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Case 39 poster

Movies that feel likeCase 39 (2009)

In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.

If you loved Case 39, the closest films we have are The Empty Man (2020), Resolution (2013) and Noroi: The Curse (2005). All three share Case 39's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Finders Keepers (2014).

🍅 22% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Christian Alvartdreadunsettlingtwistytensegritty
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If Case 39 hit the spot, these will too

The Empty Man poster
The Empty Man
2020 · dir. David Prior
🍅 73%★ 6.2horror · mystery · thrillerHulu

Both are built on the same subject: detective

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.

Resolution poster
Resolution
2013 · dir. Aaron Moorhead
🍅 81%★ 6.4horror · thriller · mysteryRent or buy

The same mix in both: dread, then unease

The difference: Trades the grit of Case 39 for an angle of its own

A man imprisons his estranged junkie friend in an isolated cabin in the boonies of San Diego to force him through a week of sobriety, but the events of that week are being mysteriously manipulated.

Noroi: The Curse poster
Noroi: The Curse
2005 · dir. Koji Shiraishi
★ 6.8horror · mystery · thrillerRent or buy

Both land twists and tension at once

A documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon.

Goodnight Mommy poster
Goodnight Mommy
2015 · dir. Severin Fiala
🍅 85%★ 6.7horror · mystery · thrillerPrime Video

Dread-soaked horror, and it commits to that

In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is.

Finders Keepers poster
Finders Keepers
2014 · dir. Alexander Yellen
🍅 98%★ 4.3mystery · thriller · horrorPrime VideoPeacock

The same preoccupation in both: murder

A haunted doll teaches one little girl why children shouldn't play with undead things.

The Crimson Rivers poster
The Crimson Rivers
2000 · dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
🍅 68%★ 6.9crime · mystery · thriller

One thread runs through both: detective

The difference: Leans harder into crime than Case 39 does

Two French policemen, one investigating a grisly murder at a remote mountain college, the other working on the desecration of a young girl's grave by skinheads, are brought together by the clues from their respective cases. Soon after they start working together, more murders are committed, and the pair begin to discover just what dark secrets are behind the killings.

Pandorum poster
Pandorum
2009 · dir. Christian Alvart
🍅 26%★ 6.7action · horror · mystery

The same hand behind both of them: Christian Alvart

Two crew members wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no idea who they are, how long they've been asleep, or what their mission is. The two soon discover they're actually not alone – and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.

The Snowman poster
The Snowman
2017 · dir. Tomas Alfredson
🍅 7%★ 5.2crime · thriller · mysteryParamount+

Mystery with a pulse of grit, in both cases

Detective Harry Hole investigates the disappearance of a woman whose pink scarf is found wrapped around an ominous looking snowman.

Gothika poster
Gothika
2003 · dir. Mathieu Kassovitz
🍅 15%★ 5.9horror · mystery · thrillerNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: mental institution

After a car crash, criminal psychologist Dr. Miranda Grey regains consciousness only to find that she's a patient in the same mental institution that currently employs her. She's been accused of murdering her husband Dr. Douglas Grey — but she has no memory of committing the crime. As she tries to regain her memory and convince her co-worker, Dr. Pete Graham, of her innocence, a vengeful spirit uses her as an earthly pawn, which further convinces everyone of her guilt.

Devil poster
Devil
2010 · dir. John Erick Dowdle
🍅 49%★ 6.3horror · mystery · thrillerPrime Video

Common ground: supernatural

A group of people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, and one of them is the Devil.

The Nameless poster
The Nameless
1999 · dir. Jaume Balagueró
🍅 20%★ 5.8thriller · mystery · horror

Both keep coming back to the same thing: murder

The mutilated body of a six year old girl is found in a water hole. The girl is identified as the missing daughter of Claudia. However, only two peices of evidence could be used to identify her; a bracelet with her name on it near the crime scene, and the fact that her right leg was three inches longer than her left. All other methods of identification were removed from her body. Five years later Claudia, now addicted to tranquilizers, receives a phone call from someone claiming to be her daughter, asking for her mother to come find her before 'they' kill her. Other mysterious clues show up, further indicating that Claudia's daughter is indeed still alive, and very much in danger. Claudia, a run-down ex-cop, and a parapsychology reporter put together the clues to discover Angela's whereabouts

Marrowbone poster
Marrowbone
2017 · dir. Sergio G. Sánchez
🍅 49%★ 6.7thriller · horror · mystery

Both lean on unease more than on thriller

A young man and his three younger siblings are plagued by a sinister presence in the sprawling manor in which they live.

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The best-reviewed films that share Case 39’s defining feeling.