Best movies like The Vanishing
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Rex and Saskia are enjoying a biking holiday in France when, stopping at a gas station, Saskia disappears. Confounded, Rex searches everywhere, but to no avail. Three years later, he's still obsessed with finding her, pleading his case on television, putting up posters and ruining his new relationship in the process. Eventually an unassuming chemistry teacher, Raymond, approaches Rex, intimating that he knows what happened.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: Netherlands, France, West Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, psychological thriller, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, twist ending, creepy, mind bending, grim
Best tv shows and movies like The Vanishing (1988):
Similar in 75%
The Vanishing (1993)
Plot Summary:
A young woman (Sandra Bullock) mysteriously disappears, sending her boyfriend Jeff (Kiefer Sutherland) on a years-long quest to find her. Not even a new love (Nancy Travis) can keep him from his obsessive search. All the while, the calculating psychopath (Jeff Bridges) who kidnapped his girlfriend stalks Jeff, ultimately taking him through the exact same steps that led to the crime. In order to find out what happened, Jeff must put his own life in the hands of this devious stranger.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, psychological thriller, tense, scary, suspense, intense, serious, atmospheric, dark
Similar in 76%
Funny Games (1997)
Plot Summary:
Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Austria
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, suspense, psychological, scary, psychological thriller, tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, bloody
Similar in 89%
Sleuth (1972)
Plot Summary:
A mystery novelist devises an insurance scam with his wife’s lover - but things aren’t exactly as they seem.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 50000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, tense, suspenseful, mind bending, atmospheric, enigmatic, minimal cast, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Wicker Man (1973)
Plot Summary:
Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 90000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: twist ending, psychological, scary, creepy, controversial, psychotronic, suspenseful, suspense, dark, surreal
Similar in 82%
With a Friend Like Harry... (2000)
Plot Summary:
Harry knew Michel in high school; they meet again by accident, Harry inserts himself in Michel's life... and things take a sinister turn.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, dark comedy, black comedy, atmospheric, intellectual, stylized, scary, humorous
Similar in 90%
Deep Red (1975)
Plot Summary:
A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: psychological, gothic, disturbing, slasher, scary, atmospheric, suspense, suspenseful, grindhouse, tense
Similar in 82%
The Hitcher (1986)
Plot Summary:
A young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher's crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: road movie, psychological, slasher, suspenseful, scary, neo noir, suspense, psychological thriller, bad ending, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Joy Ride (2001)
Plot Summary:
Three young people on a road trip from Colorado to New Jersey talk to a trucker on their CB radio, then must escape when he turns out to be a psychotic killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, suspenseful, scary, psychological thriller, tense, road movie, slasher, creepy, teen
Similar in 81%
Insomnia (1997)
Plot Summary:
Detectives Jonas and Erik are called to the midnight sun country of northern Norway to investigate a recent homicide, but their plan to arrest the killer goes awry, and Jonas mistakenly shoots Erik. The suspect escapes, and a frightened Jonas pins Erik's death on the fugitive. Jonas continues to pursue the killer as he seeks to protect himself; however, his mounting guilt and the omnipresent sun plague him with an insomnia that affects his sanity.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Norway
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, neo noir, detective, tense, suspense, enigmatic, bleak, dark, cynical, grim
Similar in 85%
After.Life (2009)
Plot Summary:
Following a terrible car crash, a woman (Christina Ricci) awakes to find an enigmatic mortician (Liam Neeson) preparing her for burial.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, mind bending, twist ending, atmospheric, suspense, offbeat, enigmatic, suspenseful, creepy
Similar in 79%
Hidden (2005)
Plot Summary:
A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on their front porch.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Austria, Germany, Italy
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, psychological thriller, art house, surreal, tense, neo noir, clever, bleak, confusing
Similar in 81%
Lost Highway (1997)
Plot Summary:
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgangers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 151000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: surreal, neo noir, mind bending, atmospheric, confusing, disturbing, psychedelic, cerebral, gothic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Plot Summary:
In Italy, the American writer Sam Dalmas witnesses an attempt of murder of the owner of an art gallery, a couple of days before his foreseen return to the United States of America. He decides to stay with his girlfriend Julia and help the police in the investigation, while the serial killer stalks Julia and him.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, West Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, twist ending, slasher, grindhouse, tense, suspense, rough, erotic, surreal
Similar in 86%
The Strangers (2008)
Plot Summary:
After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 141000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: slasher, scary, suspense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, tense, rough, atmospheric, disturbing, creepy
Similar in 85%
Saw (2004)
Plot Summary:
Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must fight to win their lives back, or die trying.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 459000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspense, scary, surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, disturbing, psychological thriller, mind bending, clever, splatter
Similar in 87%
Kiss the Girls (1997)
Plot Summary:
Forensic psychologist Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 80000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: detective, suspense, twist ending, suspenseful, tense, serious, psychological thriller, surprise ending, disturbing, intense
Similar in 85%
Manhunter (1986)
Plot Summary:
FBI Agent Will Graham, who retired after catching Hannibal Lecktor, returns to duty to engage in a risky cat-and-mouse game with Lecktor to capture a new killer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological thriller, suspenseful, suspense, detective, tense, scary, psychological, atmospheric, creepy
Similar in 82%
The Crimson Rivers (2000)
Plot Summary:
Two French policemen, one investigating a grisly murder at a remote mountain college, the other working on the desecration of a young girl's grave by skinheads, are brought together by the clues from their respective cases. Soon after they start working together, more murders are committed, and the pair begin to discover just what dark secrets are behind the killings.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, serious, suspense, detective, psychological, rough, sexy, enigmatic, atmospheric
Similar in 89%
Copycat (1995)
Plot Summary:
An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, suspense, psychological, tense, detective, suspenseful, sexy, slasher, scary, creepy
Similar in 80%
Zodiac (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the investigation of the "Zodiac Killer", a serial killer who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area, taunting police with his ciphers and letters. The case becomes an obsession for four men as their lives and careers are built and destroyed by the endless trail of clues.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 584000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: suspense, atmospheric, tense, neo noir, stylized, twist ending, suspenseful, psychological, rough, detective
Similar in 87%
Prisoners (2013)
Plot Summary:
When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 784000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: psychological, twist ending, suspenseful, bleak, atmospheric, neo noir, detective, surprise ending, psychological thriller, tense
Similar in 88%
Secret Window (2004)
Plot Summary:
Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 207000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, suspense, tense, dark, atmospheric, bad ending, psychological thriller, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The Game (1997)
Plot Summary:
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a coldhearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad -- a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nearly a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 421000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, suspense, twist ending, neo noir, suspenseful, intellectual, unusual plot structure, clever, philosophical
Similar in 86%
Identity (2003)
Plot Summary:
Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 263000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: twist ending, suspense, psychological thriller, scary, suspenseful, surprise ending, mind bending, twisted, tricky, serious
Similar in 75%
Orphan (2009)
Plot Summary:
A married couple with a rocky past adopt 9-year old, Esther to fill the void created by a recently-stillborn baby. However, Esther is not quite who she seems.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 247000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Germany, France
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, scary, psychological, twist ending, suspenseful, surprise ending, frightening, creepy, disturbing, serious
Similar in 81%
Insomnia (2002)
Plot Summary:
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 313000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, atmospheric, detective, psychological thriller, suspense, dark, suspenseful, tense, bad ending
Similar in 86%
The Pledge (2001)
Plot Summary:
A police chief about to retire pledges to help a woman find her daughter's killer. Based on a story by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, suspenseful, detective, suspense, enigmatic, intense, psychological thriller, atmospheric, disturbing
Similar in 82%
The Gift (2015)
Plot Summary:
A husband and wife try to reinvigorate their relationship but their lives are threatened by a "friend" from the husband's past who holds a horrifying secret about him, sending their world into a tailspin.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 169000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia, China
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, suspense, twist ending, surprise ending, psychological, intense, suspenseful, mindfuck, atmospheric, scary
Similar in 83%
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Plot Summary:
FBI trainee, Clarice Starling ventures into a maximum-security asylum to pick the diseased brain of Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist turned homicidal cannibal. Starling needs clues to help her capture a serial killer. But her Faustian relationship with Lecter soon leads to his escape, and now two deranged killers are on the loose.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 15000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, suspense, scary, psychological thriller, tense, dark, neo noir, serious, thrilling
Similar in 89%
Se7en (1995)
Plot Summary:
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Sommerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 18000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, detective, suspenseful, disturbing, neo noir, suspense, scary, tense, bad ending, atmospheric