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Picnic at Hanging Rock poster

Movies that feel likePicnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

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.

If you loved Picnic at Hanging Rock, the closest films we have are Fat City (1972), High and Low (1963) and Diabolique (1955). All three share Picnic at Hanging Rock's atmospheric feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Naked City (1948).

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If Picnic at Hanging Rock hit the spot, these will too

Fat City poster
Fat City
1972 · dir. John Huston
🍅 100%★ 7.2drama

Contemplative where it counts, atmospheric underneath

The difference: Takes it somewhere less twisty than Picnic at Hanging Rock does

The story of two men, a veteran boxer who is down and out, and a young man who is just starting his life and boxing career. Their fighting careers cross paths as their lives and fortunes head in opposite directions.

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

Drama with a pulse of twists, in both cases

The difference: Trades the wistfulness of Picnic at Hanging Rock for an angle of its own

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

Diabolique poster
Diabolique
1955 · dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
🍅 95%★ 8.1thriller · mysteryMax

Twisty mystery, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than Picnic at Hanging Rock does

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.

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

Mystery built on atmosphere, twice over

The difference: Made in the 1940s, in a different era of the craft

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

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

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

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.

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

Contemplative drama in both cases

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

Alphaville poster
Alphaville
1965 · dir. Jean-Luc Godard
🍅 92%★ 6.9drama · science fiction · mystery

Mystery with a pulse of twists, in both cases

Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended by the scientist’s daughter Natasha, Lemmy must unravel the mysteries of the strictly logical Alpha 60 and teach Natasha the meaning of the word “love.”

Sweet Smell of Success poster
Sweet Smell of Success
1957 · dir. Alexander Mackendrick
🍅 98%★ 8dramaPrime Video

Both run atmospheric where it counts

New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.

The Purity of Vengeance poster
The Purity of Vengeance
2018 · dir. Christoffer Boe
★ 7.4crime · thriller · mystery

The drama is handled with the same confidence

Copenhagen, 2018. A frightening discovery is made in an old apartment. The subsequent investigation of Department Q leads them to an infamous institution for girls that was suddenly closed in the early sixties.

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

Both play mystery straight

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

Kes poster
Kes
1970 · dir. Ken Loach
🍅 100%★ 7.9dramaPrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

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

The same mystery instincts

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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The best-reviewed films that share Picnic at Hanging Rock’s defining feeling.