Best movies like The Vanishing
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like The Vanishing? Impart your insights to navigate others toward tv series and films you've already seen that may also captivate them. Help increase the assembly of people bringing up videos amongst one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Three lighthouse keepers on an uninhabited island off the coast of Scotland discover something that isn't theirs to keep.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, enigmatic, captivating, suspense, psychological thriller, mind bending, bloody, minimal cast, powerful, crime thriller
Best tv shows and movies like The Vanishing (2018):
Similar in 82%
The Isle (2018)
Plot Summary:
1840 and another ship crashes on the rocks of an almost deserted island in Scotland. Three sailors survive the wreck and make it to shore where the few locals take them in as they wait for the mainland boat to come for them. But the sailors' survival story has only just started as they uncover the strange past of the once vibrant island.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: melancholic, serious, suspenseful, suspense, stylized, dark
Similar in 85%
The Boat (2018)
Plot Summary:
A lone fisherman on his daily run finds himself lost in a thick fog which proves impossible to navigate. The worst is yet to come when his encounter with a seemingly abandoned sailboat becomes a fight for survival against an enemy unknown.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: Malta, UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, rough, retro, atmospheric, enigmatic, dark, psychotronic, exciting, weird
Similar in 89%
The Lighthouse (2016)
Plot Summary:
Two lighthouse keepers clash, making their duties difficult even before a freak storms hits and strands them at the lighthouse for months. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, exciting, tense, bleak, melancholic, psychedelic, tension, minimal cast
Similar in 75%
Endangered Species (1982)
Plot Summary:
Thriller about a New York ex-cop and an attractive female sheriff who fall in love while investigating a string of mysterious cattle mutilations in a small Colorado town. Urich is great as Reuben Castle, the retired alcoholic police lieutenant out visiting the town with his tomboy daughter. At first he tries to stay out of the case but finds himself involved after the mysterious death of his friend Joe Hiatt, the editor of the local paper whose theories about black helicopters have aroused the ire of cattle baron Ben Morgan. Trying miserably to stay sober, Castle finds himself back in danger and in love, as he and the sheriff work together to get to the bottom of the mystery, encountering incredible danger and resistance from the frightened locals.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, rough, mind bending, suspense, retro, scary, serious, ambiguous ending, detective
Similar in 77%
The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)
Plot Summary:
Pirates take over a lighthouse on a rocky island. They then execute a devious plan to cause ships to run aground, pillaging their wrecks. A lone member of the lighthouse crew survives, and he deperately fights their plot. A shipwrecked maiden that avoids the pirates slaughter soon complicates the situation.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Country: Spain, Liechtenstein, USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Million Dollar Hotel starts with a jump from a roof top that clears up a death in a hotel that was burning to the ground where a lot of strange people had been living.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: psychological, intellectual, enigmatic, melancholic, captivating, surreal, detective, stylized, lyrical, independent film
Similar in 84%
The Cry of the Owl (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young woman becomes inexplicably attracted to a man who is stalking her. When her boyfriend goes missing, the stalker is the immediate suspect, until a game of jealousy and betrayal turns deadly.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, Germany, France, UK, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, noir, neo noir, surreal, realistic, ambiguous ending
Similar in 85%
The Unseen (2017)
Plot Summary:
Gemma and Will are shattered when their son dies in an accident. Gemma blames herself and starts to have panic attacks that affect her eyesight - and the audience's point of view. Will, tormented, believes he is hearing his son's voice calling out to him. To escape their grief, Gemma suggests they take up Paul's offer to stay at his Lake District country getaway. Gemma's, helped by ex-pharmacist Paul, tries to stop her panic attacks with medication. Will, unable to hear to his son in his bedroom back home, antagonizes Paul and suddenly goes home. Gemma is now reliant on Paul who appears to be developing genuine feelings for her welfare. Love, grief, and the frailty of the human condition are all brought to the fore as Gemma Will and Paul are caught up in a descent into violence, both psychological and ultimately physical.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 272
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, suspense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, light, surprise ending, independent film
Similar in 77%
A martfűi rém (2016)
Plot Summary:
Based on real-life events, this psycho-thriller is set in the provincial Hungary of the 1960s, when a series of atrocious murders shock the small town of Martfü. A psychotic killer is on the prowl, who continues to slaughter young women while an innocent man is wrongly accused and sentenced for crimes he could never have committed. A determined detective arrives on the scene and soon becomes obsessed with the case while under pressure from the prosecutor to see a man hang. Stuck in the suffocating social, political and psychological world of socialist Hungary, we soon find ourselves entangled in a web of intricate conspiracy and disturbing drama.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Hungary
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, captivating, scary, bleak, suspenseful, psychological thriller, noir, neo noir, action thriller
Similar in 90%
Bottom of the World (2017)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious disappearance of a young woman leads her boyfriend on a journey for truth and perhaps his own unknown reality in this dark, hypnotic mystery that transcends the limitations of traditional narrative.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing, mind bending, mindfuck, twisted, weird
Similar in 87%
The Girl on the Train (2014)
Plot Summary:
When documentary filmmaker Danny Hart boards a train at Grand Central Station he has no reason to expect anything more than a pleasant ride to upstate New York to interview the subjects for his latest project. But a chance encounter with a mysterious young woman leads him on a journey of a very different sort. Within the blink of an eye his life of complacency is left behind for a world in which the line between fantasy and reality is blurred...a world of intrigue, danger, and the possibility of blood.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, realistic, psychological thriller, rough, mind bending, serious, independent film
Similar in 77%
The River King (2005)
Plot Summary:
Abel Grey is sent to investigate the death of a boy from an exclusive local school, who is found floating in the river. Fearing scandal, the school insists it was suicide. But after discovering from the boy's girlfriend, Carlin, that he was being badly bullied, Abel suspects that a dangerous schoolboy initiation has gone horribly wrong and he secretly solicits the help of a sympathetic teacher, Betsy. He is warned off the investigation by his boss, as the school is a generous benefactor to the Police benevolent fund. Abel, however, cannot let the case go, not only because his own brother committed suicide years before, but also it seems that the spirit of the dead boy is leaving them clues as to what really happened that night.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, enigmatic, suspense, disturbing, psychological thriller, creepy
Similar in 77%
The Fields (2011)
Plot Summary:
Tells the story of a young boy and his family who are terrorized by an unseen presence.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, scary, suspense, twisted, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
Serenity (2019)
Plot Summary:
Baker Dill is a fishing boat captain leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island. His quiet life is shattered, however, when his ex-wife Karen tracks him down with a desperate plea for help.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: neo noir, suspense, psychological, surprise ending, suspenseful, disturbing, brutal, visually appealing, philosophical, mind bending
Similar in 81%
10x10 (2018)
Plot Summary:
Lewis is an outwardly ordinary guy, but in reality he is hiding an obsession - revenge - against Cathy. Lewis kidnaps Cathy in broad daylight and takes her to his home, where he locks her in a soundproof cell and attempt to extract a dark secret from her past.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, rough, psychological, tense, captivating, psychological thriller, feel good, brutal
Similar in 87%
Talvar (2015)
Plot Summary:
A hardened cop deals with three conflicting perspectives involving a brutal double murder. The case is complicated as the prime suspects are the parents who supposedly killed their teenage daughter.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: India
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspense thriller, captivating, social, psychological, tense, psychological thriller, mind bending, dark, realistic
Similar in 78%
The Lighthouse (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 245000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: suspense, minimal cast, psychological, mysterious, lovecraft, gothic horror, disturbing, psychological thriller, black and white, gothic
Similar in 86%
Buried (2010)
Plot Summary:
Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 167000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, UK, France, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, psychological, scary, surprise ending, depressing, dark, bad ending, minimal cast, twist ending
Similar in 77%
Half Light (2006)
Plot Summary:
Rachel Carson, a best-selling crime novelist, is devastated and filled with guilt over the accidental death of her son. Hoping that a change of scenery will help alleviate her suffering, she leaves her home in the city and moves into a vacant country house owned by a friend and begins a relationship with charming local Angus. But, just as her life is taking a turn for the better, Rachel realizes she's being romanced by a ghost, leading her to doubt her own sanity.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, suspenseful, atmospheric, twist ending, surprise ending, stylized, intense, enigmatic, scary
Similar in 85%
Saint Maud (2019)
Plot Summary:
Having recently found God, self-effacing young nurse Maud arrives at a plush home to care for Amanda, a hedonistic dancer left frail from a chronic illness. When a chance encounter with a former colleague throws up hints of a dark past, it becomes clear there is more to sweet Maud than meets the eye.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: scary, disturbing, suspense, psychological, bleak, psychological thriller, atmospheric, slasher, art house, tense
Similar in 84%
Fractured (2019)
Plot Summary:
Driving cross-country, Ray and his wife and daughter stop at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse, Ray is finally able to get her to a doctor. While the wife and daughter go downstairs for an MRI, Ray, exhausted, passes out in a chair in the lobby. Upon waking up, they have no record or knowledge of Ray's family ever being checked in.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, captivating, bleak, suspenseful, psychological thriller, rough, psychological, suspense, thought provoking, twist ending
Similar in 90%
The Confessions (2016)
Plot Summary:
A G8 meeting is being held at a luxury hotel on the German coast. The world's most powerful economists are gathered to enact important provisions that will deeply influence the world economy. One of the guests is a mysterious Italian monk, invited by Daniel Rochè, the director of the International Monetary Fund. He wants the monk to receive his confession, that night, in secret. The next morning, Rochè is found dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 84%
The Hole (2001)
Plot Summary:
Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France, Canada
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, scary, twist ending, tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, dark, serious, disturbing, teen
Similar in 79%
Spider (2002)
Plot Summary:
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, disturbing, bleak, twist ending, suspenseful, offbeat, non-linear, mindfuck, mind bending
Similar in 80%
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 75%
Shrill Cries of Summer (2008)
Plot Summary:
Early summer, Keiichi had just moved to a remote mountain village. As he becomes close friends with a group of girls, he was enjoying his life in the village. However when he starts to become suspicious that his friends may be deeply involved in successive murders that occur every summer, the situation around Keiichi gradually starts to turn into something more sinister.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 419
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, enigmatic, tense, captivating, suspenseful, manga
Similar in 87%
Gone Girl (2014)
Plot Summary:
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 10000000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, surprise ending, clever, twist ending, suspenseful, neo noir, tense, dramatic, psychological thriller
Similar in 78%
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 76%
Calibre (2018)
Plot Summary:
Two lifelong friends head up to an isolated Scottish Highlands village for a weekend hunting trip that descends into a never-ending nightmare as they attempt to cover up a horrific hunting accident.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, psychological thriller, tense, dark, captivating, social, dramatic, perverse
Similar in 84%
Shutter Island (2010)
Plot Summary:
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, confusing, dark, atmospheric, suspenseful, cerebral, neo noir