts over a lake, he discovers a note from the previous tenant in the mailbox--but no one's lived in the house for years. He replies and soon discovers that he's corresponding with a doctor named Kate Forster. Their correspondence, only through the 'magical' mailbox, turns romantic and their paths cross in unexpected ways, but when they try to truly connect, danger looms. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpanglish (2004)
Mexican immigrant and single mother Flor Moreno finds housekeeping work with Deborah and John Clasky, a well-off couple with two children of their own. When Flor admits she can't handle the schedule because of her daughter, Cristina, Deborah decides they should move into the Clasky home. Cultures clash and tensions run high as Flor and the Claskys struggle to share space while raising their children on their own, and very different, terms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Borderline?
The closest matches to The Borderline are The Marksman (2021), Desierto (2015) and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Borderline?
Start with The Marksman (2021), the closest match to The Borderline.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Borderline?
Touch of Evil (1958), rated 7.7/10 by 1,683 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Borderline?
Arthur the King (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Borderline chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Borderline, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.