Movies Like Sabbatical

If you liked Sabbatical (2025), a drama and thriller movie directed by Karabo Lediga, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Light It Up (1999)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and thriller
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
2
Magpie (2024)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and drama
A couple's lives are thrown into disarray when their daughter is cast opposite a controversial major star.
3
The Good Neighbor (2022)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and drama
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and…
4
The Hummingbird Project (2019)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and drama
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
5
A Dry White Season (1989)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and thriller
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
6
Not Without Hope (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and drama
A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.
7
Lila & Eve (2015)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and drama
Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers.
8
Tyler Perry's Duplicity (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller and drama
High-powered attorney Marley faces her most personal case yet when she is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the murder of her best friend Fela’s husband. With the help of her boyfriend – a former cop turned…
9
The Operative (2019)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and thriller
A young Western woman is recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject.
10
Rogue Agent (2022)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and drama
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
11
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also thriller and drama
When a law student accidentally kills the son of a mob boss in a fight, he finds himself relentlessly pursued by the mob and the police.
12
Chatroom (2010)
★ 5.8/10Also drama and thriller
When strangers Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online in his new 'Chelsea Teens!' chatroom, they're completely seduced by his fast-talking, charismatic character. But beneath the surface lies a much darker truth…
13
Road to Paloma (2014)
★ 5.8/10Also thriller and drama
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is…
14
The Wasp (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and drama
Heather bumps into Carla, having not spoken to her in years, and presents her with a very unexpected proposition that could change both of their lives forever.
15
Tuesday (2024)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A mother and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
16
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10Also drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
17
Lockdown (2000)
★ 6.1/10Also drama and thriller
Avery (Jones) returns to college as a competitive swimmer after getting his life back on track. But his life takes another unexpected turn when he and his two friends (Bonds, Casseus) are wrongly accused of murder and…
18
The Lords of Discipline (1983)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and thriller
Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism…
19
The Infernal Machine (2022)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller
Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his…
20
Luce (2019)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and thriller
A star athlete and top student, Luce's idealized image is challenged by one of his teachers when his unsettling views on political violence come to light, putting a strain on family bonds while igniting intense debates…