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Movies that feel like Diabolique (1955)

If you loved Diabolique, the closest films we have are Le Corbeau (1943), In a Lonely Place (1950) and The Third Man (1949). All three share Diabolique's tense and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 7 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Criterion Channel and IndieFlix and others, checked against today's data.

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.

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Henri-Georges Clouzottensetwistyromanticatmospheric
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If Diabolique hit the spot, these will too

Le Corbeau poster
Le Corbeau
1943 · dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
🍅 97%7.8mystery · drama · thriller

Henri-Georges Clouzot working the same nerve twice

The difference: Not nearly as romantic as Diabolique

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.

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In a Lonely Place poster
In a Lonely Place
1950 · dir. Nicholas Ray
🍅 96%7.9thriller · drama · romance

Common ground: black and white

The difference: Leans harder into drama than Diabolique does

A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.

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The Third Man poster
The Third Man
1949 · dir. Carol Reed
🍅 99%8.1thriller · mystery

Both are built on the same subject: black and white

The difference: None of the romance Diabolique is built on

In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.

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Dark Passage poster
Dark Passage
1947 · dir. Delmer Daves
🍅 90%7.5thriller · mystery

Tense where it counts, twisty underneath

A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

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Stray Dog poster
Stray Dog
1949 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 100%7.8crime · drama · thriller

Atmospheric thriller in both cases

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

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High and Low poster
High and Low
1963 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 97%8.4drama · crime · thriller

Tense mystery, and it commits to that

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

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The Naked City poster
The Naked City
1948 · dir. Jules Dassin
🍅 85%7.5crime · mystery · thriller

Thriller with a pulse of twists, in both cases

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

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The Big Sleep poster
The Big Sleep
1946 · dir. Howard Hawks
🍅 96%7.9mystery · crime · thriller

Mystery built on atmosphere, twice over

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

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The Killers poster
The Killers
1946 · dir. Robert Siodmak
🍅 97%7.7crime · mystery · thriller

Both lean on tension more than on thriller

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

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Shadow of a Doubt poster
Shadow of a Doubt
1943 · dir. Alfred Hitchcock
🍅 100%7.8thriller · mystery · crime

Twisty mystery in both cases

In sleepy Santa Rosa, restless young Charlie’s world brightens when her sophisticated Uncle Charlie arrives for a long visit. But as his behavior grows increasingly strange, she begins to suspect that her beloved uncle may be hiding a terrible secret—and that danger has quietly entered her home.

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The Maltese Falcon poster
The Maltese Falcon
1941 · dir. John Huston
🍅 99%7.9mystery · crime · thriller

Both work the same romance

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

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The Lady from Shanghai poster
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 · dir. Orson Welles
🍅 86%7.5mystery · crime · thriller

Both run atmospheric where it counts

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

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In the mood for more tense?

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