Movies Like The Set Up

If you liked The Set Up (1999), a movie directed by Alan Lo Shun-Chuen, 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
Buddha Mountain (2011)
★ 6.7/10
In Chengdu, China, a retired female opera singer named Master Chang takes in a trio of young tenants into her boarding home. The tenants include a rock singer and a college student who has run away from home.
2
Resurrection (2025)
★ 7.1/10
In a world where humanity has lost the ability to dream in exchange for eternal life, one creature remains entranced by the fading illusions of the dreamworld. This monster, adrift in reverie, clings to visions no one…
3
McQueen (2018)
★ 7.4/10
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own…
4
My Mom Jayne (2025)
★ 8/10
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and…
5
Hounddog (2008)
★ 6.5/10
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
6
The Young One (1960)
★ 7/10
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.
7
Curve (2016)
★ 6.9/10
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
8
Love Don't Co$t a Thing (2003)
★ 7.7/10
A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.
9
Strange Darling (2024)
★ 6.9/10
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
10
Stray Dogs (2014)
★ 6.3/10
An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better life.
11
Spring Fever (2010)
★ 6.2/10
Hired to spy on a philandering husband, Luo Haitao soon becomes entangled in a clandestine affair with the other man. Along with Luo's girlfriend, they succumb to the delirium of drunken nights, but how long can their…
12
The Girl in the Book (2015)
★ 5.8/10
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
13
The Congress (2013)
★ 6.4/10
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
14
Monster (2005)
★ 6.7/10
A mother battles with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the closet, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.
15
Night of the Hunted (2023)
★ 6.1/10
When an unsuspecting woman stops at a remote gas station in the dead of night, she's made the plaything of a sociopath sniper with a secret vendetta. To survive, she must not only dodge his bullets and fight for her…
16
Lucky Them (2013)
★ 6/10
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what…
17
Love & Sex (2000)
★ 6.2/10
When her rather explicit copy is rejected, magazine journalist Kate is asked by her editor to come up with an article on loving relationships instead, and to do so by the end of the day. This gets Kate thinking back…
18
Goodnight Mommy (2022)
★ 6.3/10
When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.
19
Dust Bunny (2025)
★ 6.7/10
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.
20
I Believe in Unicorns (2015)
★ 6.7/10
Feeling awkward and isolated, an imaginative and strong-willed teenage girl runs away from home with an older punk rock drifter.