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The Wages of Fear poster

Movies that feel likeThe Wages of Fear (1953)

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

If you loved The Wages of Fear, the closest films we have are Dersu Uzala (1975), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Where Is The Friend's House? (1987). All three share The Wages of Fear's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Le Corbeau (1943).

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Henri-Georges Clouzotcontemplativetenseepicwarm
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Wages of Fear hit the spot, these will too

Dersu Uzala poster
Dersu Uzala
1975 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 73%β˜… 8.2adventure Β· drama

Contemplative where it counts, epic underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

The Hidden Fortress poster
The Hidden Fortress
1958 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8drama Β· action Β· adventureMax

Common ground: male friendship

The difference: Easier on the tension than The Wages of Fear

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

Where Is The Friend's House? poster
Where Is The Friend's House?
1987 Β· dir. Abbas Kiarostami
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1drama Β· adventure

Warm drama in both cases

The difference: Trades the tension of The Wages of Fear for an angle of its own

An 8-year-old boy must return his friend's notebook he took by mistake, lest his friend be punished by expulsion from school.

War poster
War
2019 Β· dir. Siddharth Anand
πŸ… 71%β˜… 6.6action Β· thriller Β· adventureNetflix

Thriller with a pulse of tension, in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to action than The Wages of Fear does

Khalid, entrusted with the task of eliminating former soldier turned rogue Kabir, engages in an epic battle with his mentor who taught him everything.

Le Corbeau poster
Le Corbeau
1943 Β· dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.8mystery Β· drama Β· thriller

Henri-Georges Clouzot directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

Remy Germain is a doctor in a French town who becomes the focus of a vicious smear campaign, as letters accusing him of having an affair and performing unlawful abortions are mailed to village leaders. The mysterious writer, who signs each letter as "Le Corbeau" (The Raven) soon targets the whole town, exposing everyone's dark secrets.

The Elephant Man poster
The Elephant Man
1980 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 91%β˜… 8.2drama Β· history

Adventure built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous faΓ§ade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.

A Simple Plan poster
A Simple Plan
1998 Β· dir. Sam Raimi
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thrillerParamount+

Tense drama, and it commits to that

Captivated by the lure of sudden wealth, the quiet rural lives of two brothers erupt into conflicts of greed, paranoia and distrust when over $4 million in cash is discovered at the remote site of a downed small airplane. Their simple plan to retain the money while avoiding detection opens a Pandora's box when the fear of getting caught triggers panicked behavior and leads to virulent consequences.

Society of the Snow poster
Society of the Snow
2023 Β· dir. J. A. Bayona
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.8drama Β· historyNetflix

Both lean on scale more than on thriller

On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to take a rugby team to Chile, crashes into a glacier in the heart of the Andes.

A Man Escaped poster
A Man Escaped
1956 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1drama Β· thriller

From the 1950s, and it lands the same way

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

The Yards poster
The Yards
2000 Β· dir. James Gray
πŸ… 64%β˜… 6.4crime Β· drama Β· thrillerParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: male friendship

In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative, so graft and corruption are rife. When Leo Handler gets out of prison, he finds his aunt married to Frank Olchin, one of the big contractors; he's battling with a minority-owned firm for contracts.

Shane poster
Shane
1953 Β· dir. George Stevens
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.6drama Β· westernParamount+

Both lean on warmth more than on drama

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

Diabolique poster
Diabolique
1955 Β· dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.1thriller Β· mysteryMax

Henri-Georges Clouzot working the same nerve twice

The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Wages of Fear’s defining feeling.