20 Best Movies Like Prisoners

Summary

• Movies like Prisoners offer gripping mysteries that captivate audiences with complex characters and intense storytelling.
• From The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo to Zodiac, films similar to Prisoners focus on haunting crimes and dark psychological depths.
• Denis Villeneuve’s work, like Incendies and Wind River, pushes boundaries with raw emotions and shocking twists that leave a lasting impact.

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Denis Villeneuve gained widespread critical appeal thanks to his 2013 thriller, Prisoners, which took the world by storm and began a hugely successful streak of English-language movies from the director, as well as several movies like Prisoners trying to replicate his success. These movies have the ability to stay with film fans for a lifetime, with few other titles ever truly living up to the standards that they set. This means that some of the best movies that are similar to Prisoners are counted as some of the greatest thrillers available and are well worth seeking out.

Movies like Prisoners stand out for their striking cinematography but linger in the minds of viewers because of the strength of their performances, with stars Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal being only two components in a stunning ensemble. The best films like Prisoners are often true stories or actor-driven pieces that don’t let the audience down in any of the technical categories either. They are movies of a rare level of quality, but they do exist, and many of them are available to watch on major streaming services.

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20 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Daniel Craig Investigates A Decades-Old Disappearance

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David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a movie based on a novel by Stieg Larson that was already adapted into a movie trilogy in Sweden. However, Fincher helped this movie stand on its own thanks to his combination of award-winning cinematography, great use of music, and wonderful acting by Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

The movie is about an abducted person, and like Prisoners, it is a mystery film that deals with trauma from the past manifesting itself in the present day. Craig plays a journalist asked to look into the 40-year-old disappearance of a teenage girl, and there are some who want the past to remain buried.

He gets help from a tech detective named Lisbeth Salander, and like Noomi Rapace before her in the original Swedish adaptations, Mara gives a sensational performance. The combination of great acting and an engaging mystery makes this an ideal watch for fans of Prisoners.

19 Kiss The Girls (1997)

Morgan Freeman’s Alex Cross Hunts A Killer

Kiss the Girls was based on the James Patterson Alex Cross novels, a series about a Washington, DC, police detective and forensic psychologist. At the time, this was the start of a franchise that stalled out after two movies with Morgan Freeman starring as Cross.

In this movie, Cross investigates the disappearance of his niece, who is the latest missing person in Durham, North Carolina. When one abductee escapes (Ashley Judd), she helps Cross save his niece and the other missing girls before it is too late.

Like Prisoners, this showed a family member seeking the answers as well as a determined detective attempting to get to the bottom of the case with the truth closer than he realizes. Freeman is his usual stoic and commanding self on screen, creating an intriguing hero in Cross.

18 Changeling (2008)

Angelina Jolie Leads A Period Thriller With A Twist

Changeling saw director Clint Eastwood team up with star Angelina Jolie to tell a familiar story to fans of Prisoners, as it involved a parent who would do anything to find their missing child. The twist here, as the movie’s title signifies, is that the police bring her a boy that she quickly realizes isn’t her missing son.

However, taking place in 1928, the police labeled her as delusional and closed the case. When she finds proof that the child is not hers, she ends up admitted to a mental hospital, making this as tense as Prisoners at times.

This was a tale about police corruption on a very high level, while Jolie earned an Oscar nomination for her role as a mother desperately looking for her son. Eastwood crafts an engaging and riveting mystery that is as much about a woman’s fight for justice as it is about getting answers.

17 Gone Girl (2014)

Ben Affleck Is Accused Of His Wife’s Disappearance

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Gone Girl is not a movie about an abducted child, but is instead a movie about a man suspected of murder after his wife’s disappearance. Directed by David Fincher, the movie stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as a married couple going through a difficult time when the wife, Amy, disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary.

While Nick cooperates in the search for his wife, he seems not to care that she is gone, which puts the aim on him from those who believe she might have been murdered. It is another dark and twisted thriller similar to Prisoners with more and more reveals taking audiences down a captivating rabbit hole toward the shocking truth.

Affleck gives one of the best performances of his career as the flawed husband who finds himself the prime suspect in the case while Pike earned an Oscar nomination for her even more complex performance as his wife.

16 Taken (2008)

Liam Neeson Fights For His Kidnapped Daughter

In Prisoners, Hugh Jackman played a father who would do anything to find who kidnapped his child and took the law into his own hands, to his own detriment. Taken had the same storyline, but where Prisoners showed that the father’s actions could put him in jail as well as the kidnapper, in Taken, the father killed everyone who stood between him and rescuing his daughter, and there were no repercussions.

If anything, Taken is almost a fantasy movie for a parent who goes through the torment that the father in Prisoners had to deal with. It is extremely satisfying to see the determined father taking out one vile villain after another in his path to save his daughter. Taken helped kick off Liam Neeson’s action career and was a huge success that spawned sequels and a TV series.

15 The Lovely Bones (2009)

A Young Girl Hunts Her Killer From The Afterlife

The Lovely Bones was a low-key Peter Jackson movie after he had made nothing but blockbusters for years. Based on the bestselling Alice Sebold novel, The Lovely Bones was about a teenage freshman who was kidnapped and murdered by a serial killer.

However, he made the body disappear, and her parents never received closure on her death. This began to shatter the marriage of her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz), as they had different ways of dealing with grief.

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The twist here was that Susie’s (Saoirse Ronan) ghost remained behind and couldn’t leave until she helped solve her own murder. While the afterlife elements of the movie don’t quite work, the scenes of a family falling apart in the aftermath of the tragedy as well as the father becoming obsessed with finding answers feel similar to the grounded elements of Prisoners.

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14 You Were Never Really Here (2017)

A Man Is Hired To Recover A Kidnapped Girl

While You Were Not Really Here is a different setup than Prisoners, the two share a sense of foreboding and dread based on the disappearance of a missing child. Instead of a parent searching for his own child, Joaquin Phoenix plays a man named Joe who tracks down missing children for their families.

A former military man with a traumatic past, he then exacts vigilante justice to the kidnappers. However, the movie throws him into a child trafficking case that ends up tearing his life apart when it turns out that high-ranking government officials are part of the trafficking ring.

You Were Never Really Here is a very dark and grim movie despite the fact that most of the violence occurs off-screen. While the kidnapping is integral to the plot, the movie is really a character study of Joe, a deeply disturbed man whose life is filled with violence and pain.

13 Jar City (2006)

A Weary Detective Investigates A Small Town Murder

Icelandic novelist Arnaldur Indriðason wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of the third book in his popular series of mysteries featuring the no-nonsense detective Erlendur Sveinsson (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson). The movie is set in a small town where a murder is revealed to be linked to a decades-old crime.

This leads to the world-weary detective and his team digging into the dark secrets of the quiet and isolated community. It’s an unflattering take on hard-boiled detective fiction, with the difficult and often hollow lives of the main characters emitting a kind of haunting energy that fans of Prisoners will appreciate.

Jar City is an uncommon murder mystery story not just because of its setting but also its complex emotions stemming from rich characters and a carefully unraveled crime, the effects of which echo across decades.

12 Searching (2018)

John Cho Digitally Tracks Down His Missing Daughter

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While Prisoners was an expertly crafted movie by Villeneuve when it comes to the look, design, and pacing, Searching was a “screenlife” thriller where most of the action was spent watching a computer screen or sending texts on a mobile device.

John Cho stars in the movie as a father whose daughter disappears. When he goes to the police, he sees video evidence of what might have happened and then investigates the case himself using online resources. Searching is as different as a movie can get from Prisoners, but the two movies share a lot in common when it comes to their themes.

Cho’s protagonist is another determined father who will stop at nothing to learn the truth about what happened to his child. While the approach may seem gimmicky, it makes for a captivating investigation that allows it to stand out in the genre as something fresh. The movie received universal acclaim and a Searching sequel arrived in 2023.

11 The Silence (2010)

Investigators And Criminals React To The Aftermath Of A Murder

Grief, tragedy, and trauma are explored in a similarly powerful and engaging way to Villeneuve’s Prisoners in this German thriller about the disappearance of a young girl which bears similarities to a murder case from decades earlier.

The story then unfolds by focusing both on the detectives looking into the case, including the retired detective who oversaw the first murder, and the actual murderers. The Silence delves into the psychology of its characters in a rich and unusually rewarding way whilst still being an unremittingly tense and chilling thriller.

It is a grim and dark movie filled with a somber tone similar to Prisoners. It will certainly not be a movie for the faint of heart as it deals with heartbreaking loss and a bleak view of the world. However, it is undeniably gripping even in its haunted exploration of this crime.

10 Memories Of Murder (2003)

Bong Joon-ho’s Exploration Of Korea’s First Serial Killer

Bong Joon-ho’s breakout movie steadily became recognized as a modern classic the world over, and it’s easy to see why. The story dramatizes South Korea’s first serial murder case and the uncertainty over fact and fiction in the mystery is perhaps even more intense than in a movie like Prisoners.

It is a dark look at the fear caused by these crimes as well as the flawed approach to the investigation made by the detectives on the case. His characters are both larger than life and relatable while the story itself is grounded in a reality that is very specific in terms of time and place while still being universally familiar.

There is also a strange sense of humor in the movie that adds an authenticity to the world without taking away from the tension. Though Joon-ho’s Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars, there are still many who name Memories of Murder as his best movie.

9 Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher’s Deep Dive Into The Infamous Serial Killer

Master of the disturbing thriller, David Fincher retold the story surrounding the titular serial killer through the eyes of several key figures who worked to discover their identity. Zodiac is an exploration of the case of the Zodiac Killer who murdered several people in the San Fransisco Bay area in the 1970s and remains one of the most high-profile unsolved serial killer cases in American history.

Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a starkly different character than his tough detective in Prisoners with his similarly outstanding performance as the timid Robert Graysmith and he is backed by an impressive overall ensemble that includes Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. However, it is Fincher’s direction and the sharp script from James Vanderbilt that are the true stars of the show, crafting a completely engrossing movie that is one of the best crime movies of the 21st century.

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8 Incendies (2010)

Siblings Look Back On Their Mother’s Life

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Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad’s play of the same name gained the director global notoriety and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. A similarly labyrinthine plot to Prisoners, yet horrifying in so many more extreme and real ways, the story follows two twins in modern-day Canada (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette) as they unravel their mother’s (Lubna Azabal) history in her native country, which parallels experiences from the Lebanese Civil War.

Incendies is another perfect example of Villeneuve’s talents for both incredibly shocking violence and even more unexpected catharsis. The movie was hailed as one of the best Canadian movies of all time with strong performances and a devastating emotional impact that made Hollywood take notice of Villeneuve as a filmmaker. Following the reception of the movie, Villeneuve was selected to direct Prisoners.

7 Wind River (2017)

Jeremy Renner And Elizabeth Olsen Track A Killer On A Reservation

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Set in the Wind River reservation in Wyoming, this dark mystery thriller from writer and director Taylor Sheridan follows a wildlife tracker (Jeremy Renner) who teams up with an FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) to solve a grizzly murder.

Renner’s character is a grieving father who also knows the young woman who was found dead, making a promise to her father that he will punish those who are responsible for her death.

Fans of Sheridan’s earlier crime screenplays for Sicario and Hell or High Water will recognize the icy stoicism of the characters and the almost bleak perspective on life in the American periphery, as will fans of those same aspects in the story of Prisoners. Renner and Olsen make for excellent leads while Gil Birmingham is memorable in a smaller role as the murdered girl’s father.

6 The Secret In Their Eyes (2009)

A Counselor Looks Back On A Past Case And Romance

This Argentinian murder mystery drama won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars and was later remade into the English language with a robust cast. However, the original is the more authentic experience and the one most worth recommending to fans of Prisoners.

An emotional and enveloping crime saga set across the turbulent history of modern Argentina, the movie follows a retired counselor who looks back on a murder case from his past as well as a failed relationship, both of which continue to haunt him.

The Secret in Their Eyes examines injustice–and the extraordinary lengths that people can go to in order to try to rectify it–in an electrifying and affecting way. A fan of Prisoners will appreciate the movie’s emphasis on the psychology of its characters, their disturbing actions, and their complex motivations.

5 Gone Baby Gone (2007)

A Private Detective Searches For A Missing Girl

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Adapted from the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone follows two private investigators (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) in Boston who are on the case of a young girl who was abducted.

Their investigation leads them into the underbelly of the city’s crime world as they conflict with seasoned detectives working the case as well as various criminals surrounding the investigation. It leads to a truth that sets the movie up with a moral dilemma viewers can endlessly debate.

Directed by Ben Affleck, the film is able to really dive into and utilize the distinct characteristics of Boston as a city much more effectively than most thrillers are able to with their chosen environments. Like Prisoners, it is a dark and brooding mystery with answers that leave a melancholic feel throughout the entire movie.

4 Mystic River (2003)

Three Childhood Friends Reconnect In The Wake Of A Murder

Another adaptation of a Dennis Lehane crime novel set in the author’s hometown of Boston, this mystery drama revolves around three childhood friends who have all grown up to live on various sides of the law but are brought inescapably back together through a murder. Sean Penn plays a former convict whose daughter is murdered, with his old friends played by Kevin Bacon as the investigating detective and Tim Robbins as the prime suspect.

Directed by Clint Eastwood and featuring an all-star cast in Award-winning form, the filmmaking pedigree doesn’t get much higher than it does here. Mystic River was nominated for six Oscars, all in major categories, winning both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for Penn and Robbins, respectively. Like Prisoners, it is an exploration of past trauma that becomes difficult to escape and the complex characters who make it clear this is a story with few heroes.

3 The Pledge (2001)

Jack Nicholson Searches For A Missing Girl

Sean Penn directed Jack Nicholson in one of the iconic actor’s last great roles before his retirement in this haunting drama thriller about a former detective (Nicholson) who structures his entire life around finding the killer of a young girl, a case which fell to him on the eve of his retirement. The obsessive detective character is similar to Gyllenhaal’s role in Prisoners with the threat of him losing himself in the case.

The all-consuming nature of the mystery at the heart of the story is very similar to Prisoners, but fans of the film will want to consider this essential viewing for Penn’s unwavering focus on the actors’ performances, with Nicholson being just one part of a staggeringly impressive ensemble. It also features strong performances from a terrific ensemble of actors that includes Benicio Del Toro, Robin Wright, Sam Shepard, and Mickey Rourke.

2 The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

Siblings Become Suspicious Of Their Father

While Prisoners is a grim and complex thriller that feels elevated in the genre, there are some more B-movie approaches that share similar vibes. A young man (Charlie Plummer) from a strict but loving household steadily begins to suspect that his upstanding father (Dylan McDermott) may, in fact, be a serial killer who has evaded justice for years in this creepy combination of the coming-of-age story and the amateur detective mystery.

In The Clovehitch Killer, the veneer of perfect suburban family life is blown apart similarly to how it is in Prisoners and the main characters’ search for the truth is enough to suck the audience right into the story even without the terrific performances backing it up. It is a more pulpy thriller story with not as many layers to explore yet it still delivers a captivating and entertaining story.

1 The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

An FBI Trainee Seeks A Killer’s Help To Find A New Murderer

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Director Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel The Silence of the Lambs was the second of the author’s books featuring his iconic character Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to be adapted for the big screen and remains the most acclaimed and influential.

The now archetypal thriller story sees a trainee FBI agent (Jodie Foster) seek the help of Lecter, an imprisoned serial murderer, to help track down another serial killer who has kidnapped the daughter of a United States senator.

The movie is considered one of the best crime thrillers of all time and only the third movie in history to win all the major five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Despite being over 30 years old, The Silence of the Lambs is as unflinchingly dark and unremittingly nerve-shredding as modern thriller movies like Prisoners.

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