Films like Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island plot: On an isolated island that houses a psychiatric facility for the most dangerous patients, one of the inmates disappears without a trace. War veteran and U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives on the island with his partner to investigate the mysterious disappearance.

Keywords: Twist, Twist ending, Secret identity, Trauma, Identity crisis, Psychological drama, Identity, Mystery, Psychological thriller, Belief challenged by reality

Style characteristics: Tension, Darkness, Bleakness, Complexity, Pacing

1. Fractured

IMDB: 6.5

2019 · 1h 41minUnited States

Director: Brad Anderson

Overview

During a trip, a couple is forced to visit a hospital after an accident involving their daughter. Waking up in a visitors’ chair, the man suddenly learns that his wife and daughter have vanished—along with all records of their visit.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Bleakness, Darkness, Tension, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Mystery, Belief challenged by reality, Unreliable narrator, Paranoia spiral, False reality

2. The Machinist

IMDB: 7.6

2004 · 1h 42minSpain

Director: Brad Anderson

Overview

Trevor Reznik has been suffering from insomnia for over a year. After a series of eerie events and incidents, he begins to doubt what’s truly real—and his own sanity. Trevor tries to figure out what’s really happening to him before he finally loses his mind.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Bleakness, Darkness, Complexity, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Unreliable narrator, Paranoia spiral, Guilt

3. Identity

IMDB: 7.3

2003 · 1h 30minUnited States

Director: James Mangold

Overview

During a fierce storm, ten strangers end up in a small motel in Nevada. After someone starts killing them one by one, they realize this meeting wasn’t a coincidence.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Tension, Complexity, Darkness, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Identity crisis, Mystery, Unreliable narrator

4. God's Crooked Lines

IMDB: 7.1

2022 · 2h 35minSpain

Director: Oriol Paulo

Overview

A private detective enters a psychiatric hospital posing as a patient to investigate the mysterious murder of one of the inmates. The deeper she digs into the case, the greater the danger to her becomes.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Complexity, Pacing, Tension, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Bleakness (-16%), Darkness (-12%)

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Mystery, Unreliable narrator

5. Forgotten

IMDB: 7.4

2017 · 1h 48minSouth Korea

Director: Jang Hang-jun

Overview

A family with two sons moves into a new house. One night, one brother is kidnapped right in front of the other and returned a few weeks later, but after coming back, the boy seems like a different person.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Tension, Complexity, Darkness, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Identity crisis, Mystery, Unreliable narrator, Guilt

6. Confessions

IMDB: 7.7

2010 · 1h 47minJapan

Director: Tetsuya Nakashima

Overview

A middle school teacher, devastated by the tragedy involving her young daughter, returns to school and discovers that those responsible for her daughter’s murder are among her students.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Pacing, Complexity, Bleakness, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist ending, Mystery, Unreliable narrator

7. Insomnia

IMDB: 7.2

2002 · 1h 58minUnited States

Director: Christopher Nolan

Overview

To investigate the brutal murder of a girl, two experienced detectives from Los Angeles arrive. Under the pressure of unusual Arctic weather, the press, and a lack of evidence, they try to find the real culprit.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Pacing, Tension, Bleakness, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Unreliable narrator, Guilt

8. Primal Fear

IMDB: 7.7

1996 · 2h 11minUnited States

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Overview

Police arrest a young man accused of the brutal murder of an archbishop. Successful attorney Martin Vail takes the case, and although all the evidence points to the boy’s guilt, he’s convinced it isn’t as simple as it looks at first glance.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Pacing, Complexity, Tension, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Bleakness (-16%)

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Secret identity, Mystery

9. Side Effects

IMDB: 7.1

2013 · 1h 46minUnited States

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Overview

A young woman struggles with severe depression and turns to a clinic, where she’s put on an experimental treatment. But her normal life starts falling apart even more when the prescribed medication brings unexpected side effects.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Complexity, Pacing, Tension, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Bleakness (-16%), Darkness (-12%)

Shared keywords

Twist, Mystery, Unreliable narrator

10. The Invisible Guest

IMDB: 8.0

2017 · 1h 47minSpain

Director: Oriol Paulo

Overview

A young businessman wakes up in a hotel room locked from the inside, beside the body of his lover. To prove his innocence and understand what really happened in that room, he turns to one of the city’s best lawyers for help.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Tension, Complexity, Darkness, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Mystery, Belief challenged by reality, Unreliable narrator

11. Secret Window

IMDB: 6.5

2004 · 1h 36minUnited States

Director: David Koepp

Overview

After writer Mort Rainey is betrayed by his wife, he moves to his country house to deal with a life crisis and finish his book. One day, an aggressive stranger shows up on his doorstep, claiming Mort has plagiarized his story.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Bleakness, Pacing, Darkness, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Tension (-12%), Complexity (-16%)

Shared keywords

Twist ending, Unreliable narrator, Guilt, False reality

12. Frailty

IMDB: 7.2

2002 · 1h 40minUnited States, Germany

Director: Bill Paxton

Overview

Police are searching in vain for a serial killer. Meanwhile, a mysterious man comes to an FBI agent and says that his deeply religious father had visions in childhood, urging him to kill people who are, in fact, demons.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Darkness, Bleakness, Pacing, Tone, Tropes

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Secret identity, Mystery, Unreliable narrator

13. Lost Highway

IMDB: 7.6

1997 · 2h 14minUnited States, France

Director: David Lynch

Overview

A married couple receives strange videotapes filmed by someone watching them from inside their home. After a string of chilling events, the wife is found dead, and the husband becomes the prime suspect. But the real madness is only just beginning.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Bleakness, Tension, Darkness, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Violence (+24%)

Shared keywords

Identity crisis, Mystery, Belief challenged by reality, Unreliable narrator

14. The Girl on the Train

IMDB: 6.5

2016 · 1h 52minUnited States, India

Director: Tate Taylor

Overview

Divorced woman Rachel Watson watches, day after day, the life of a seemingly perfect couple in a house near the railway tracks. But one day a woman from that perfect home disappears, and Rachel is drawn into a tangled web of investigation—because she’s the one who saw what most people never did.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Darkness, Pacing, Bleakness, Tone, TropesNotable differences: Complexity (-14%)

15. Stay

IMDB: 6.7

2005 · 1h 39minUnited States, Switzerland

Director: Marc Forster

Overview

Student Henry tells psychiatrist Sam that he plans to take his own life in the coming days. The psychiatrist decides to do everything he can to help him out of a crisis and prevent it.

Similarity

Closest characteristics: Darkness, Bleakness, Tension, Tone, ThemesNotable differences: Pacing (-16%), Complexity (-24%)

Shared keywords

Twist, Twist ending, Belief challenged by reality, Unreliable narrator, False reality