Movies Like Desperation
If you liked Desperation (1987), a thriller movie directed by Chengfeng Shi and Zhou Xiaowen, 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
Only the River Flows (2023)
★ 6.5/10Also thrillerDedicated police detective Ma Zhe is tasked with solving a series of brutal murders in a rural Chinese town. As pressure mounts from his superiors, a hasty arrest is made, but while his colleagues celebrate, several…
- 2
Wardriver (2026)
★ 7.4/10Also thrillerHe’s a Wardriver: a hacker who steals from banks, not people—until he’s noticed. Now the money turns violent, and the woman caught in it could save him or kill them both.
- 3
Black Widow (1987)
★ 6.2/10Also thrillerFederal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple…
- 4
Point Blank (2019)
★ 6/10Also thrillerA nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
- 5
City of Ghosts (2002)
★ 5.9/10Also thrillerA con man who is on the run from law enforcement in the U.S. travels to Cambodia to collect his share in an insurance scam but discovers more than he bargained for.
- 6
King of Killers (2023)
★ 6.3/10Also thrillerGaran is a part of a group of international hitmen who are contracted to take out the most dangerous killer in the world, only to find out that they're the ones being hunted.
- 7
Hider in the House (1989)
★ 6.2/10Also thrillerA deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
- 8
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)
★ 6.6/10Also thrillerSet in a gritty and decadent 1970s America, American Boogeyman follows the elusive and charming killer and the manhunt that brought him to justice involving the detective and the FBI rookie who coined the phrase…
- 9
Moscow Mission (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also thrillerTough Chinese detectives go on a mission to Moscow to hunt down ruthless robbers who have been plaguing the trans-Siberian railway with violence and chaos.
- 10
The Vanishing (1993)
★ 6.2/10Also thrillerThe boyfriend of an abducted woman never gives up the search as the abductor looks on.
- 11
Border Hunters (2025)
★ 6.1/10Also thrillerAfter his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the…
- 12
Run (1991)
★ 6/10Also thrillerWhen 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.
- 13
One Ranger (2023)
★ 6.4/10Also thrillerA Texas Ranger is recruited by British Intelligence to track down a dangerous terrorist and stop him from attacking London.
- 14
Blood Ties (2013)
★ 6.1/10Also thrillerTwo brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.
- 15
The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
★ 5.9/10Also thrillerAfter two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
- 16
180 (2026)
★ 5.8/10Also thrillerWhen an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.
- 17
Barron's Cove (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also thrillerWhen his young son is viciously murdered by a classmate, a grieving father with a history of violence kidnaps the child responsible, igniting a frenzied manhunt fueled by a powerful politician -- the father of the…
- 18
Murphy's Law (1986)
★ 6.1/10Also thrillerA tough police detective escapes from custody after being framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, and must now find the real killer and prove his innocence.
- 19
Play Dirty (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also thrillerExpert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.
- 20
The Calling (2014)
★ 5.9/10Also thrillerDetective Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Port Dundas until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her face to face with a serial killer driven by a…