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Movies that feel like No Way Out (1987)

If you loved No Way Out, the closest films we have are The Machinist (2004), Hard Candy (2006) and The Lives of Others (2006). All three share No Way Out's tense and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell, and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Roger Donaldsontensecontemplative

When is No Way Out streaming? β†’

If No Way Out hit the spot, these will too

The Machinist poster
The Machinist
2004 Β· dir. Brad Anderson
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· drama

Tense where it counts, contemplative underneath

Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.

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Hard Candy poster
Hard Candy
2006 Β· dir. David Slade
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7drama Β· thriller

Thriller built on tension, twice over

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

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The Lives of Others poster
The Lives of Others
2006 Β· dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.4drama Β· thriller

Both keep circling back to espionage

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

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Zero Dark Thirty poster
Zero Dark Thirty
2012 Β· dir. Kathryn Bigelow
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· drama

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May, 2011.

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Locke poster
Locke
2014 Β· dir. Steven Knight
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.1drama Β· thriller

Tense thriller in both cases

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.

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Argo poster
Argo
2012 Β· dir. Ben Affleck
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.7drama Β· thriller

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

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Bridge of Spies poster
Bridge of Spies
2015 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.6thriller Β· drama

The same thriller instincts

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

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Yojimbo poster
Yojimbo
1961 Β· dir. Akira Kurosawa
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.2drama Β· thriller

Cut from the same drama cloth

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

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A Man Escaped poster
A Man Escaped
1956 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.2drama Β· thriller

Thriller approached the same way

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

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Following poster
Following
1999 Β· dir. Christopher Nolan
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller

Both are drama through and through

Bill, an idle, unemployed aspiring writer, walks the crowded streets of London following randomly chosen strangers, a seemingly innocent entertainment that becomes dangerous when he crosses paths with a mysterious character.

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Fight Club poster
Fight Club
1999 Β· dir. David Fincher
πŸ… 81%β˜… 8.8drama Β· thriller

Cut from the same thriller cloth

A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

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Nocturnal Animals poster
Nocturnal Animals
2016 Β· dir. Tom Ford
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.4drama Β· thriller

Drama approached the same way

Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

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In the mood for more tense?

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The best-reviewed films that share No Way Out's defining feeling.