Movies Like The Carousel Never Stops Turning

If you liked The Carousel Never Stops Turning (2017), a drama and thriller movie directed by Ismail Basbeth, 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
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.
2
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.
3
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.
4
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…
5
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.
6
The Good Neighbor (2022)
★ 6.7/10Also 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…
7
Flow (1996)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
A filmmaker talks about his work and love life with an unseen friend behind the camera. We also watch four of his short films.
8
The Kovak Box (2006)
★ 5.8/10Also thriller
David Norton is used to being in control. As a best-selling author, he decides the fate of his characters, their lives and their deaths. But what happens when his fictional world becomes all too real?
9
They Drive by Night (1940)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and thriller
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success…
10
The Island (2005)
★ 6.7/10Also thriller
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…
11
The Siege at Thorn High (2025)
★ 7.3/10Also thriller
Edwin promised to his sister on her deathbed to find her son she gave up a long time ago. Edwin's quest brought him to become a substitute teacher in Duri High School, Jakarta, a school for juvenile delinquents. There…
12
Children of Men (2006)
★ 7.6/10Also thriller
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the…
13
The Safety of Objects (2002)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband…
14
Nine Days (2021)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
15
Interstate 60 (2002)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.
16
Nowhere to Run (1993)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and thriller
Escaped convict Sam Gillen single-handedly takes on ruthless developers who are determined to evict a widow with two young children.
17
The Glass House (2001)
★ 6/10Also drama and thriller
When Ruby and Rhett's parents are killed in a car accident, their carefree teenage lives are suddenly shattered. Moving to an incredible house in Malibu with the Glasses', old friends of the family, seems to be the…
18
Mexicali (2026)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
19
Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap…
20
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.