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The Ghost Writer poster

Movies that feel likeThe Ghost Writer (2010)

A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.

If you loved The Ghost Writer, the closest films we have are The Hidden Face (2011), Exam (2009) and Kahaani (2012). All three share The Ghost Writer's tense and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Rojo (2018).

🍅 84% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Roman Polanskitensetwisty
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Ghost Writer hit the spot, these will too

The Hidden Face poster
The Hidden Face
2011 · dir. Andrés Baiz
★ 7.3thriller · mystery

The same mix in both: tension, then twists

A Spanish orchestra conductor deals with the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend.

Exam poster
Exam
2009 · dir. Stuart Hazeldine
🍅 61%★ 6.7thriller · mystery

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Eight talented candidates have reached the final stage of selection to join the ranks of a mysterious and powerful corporation. Entering a windowless room, where an armed guard keeps watch, they are given 80 minutes to answer one simple question.

Kahaani poster
Kahaani
2012 · dir. Sujoy Ghosh
🍅 100%★ 8.1mystery · thriller

Both lean on twists more than on mystery

Pregnant and alone in the city of Kolkata, a woman begins a relentless search for her missing husband, only to find that nothing is what it seems.

Identity poster
Identity
2003 · dir. James Mangold
🍅 64%★ 7.3mystery · thriller

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.

Knock at the Cabin poster
Knock at the Cabin
2023 · dir. M. Night Shyamalan
🍅 67%★ 6.1thriller · mysteryNetflix

Twisty mystery in both cases

While vacationing at a remote cabin, a young girl and her two fathers are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand that the family make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. With limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2011 · dir. Tomas Alfredson
🍅 84%★ 7drama · thriller · mystery

The same thriller instincts

The difference: Sits closer to drama than The Ghost Writer does

George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.

The Girl in the Fog poster
The Girl in the Fog
2017 · dir. Donato Carrisi
🍅 75%★ 6.8mystery · thriller · crime

Both know what they want from mystery

The difference: Leans harder into crime than The Ghost Writer does

A gripping and chilling thriller that brings us to a hazy mountain village where an enigmatic detective is investigating the sudden disappearance of fifteen-year-old girl.

The Da Vinci Code poster
The Da Vinci Code
2006 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 25%★ 6.7thriller · mysteryNetflixStarz

Thriller of the same temperament

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that — should it come to light — could rock the very foundations of Christianity.

Joint Security Area poster
Joint Security Area
2000 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 88%★ 7.7drama · thriller · mystery

Both play mystery straight

Two North Korean soldiers are killed in the border area between North and South Korea, prompting an investigation by a neutral body. The lead investigator (Lee Young-ae) receives differing accounts from the two sides.

Rojo poster
Rojo
2018 · dir. Benjamín Naishtat
🍅 96%★ 6.3drama · mystery · thriller

Cut from the same thriller cloth

A small town in an Argentinian province, 1975. The life of Claudio, a successful lawyer, gets complicated when he has a stupid quarrel with a stranger in a crowded restaurant.

Saboteur poster
Saboteur
1942 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 81%★ 7.1thriller · mystery

The mystery is handled with the same confidence

The difference: 68 years apart, and the 1940s show

Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane flees across the United States after he is wrongly accused of starting the fire that killed his best friend.

The Firm poster
The Firm
1993 · dir. Sydney Pollack
🍅 77%★ 6.9drama · mystery · thrillerMaxParamount+

Thriller in the same key

Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...

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The best-reviewed films that share The Ghost Writer’s defining feeling.