Movies Like Dream Boy or the Pursuit of Being

If you liked Dream Boy or the Pursuit of Being (2019), a thriller movie directed by Auden Bui, 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
Lazareth (2024)
★ 6/10Also thriller
Lee is an aunt whose life mission is to protect her orphaned nieces, Imogen and Maeve, from a self-destructing world, raising them in isolation until an outsider threatens their peaceful existence.
2
Black Widow (1987)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller
Federal 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…
3
Lights Out (2024)
★ 7/10Also thriller
A drifting ex-soldier turns underground fighter with the help of a just-released ex-con, pitting him against corrupt cops and hired killers now gunning for him and all those he cares about.
4
Off the Grid (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller
After a morally-bankrupt company tries to weaponize a brilliant scientist's revolutionary technology, he goes off the grid to safeguard humanity. When the company sends a strike force to find him, they make their…
5
Hunting Grounds (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also thriller
Desperate to find refuge for her children, Chloe Marvino runs away from her Mafia tied husband, and finds shelter in a cabin with a recluse drifter named Jake. But as her husband's henchmen draw closer to her, it turns…
6
A Patch of Fog (2015)
★ 6.5/10Also thriller
A university teacher gets caught shoplifting by a security guard, who won’t let him go. He becomes his new best friend and says ‘I won’t call the cops if you come and have a pint with me’. From there a twisted romance…
7
6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (2017)
★ 5.8/10Also thriller
An adrenaline seeking snowboarder gets lost in a massive winter storm in the back country of the High Sierras where he is pushed to the limits of human endurance and forced to battle his own personal demons as he…
8
Wardriver (2026)
★ 7.4/10Also thriller
He’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.
9
Hounds of War (2024)
★ 6.4/10Also thriller
After a mission goes wrong, only one of a group of mercenaries is left alive to avenge his fallen brothers.
10
Strange but True (2019)
★ 6/10Also thriller
A woman surprises the family of her deceased boyfriend by telling them she's pregnant with his child.
11
Frank and Penelope (2022)
★ 7.3/10Also thriller
A tale of love and violence when a man on his emotional last legs finds a savior seductively dancing in a run-down strip club. And a life most certainly headed off a cliff suddenly becomes redirected - as everything is…
12
The Black Book (2023)
★ 6.7/10Also thriller
After his son is wrongly accused of kidnapping, a deacon who has just lost his wife takes matters into his own hands and fights a crooked police gang to clear him.
13
Hider in the House (1989)
★ 6.2/10Also thriller
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
14
Dangerous (2021)
★ 6/10Also thriller
A reformed sociopath heads to a remote island after the death of his brother. Soon after his arrival, the island falls under siege from a deadly gang of mercenaries, and when he discovers their role in his brother’s…
15
The Good Neighbor (2022)
★ 6.6/10Also thriller
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…
16
Chief of Station (2024)
★ 6.3/10Also thriller
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he…
17
Point Blank (2019)
★ 6/10Also thriller
A 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.
18
Attraction (2001)
★ 6.9/10Also thriller
A writer/radio advice show host fails to heed his own advice as he stalks his ex-girlfriend and then becomes involved with an actress friend of hers.
19
Until Death (2007)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller
Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.
20
180 (2026)
★ 5.9/10Also thriller
When an unexpected road rage incident puts his son in critical condition, an enraged father spirals down a dark path of emotional turmoil and vengeance.