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Locke poster

Movies that feel likeLocke (2014)

Ivan Locke has worked hard to craft a good life for himself. Tonight, that life will collapse around him. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.

If you loved Locke, the closest films we have are We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), Foxcatcher (2014) and A Hijacking (2012). All three share Locke's contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Hater (2020).

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Steven Knightcontemplativetense
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Peacock Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If Locke hit the spot, these will too

We Need to Talk About Kevin poster
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011 · dir. Lynne Ramsay
🍅 74%★ 7.4drama · thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Both keep coming back to the same thing: pregnancy

After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.

Foxcatcher poster
Foxcatcher
2014 · dir. Bennett Miller
🍅 88%★ 7drama · thriller

Both land stillness and tension at once

The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.

A Hijacking poster
A Hijacking
2012 · dir. Tobias Lindholm
🍅 96%★ 7.1thriller · drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Tensions are high after a Danish freighter is captured and held for ransom by Somali pirates, leading to weeks of high-stakes negotiations – and an escalating potential for explosive violence.

The Place poster
The Place
2017 · dir. Paolo Genovese
★ 7drama · thriller

Tense thriller in both cases

The fates of an apparently random group of strangers who each come into contact with a mysterious figure who they believe possesses the power to grant any wish, in return for which they must carry out a task he assigns them.

Tunnel poster
Tunnel
2016 · dir. Kim Seong-hun
🍅 100%★ 6.8thriller · dramaPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

A man is on his way home when the poorly constructed tunnel he is driving through collapses, leaving him trapped leaving himself for the unexpected whilst emergency services struggle to help.

Who Am I poster
Who Am I
2014 · dir. Baran bo Odar
★ 7.4thriller

Thriller built on tension, twice over

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Locke does

Benjamin, a young German computer whiz, is invited to join a subversive hacker group that wants to be noticed on the world's stage.

To Kill a Man poster
To Kill a Man
2014 · dir. Alejandro Fernández Almendras
★ 6.3thriller · drama

Both working the same drama territory

Jorge is a peaceful hard-working man who seeks a simple, quiet life for himself and his family. One day, he is mugged and humiliated by a gang of thugs led by Kalule, a delinquent from his neighborhood. This event infuriates his son as much for Jorge’s meek acceptance as for the act itself. The son, looking for retribution, ends up getting himself shot. Kalule is sent to jail and when he gets out 18 months later, begins a campaign of terror against Jorge and his family. The authorities do nothing, so Jorge decides to take matters into his own hands.

The Hater poster
The Hater
2020 · dir. Jan Komasa
🍅 87%★ 7.1drama · thrillerRent or buy

Thriller in the same key

A duplicitous young man finds success in the dark world of social media smear tactics — but his virtual vitriol soon has violent real-life consequences.

Money Monster poster
Money Monster
2016 · dir. Jodie Foster
🍅 58%★ 6.5thriller · dramaNetflix

The same drama instincts

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.

Dark Waters poster
Dark Waters
2019 · dir. Todd Haynes
🍅 89%★ 7.6drama · thrillerRent or buy

Both play thriller straight

A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.

Buried poster
Buried
2010 · dir. Rodrigo Cortés
🍅 87%★ 6.9thrillerPrime Video

Cut from the same thriller cloth

As an American civilian truck driver working in Iraq, Paul Conroy's convoy is attacked by a group of Iraqi insurgents. Some time later, Paul awakes in a coffin with only a lighter, a cell phone, and his ever-growing anxiety. Faced with a dwindling oxygen supply and a dying battery, he must fight panic, despair, and delirium as he races against time to escape the claustrophobic death trap.

Fractured poster
Fractured
2019 · dir. Brad Anderson
🍅 56%★ 6.5thriller · dramaNetflix

Both know what they want from drama

Driving cross-country, Ray and his wife and daughter stop at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse, Ray is finally able to get her to a doctor. While the wife and daughter go downstairs for an MRI, Ray, exhausted, passes out in a chair in the lobby. Upon waking up, they have no record or knowledge of Ray's family ever being checked in.

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