Movies Like The Contestants

If you liked The Contestants (2016), a fantasy and horror movie directed by Nicolás de Jesús, 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
Barbarian (2022)
★ 6.9/10Also horror and mystery
In town for a job interview, a young woman arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that it has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she…
2
Backrooms (2026)
★ 7/10Also horror and mystery
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.
3
God Is a Bullet (2023)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller and horror
Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the…
4
Belzebuth (2019)
★ 7.1/10Also horror and fantasy
While leading a police investigation of a massacre in a public school at the border of Mexico and U.S.A, special Agent Emanuel Ritter links this strange case to the coming and rising of the ancient demon Belzebuth. But…
5
Nocebo (2022)
★ 6/10Also mystery and thriller
A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying…
6
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
★ 6.1/10Also horror and fantasy
Mary Lou Maloney, Hamilton High's Prom Queen of 1957, is killed during her coronation ceremony due to a prank gone wrong by her jilted boyfriend, Billy Nordham. Thirty years later, teen Vicki Carpenter is in the…
7
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
★ 7.3/10Also horror and mystery
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren encounter what would become one of the most sensational cases from their files. The fight for the soul of a young boy takes them beyond anything they'd ever seen before…
8
Dark Harvest (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also horror and fantasy
In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.
9
The Entity (1982)
★ 6.8/10Also horror and mystery
A single mom is raped by an invisible force. Her psychiatrist believes the experience stems from childhood trauma, while she knows something supernatural is at play.
10
Virtual Reality (2021)
★ 6.1/10Also horror and thriller
A film director makes a dark pact for his career to be a success. When he summons the crew and cast to his home for a first screening of the movie they just filmed, they will Fhave to survive a reality they never saw…
11
Smile (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also horror and mystery
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can't explain.
12
Southbound (2015)
★ 5.9/10Also fantasy and thriller
The film contains five stories set on desolate stretches of a desert highway. Two men on the run from their past, a band on its way to a gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister…
13
A Knight's War (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also horror and fantasy
A fearless knight braves a deadly realm to save the Chosen One’s soul. Facing witches, demons, and brutal foes, he discovers her return could ignite chaos and doom humanity.
14
Dust Bunny (2025)
★ 6.7/10Also fantasy and horror
Ten-year-old Aurora asks her hitman neighbor to kill the monster under her bed that she claims ate her family. To protect her, he must battle an onslaught of assassins while accepting that some monsters are real.
15
The House of Snails (2021)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller and horror
A writer secludes himself in the mountains and falls in lust with local Berta. After realizing the oddities of the rural community the author starts to question the lines between reality and fiction.
16
Vicious (2025)
★ 6/10Also horror and thriller
When Polly receives a mysterious box, it comes with one rule: place inside something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves. If she doesn’t obey, it will consume everything—and everyone—she’s ever known.
17
Bone Lake (2025)
★ 5.9/10Also horror and mystery
A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream…
18
Nightbreed (1990)
★ 6.4/10Also horror and fantasy
A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.
19
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller and horror
When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred…
20
Awareness (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also mystery and thriller
Ian is a teenager who lives with his father on the outskirts by running small scams using Ian's ability to generate visual illusions upon unsuspecting victims. When one of his cons goes awry, his abilities publicly…