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Movies that feel like The Number 23 (2007)

If you loved The Number 23, the closest films we have are The Ninth Gate (1999), Thelma (2017) and The Girl in the Fog (2017). All three share The Number 23's tense and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 10 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.

πŸ… 7% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Joel Schumachertensetwistygrittycontemplativeobsessiveunsettling

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If The Number 23 hit the spot, these will too

The Ninth Gate poster
The Ninth Gate
1999 Β· dir. Roman Polanski
πŸ… 44%β˜… 6.7mystery Β· thriller Β· horror

Both are working the same pair: suicide, obsession

The difference: Reviewed even better

A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.

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Thelma poster
Thelma
2017 Β· dir. Joachim Trier
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.9drama Β· mystery Β· thriller

The same preoccupation in both: obsession

The difference: None of the grit The Number 23 is built on

A college student starts to experience extreme seizures. She soon learns that the violent episodes are a symptom of inexplicable abilities.

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The Girl in the Fog poster
The Girl in the Fog
2017 Β· dir. Donato Carrisi
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.8mystery Β· thriller Β· crime

Tense where it counts, twisty underneath

A gripping and chilling thriller that brings us to a hazy mountain village where an enigmatic detective is investigating the sudden disappearance of fifteen-year-old girl.

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A Time to Kill poster
A Time to Kill
1996 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Joel Schumacher working the same nerve twice

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

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Leave the World Behind poster
Leave the World Behind
2023 Β· dir. Sam Esmail
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.4drama Β· mystery Β· thriller

Common ground: family

A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devicesβ€”and two strangers appear at their door.

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The Girl on the Train poster
The Girl on the Train
2016 Β· dir. Tate Taylor
πŸ… 44%β˜… 6.5crime Β· mystery Β· thriller

The same mix in both: grit, then obsession

Rachel Watson, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds.

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The Gift poster
The Gift
2015 Β· dir. Joel Edgerton
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: psychological thriller

Simon and Robyn are a young married couple whose life is going as planned until a chance run-in with Simon's high school acquaintance sends their world into a tailspin.

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Misery poster
Misery
1990 Β· dir. Rob Reiner
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8drama Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: psychological thriller

After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.

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Phone Booth poster
Phone Booth
2003 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· crime

Both are Joel Schumacher's work, and they rhyme

A slick New York publicist who picks up a ringing receiver in a phone booth is told that if he hangs up, he'll be killed... and the little red light from a laser rifle sight is proof that the caller isn't kidding.

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Falling Down poster
Falling Down
1993 Β· dir. Joel Schumacher
πŸ… 77%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

Both lean on stillness more than on thriller

An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.

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Saint Maud poster
Saint Maud
2020 Β· dir. Rose Glass
πŸ… 92%β˜… 6.6horror Β· mystery Β· thriller

Unsettling mystery in both cases

The difference: Sits closer to horror than The Number 23 does

Having recently found God, self-effacing young nurse Maud arrives at a plush home to care for Amanda, a hedonistic dancer left frail from a chronic illness. When a chance encounter with a former colleague throws up hints of a dark past, it becomes clear there is more to sweet Maud than meets the eye.

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Blue Velvet poster
Blue Velvet
1986 Β· dir. David Lynch
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.7mystery Β· thriller Β· crime

Crime built on tension, twice over

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

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In the mood for more tense?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Number 23’s defining feeling.