Best movies like Paycheck
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid – and why he's now in hot water.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 112000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, suspense, tech noir, exciting, serious, thought provoking, suspenseful, stylized, cyber
Best tv shows and movies like Paycheck (2003):
Similar in 84%
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Plot Summary:
Wounded to the brink of death and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne is rescued at sea by a fisherman. With nothing to go on but a Swiss bank account number, he starts to reconstruct his life, but finds that many people he encounters want him dead. However, Bourne realizes that he has the combat and mental skills of a world-class spy – but who does he work for?.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 569000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Czech Republic
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: political thriller, intense, exciting, suspense, suspenseful, entertaining, psychological thriller, action packed, saga, action adventure
Similar in 78%
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Plot Summary:
When a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 481000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Russia, India
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, exciting, intellectual, serious, entertaining, action packed, tense, clever, road movie
Similar in 80%
Southland Tales (2006)
Plot Summary:
Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Ronald Taverner, a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: surreal, futuristic, enigmatic, cult classic, cynical, apocalyptic, postmodern, allegory, mindfuck, mind bending
Similar in 86%
Push (2009)
Plot Summary:
After his father, an assassin, is brutally murdered, Nick Gant vows revenge on Division, the covert government agency that dabbles in psychic warfare and experimental drugs. Hiding in Hong Kong's underworld, Nick assembles a band of rogue psychics dedicated to destroying Division. Together with Cassie, a teenage clairvoyant, Nick goes in search of a missing girl and a stolen suitcase that could be the key to accomplishing their mutual goal.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 115000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, stylized, intense, suspenseful, serious, action packed, apocalyptic, sweet, epic, action thriller
Similar in 88%
Eagle Eye (2008)
Plot Summary:
Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman are two strangers whose lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil by a mysterious woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, the unseen caller uses everyday technology to control their actions and push them into increasing danger. As events escalate, Jerry and Rachel become the country's most-wanted fugitives and must figure out what is happening to them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 194000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, serious, intense, psychological thriller, futuristic, action thriller, action packed, thought provoking, clever
Similar in 82%
Freejack (1992)
Plot Summary:
Time-traveling bounty hunters find a doomed race-car driver in the past and bring him to 2009 New York, where his mind will be replaced with that of a terminally ill billionaire.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, cyber, suspense, tech noir, grindhouse, anamorphic, disgusting, exciting, bleak
Similar in 82%
Impostor (2001)
Plot Summary:
Gary Sinise plays Spencer Olham, a top-secret government weapons designer who is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile alien race wanting to take over Earth.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, suspenseful, stylized, serious, psychological thriller, thought provoking, cyber, mindfuck, intense
Similar in 84%
Lockout (2012)
Plot Summary:
Set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent , whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, suspense, rough, suspenseful, entertaining, action packed, absurd, captivating, apocalyptic
Similar in 88%
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Plot Summary:
A man glimpses the future Fate has planned for him – and chooses to fight for his own destiny. Battling the powerful Adjustment Bureau across, under and through the streets of New York, he risks his destined greatness to be with the only woman he's ever loved.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 268000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: mind bending, romantic, philosophical, suspense, surreal, psychological, cerebral, thought provoking, suspenseful, clever
Similar in 79%
Self/less (2015)
Plot Summary:
An extremely wealthy elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body's origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 103000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, philosophical, suspenseful, suspense, tricky, thought provoking, scary, psychological thriller, clever
Similar in 84%
The 6th Day (2000)
Plot Summary:
Futuristic action about a man who meets a clone of himself and stumbles into a grand conspiracy about clones taking over the world.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: futuristic, suspense, exciting, suspenseful, action packed, philosophical, entertaining, tech noir, cyber, serious
Similar in 82%
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Plot Summary:
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 290000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, entertaining, serious, suspenseful, apocalyptic, cyber, action adventure, surprise ending, bleak
Similar in 77%
Deja Vu (2006)
Plot Summary:
Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help prevent crime.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 324000
Genere: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tricky, twisted, suspense, confusing, psychological thriller, clever, surprise ending, mindfuck
Similar in 81%
The Island (2005)
Plot Summary:
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 325000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, action packed, apocalyptic, intense, thought provoking, entertaining
Similar in 88%
Cypher (2002)
Plot Summary:
An unsuspecting, disenchanted man finds himself working as a spy in the dangerous, high-stakes world of corporate espionage. Quickly getting way over-his-head, he teams up with a mysterious femme fatale.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, tense, stylized, enigmatic, sexy, thought provoking, suspense, futuristic, intense
Similar in 81%
Source Code (2011)
Plot Summary:
Decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, discovering he's involved in a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. He learns he's part of a top-secret experimental program that enables him to experience the final 8 minutes of another person's life. Colter re-lives the train incident over and over again, gathering more clues each time. But can he discover who is responsible for the attack before the next one happens?.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 542000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, France, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, clever, mind bending, thought provoking, suspenseful, captivating, cerebral, tricky, mindfuck
Similar in 75%
Unknown (2011)
Plot Summary:
An American biologist attending a conference in Berlin awakens from a coma after a car accident, only to discover that someone has taken his identity and that no one, not even his wife, believes him. With the help of an illegal immigrant and a former Stazi agent, he sets out to prove who he is and find out why people are trying to kill him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 268000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, twist ending, suspenseful, tense, mind bending, psychological, captivating, serious, exciting
Similar in 81%
Next (2007)
Plot Summary:
Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 165000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, mind bending, stylized, action packed, serious, suspenseful, clever, bad ending, suspense, surprise ending
Similar in 81%
Knowing (2009)
Plot Summary:
A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 245000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Australia
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, suspenseful, scary, futuristic, twist ending, surprise ending, thought provoking, absurd, mindfuck
Similar in 88%
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Plot Summary:
A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza. In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: futuristic, cyber, stylized, apocalyptic, bleak, suspenseful, tech noir, cult classic, retro, philosophical
Similar in 81%
Surrogates (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 179000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, bleak, suspenseful, surreal, cyber, exciting, entertaining, cerebral, action packed, psychological thriller
Similar in 89%
Lucy (2014)
Plot Summary:
A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 525000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, USA, UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, surreal, philosophical, intellectual, serious, exciting, cerebral, entertaining, breathtaking, tricky
Similar in 79%
Minority Report (2002)
Plot Summary:
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 576000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: futuristic, suspense, neo noir, cerebral, exciting, tense, mind bending, tech noir, clever, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Aeon Flux (2005)
Plot Summary:
400 years into the future, disease has wiped out the majority of the world's population, except one walled city, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. When Æon Flux, the top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion, is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 132000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Brazil, Italy
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: futuristic, stylized, action packed, apocalyptic, exciting, visually appealing, visual, cyber, action adventure, psychological
Similar in 77%
Total Recall (2012)
Plot Summary:
Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid, even though he's got a beautiful wife who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life - real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police - controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen, the leader of the free world - Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter to find the head of the underground resistance and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 264000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, India
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, entertaining, exciting, suspense, cyber, suspenseful, rough, serious, stylized
Similar in 83%
Total Recall (1990)
Plot Summary:
Construction worker Douglas Quaid discovers a memory chip in his brain during a virtual-reality trip. He also finds that his past has been invented to conceal a plot of planetary domination. Soon, he's off to Mars to find out who he is and who planted the chip.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 348000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, ambiguous ending, suspense, cyber, entertaining, cult classic, mindfuck, exciting
Similar in 87%
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
Plot Summary:
Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague, Douglas Hall, but knowing someone is after him, the old man leaves a letter in his computer generated parallel world that's just like the 30's with seemingly real people with real emotions.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: mind bending, intellectual, twist ending, neo noir, atmospheric, psychedelic, philosophical, confusing, mind blowing, clever
Similar in 90%
Looper (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 596000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, China
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: futuristic, clever, thought provoking, mind bending, exciting, neo noir, tense, confusing, cerebral, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
In Time (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the not-too-distant future the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live forever, while the rest try to negotiate for their immortality. A poor young man who comes into a fortune of time, though too late to help his mother from dying. He ends up on the run from a corrupt police force known as 'time keepers'.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 438000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: futuristic, clever, philosophical, suspense, stylized, serious, thought provoking, apocalyptic, exciting, entertaining
Similar in 76%
Inception (2010)
Plot Summary:
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 25000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: psychological, mind bending, clever, cerebral, surreal, twist ending, futuristic, confusing, suspense, philosophical