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8MM poster

Movies that feel like8MM (1999)

A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

If you loved 8MM, the closest films we have are A Haunting in Venice (2023), Lantana (2001) and Basic Instinct (1992). All three share 8MM's twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Vanishing (1988).

πŸ… 23% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.6 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Joel Schumachertensegrittytwistymelancholyobsessive
11 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Hulu

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If 8MM hit the spot, these will too

A Haunting in Venice poster
A Haunting in Venice
2023 Β· dir. Kenneth Branagh
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.5mystery Β· thriller Β· crimeHulu

Common ground: grief

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

Celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot, now retired and living in self-imposed exile in Venice, reluctantly attends a Halloween sΓ©ance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.

Lantana poster
Lantana
2001 Β· dir. Ray Lawrence
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Both keep coming back to the same thing: the investigation

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than 8MM does

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

Basic Instinct poster
Basic Instinct
1992 Β· dir. Paul Verhoeven
πŸ… 56%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· mysteryParamount+

The same mix in both: tension, then twists

The difference: Easier on the grit than 8MM

Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.

Thelma poster
Thelma
2017 Β· dir. Joachim Trier
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· thriller

Both are built on the same subject: obsession

The difference: Leans harder into drama than 8MM does

A college student starts to experience extreme seizures. She soon learns that the violent episodes are a symptom of inexplicable abilities.

Blue Velvet poster
Blue Velvet
1986 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.7mystery Β· thriller Β· crime

Both land grit and obsession at once

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Tell No One poster
Tell No One
2006 Β· dir. Guillaume Canet
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5drama Β· thriller Β· crime

The same preoccupation in both: grief

A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.

The Number 23 poster
The Number 23
2007 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 7%β˜… 6.4thriller Β· mystery Β· crime

Joel Schumacher directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.

Solace poster
Solace
2015 Β· dir. Afonso Poyart
πŸ… 24%β˜… 6.4thriller Β· crime Β· mysteryPrime Video

One thread runs through both: the investigation

A psychic doctor, John Clancy, works with an FBI special agent in search of a serial killer.

The Girl on the Train poster
The Girl on the Train
2016 Β· dir. Tate Taylor
πŸ… 44%β˜… 6.5crime Β· mystery Β· thrillerStarz

Both rooted in New York City

Rachel Watson, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.

The Ninth Gate poster
The Ninth Gate
1999 Β· dir. Roman Polanski
πŸ… 44%β˜… 6.7mystery Β· thriller Β· horror

Both keep coming back to the same thing: obsession

A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.

The Vanishing poster
The Vanishing
1988 Β· dir. George Sluizer
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· mystery

Melancholy thriller in both cases

Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation when they stop at a busy service station. Saskia is abducted in broad daylight and three years pass with no answers or closure surrounding her disappearance. Rex has nearly given up all hope when he suddenly begins receiving letters from her abductor.

Anatomy of a Fall poster
Anatomy of a Fall
2023 Β· dir. Justine Triet
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· mystery Β· crimeMax

Crime built on tension, twice over

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.

In the mood for more tense?

all tense movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share 8MM’s defining feeling.