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The Last Wave poster

Movies that feel likeThe Last Wave (1977)

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

If you loved The Last Wave, the closest films we have are Lost Highway (1997), The Five Venoms (1978) and The Tenant (1976). All three share The Last Wave's contemplative and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Cutter's Way (1981).

8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

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If The Last Wave hit the spot, these will too

Lost Highway poster
Lost Highway
1997 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 70%β˜… 7.6drama Β· thriller Β· mystery

Common ground in both: dreams and nightmare

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Last Wave does

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgΓ€ngers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

The Five Venoms poster
The Five Venoms
1978 Β· dir. Chang Cheh
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7action Β· drama Β· mystery

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists

The difference: Takes it somewhere less paranoid than The Last Wave does

A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung-fu.

The Tenant poster
The Tenant
1976 Β· dir. Roman Polanski
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.5thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: paranoia

A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.

The Magician poster
The Magician
1958 Β· dir. Ingmar Bergman
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.5drama

The same preoccupation in both: paranoia

The difference: Easier on the twists than The Last Wave

A traveling magician and his troupe arrive in a Swedish town in the 1840s, where their act is scrutinized by local authorities and a skeptical medical official. Their stay leads to a series of confrontations that test the boundaries between performance, belief, and deception.

Cutter's Way poster
Cutter's Way
1981 Β· dir. Ivan Passer
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.8drama Β· mystery Β· thriller

Paranoid drama in both cases

Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.

Ugetsu poster
Ugetsu
1953 Β· dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1fantasy Β· drama Β· mysteryMax

Mystery built on dream logic, twice over

The difference: 24 years apart, and the 1950s show

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

The Man Who Knew Too Much poster
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Contemplative fantasy, and it commits to that

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocco, and are drawn into a twisting plot of international intrigue when their young son is kidnapped.

Three Days of the Condor poster
Three Days of the Condor
1975 Β· dir. Sydney Pollack
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· mystery

Mystery with a pulse of twists, in both cases

When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.

Pi poster
Pi
1998 Β· dir. Darren Aronofsky
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.3mystery Β· drama Β· thrillerPrime Video

Both lean on paranoia more than on drama

A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.

Enemy poster
Enemy
2014 Β· dir. Denis Villeneuve
πŸ… 74%β˜… 6.8thriller Β· mystery

Common ground: surrealism

A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.

They Look Like People poster
They Look Like People
2016 Β· dir. Perry Blackshear
πŸ… 92%β˜… 5.8drama Β· horror Β· mystery

Dreamlike fantasy, and it commits to that

Suspecting that people are transforming into malevolent shape-shifters, Wyatt flees to New York City to seek out his estranged childhood friend Christian.

Picnic at Hanging Rock poster
Picnic at Hanging Rock
1975 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3drama Β· mysteryMax

The same hand behind both of them: Peter Weir

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share The Last Wave’s defining feeling.