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Movies that feel like The Last Wave (1977)

If you loved The Last Wave, the closest films we have are Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971), The Devil's Advocate (1997) and Midsommar (2019). All three share The Last Wave's contemplative and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max and Howdy Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal people in a ritualised taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing truths about himself and premonitions.

πŸ… 78% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Peter Weircontemplativetwistydreadunsettlingdreamlikeparanoid

When is The Last Wave streaming? β†’

If The Last Wave hit the spot, these will too

Let's Scare Jessica to Death poster
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
1971 Β· dir. John D. Hancock
πŸ… 42%β˜… 6.4horror Β· mystery Β· drama

Paranoia sits at the heart of each

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Newly released from a mental ward, Jessica hopes to return to life the way it was before her nervous breakdown. But when Jessica moves to a country house with her husband and a close friend, she finds a mysterious girl living in there. Jessica's terror and paranoia resurface as evil forces surround her.

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The Devil's Advocate poster
The Devil's Advocate
1997 Β· dir. Taylor Hackford
πŸ… 65%β˜… 7.5horror Β· drama Β· mystery

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists

The difference: None of the paranoia that defines The Last Wave

Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.

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Midsommar poster
Midsommar
2019 Β· dir. Ari Aster
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.1horror Β· drama Β· mystery

Both keep circling back to paranoia

The difference: Not nearly as dreamlike as The Last Wave

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

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Session 9 poster
Session 9
2001 Β· dir. Brad Anderson
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.4horror Β· mystery Β· drama

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

The difference: A 2000s film, from a different era of filmmaking

Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

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In the Mouth of Madness poster
In the Mouth of Madness
1995 Β· dir. John Carpenter
πŸ… 61%β˜… 7.1horror Β· mystery Β· drama

Both trade on dream logic more than on being drama

The difference: Plays it as thriller more than The Last Wave does

An insurance investigator visits a small town while looking into the strange disappearance of a popular horror novelist. He soon finds that the impact of the author’s books is far more than inspirational.

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Jacob's Ladder poster
Jacob's Ladder
1990 Β· dir. Adrian Lyne
πŸ… 71%β˜… 7.4drama Β· mystery Β· horror

Nightmare is the engine of both

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

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The Sentinel poster
The Sentinel
1977 Β· dir. Michael Winner
πŸ… 45%β˜… 6.3horror Β· mystery Β· fantasy

Twisty mystery, and it commits to that

As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.

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mother! poster
mother!
2017 Β· dir. Darren Aronofsky
πŸ… 68%β˜… 6.6horror Β· drama

Both built around surrealism

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

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Black Swan poster
Black Swan
2010 Β· dir. Darren Aronofsky
πŸ… 85%β˜… 8drama Β· thriller Β· horror

The same preoccupation in both: nightmare

A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."

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The Witch poster
The Witch
2016 Β· dir. Robert Eggers
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7horror Β· drama Β· mystery

Horror with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

In 1630, a farmer relocates his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of a forest where strange, unsettling things happen. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, each family member's faith, loyalty and love are tested in shocking ways.

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Carnival of Souls poster
Carnival of Souls
1962 Β· dir. Herk Harvey
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7horror Β· mystery Β· fantasy

Dread-soaked mystery in both cases

Mary Henry ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man. As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past.

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Picnic at Hanging Rock poster
Picnic at Hanging Rock
1975 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4drama Β· mystery

The same hand behind both of them: Peter Weir

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.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Last Wave's defining feeling.