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The Boy poster

Movies that feel likeThe Boy (2016)

A young American woman takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, soon discovering that the family's eight-year-old son is a life-sized doll that comes with a list of strict rules.

If you loved The Boy, the closest films we have are The Lodge (2020), Hereditary (2018) and Lights Out (2016). All three share The Boy's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Absentia (2011).

🍅 31% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. William Brent Belldreadunsettlingtwistytensemelancholy
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If The Boy hit the spot, these will too

The Lodge poster
The Lodge
2020 · dir. Severin Fiala
🍅 75%★ 6horror · mystery

The same two preoccupations: suicide, and murder

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

When a father is forced to abruptly depart for work, he leaves his children, Aidan and Mia, at their holiday home in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace. Isolated and alone, a blizzard traps them inside the lodge as terrifying events summon specters from Grace's dark past.

Hereditary poster
Hereditary
2018 · dir. Ari Aster
🍅 90%★ 7.3horror · mystery · thrillerPrime VideoMax

The same preoccupation in both: grief

Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.

Lights Out poster
Lights Out
2016 · dir. David F. Sandberg
🍅 74%★ 6.3horror · mystery

Both are built on the same subject: suicide

The difference: Takes it somewhere less tense than The Boy does

Rebecca must unlock the terror behind her little brother's experiences that once tested her sanity, bringing her face to face with a supernatural spirit attached to their mother.

The Others poster
The Others
2001 · dir. Alejandro Amenábar
🍅 85%★ 7.6horror · mystery · thriller

Two things both keep coming back to: nanny and mansion

Grace is a woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.

The Ritual poster
The Ritual
2017 · dir. David Bruckner
🍅 74%★ 6.4horror · mysteryNetflix

One thread runs through both: murder

A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that's stalking them.

Goodnight Mommy poster
Goodnight Mommy
2015 · dir. Severin Fiala
🍅 85%★ 6.7horror · mystery · thriller

Common ground in both: mask and fire

In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is.

From Hell poster
From Hell
2001 · dir. Albert Hughes
🍅 57%★ 6.7horror · mystery · thrillerHulu

Both keep coming back to the same thing: grief

Frederick Abberline is an opium-huffing inspector from Scotland Yard who falls for one of Jack the Ripper's prostitute targets in this Hughes brothers adaption of a graphic novel that posits the Ripper's true identity.

1408 poster
1408
2007 · dir. Mikael Håfström
🍅 80%★ 6.8horror · mystery

Common ground: fire

A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

Jigsaw poster
Jigsaw
2017 · dir. Michael Spierig
🍅 32%★ 5.7horror · mystery

Dread-soaked and unsettling in the same breath

Law enforcement finds itself chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade, embroiled in a diabolical new game that's only just begun.

Smile 2 poster
Smile 2
2024 · dir. Parker Finn
🍅 86%★ 6.7horror · mysteryNetflixPrime Video

Both land twists and melancholy at once

About to embark on a new world tour, global pop sensation Skye Riley begins experiencing increasingly terrifying and inexplicable events. Overwhelmed by the escalating horrors and the pressures of fame, Skye is forced to face her dark past to regain control of her life before it spirals out of control.

Absentia poster
Absentia
2011 · dir. Mike Flanagan
🍅 87%★ 5.8horror · mystery

Both lean on dread more than on horror

Tricia's husband has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia'. Tricia is reluctant, always holding out hope, but Callie is practical and wants her to move on. As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house.

A Dark Song poster
A Dark Song
2016 · dir. Liam Gavin
🍅 91%★ 6.2horror · fantasy · mystery

Common ground: mansion

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than The Boy does

A determined young woman and a damaged occultist risk their lives and souls to perform a dangerous ritual that will grant them what they want.

In the mood for more dread?

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