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The Orphanage poster

Movies that feel likeThe Orphanage (2007)

A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage, intent on reopening it. Before long, her son starts to communicate with a new invisible friend.

If you loved The Orphanage, the closest films we have are Lake Mungo (2009), Stoker (2013) and Funny Games (1997). All three share The Orphanage'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 La Llorona (2019).

🍅 87% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. J. A. Bayonadreadunsettlingcontemplativetense
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Hulu · Paramount Plus Premium

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See it on the Mood Map

If The Orphanage hit the spot, these will too

Lake Mungo poster
Lake Mungo
2009 · dir. Joel Anderson
🍅 92%★ 6.2horror · thriller

Both land dread and unease at once

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than The Orphanage does

After 16-year-old Alice Palmer drowns at a local dam, her family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of a psychic and parapsychologist, who discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. At Lake Mungo, Alice's secret past emerges.

Stoker poster
Stoker
2013 · dir. Park Chan-wook
🍅 70%★ 6.7drama · horror · thrillerMax

Contemplative and tense in the same breath

Following her father Richard's death in an unexplained road accident, reclusive teenager India Stoker withdraws further into the quiet rural life she shares with her emotionally disturbed mother Evie. But her curiosity is stirred when her mysterious uncle Charlie, who she has never met, suddenly arrives unannounced. Told that the darkly charismatic Charlie will now be staying at the house, India's initial well-founded distrust of her uncle's motivations begins to waver as she finds herself becoming ever more deeply entranced by his sinister charms.

Funny Games poster
Funny Games
1997 · dir. Michael Haneke
🍅 73%★ 7.5drama · horror · thrillerMax

Horror with a pulse of dread, in both cases

Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.

Berberian Sound Studio poster
Berberian Sound Studio
2012 · dir. Peter Strickland
🍅 85%★ 6.2horror · drama · thriller

Drama built on unease, twice over

In the 1970s, a British sound technician is brought to Italy to work on the sound effects for a gruesome horror film. His nightmarish task slowly takes over his psyche, driving him to confront his own past.

Insidious poster
Insidious
2011 · dir. James Wan
🍅 66%★ 6.8horror · thriller

Both are working the same pair: medium, haunted house

A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.

[REC]² poster
[REC]²
2009 · dir. Jaume Balagueró
🍅 67%★ 6.5thriller · horror

Tense thriller, and it commits to that

The action continues from [REC], with the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation.

30 Days of Night poster
30 Days of Night
2007 · dir. David Slade
🍅 51%★ 6.6horror · thriller

Both lean on dread more than on horror

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town's husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.

The Ring Two poster
The Ring Two
2005 · dir. Hideo Nakata
🍅 21%★ 5.4drama · horror · thrillerParamount+

Contemplative drama in both cases

After the ordeal with Samara, Rachel and Aiden move to a rural town. But soon Rachel learns about the death of a girl in a similar fashion. To save Aiden, she must dig into Samara's past even further.

Ring poster
Ring
1998 · dir. Hideo Nakata
🍅 98%★ 7.2horror · thriller

Thriller built on unease, twice over

A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.

La Llorona poster
La Llorona
2019 · dir. Jayro Bustamante
🍅 96%★ 6.6thriller · horror · dramaRent or buy

Both lean on stillness more than on horror

Accused of the genocide of Mayan people, retired general Enrique is trapped in his mansion by massive protests. Abandoned by his staff, the indignant old man and his family must face the devastating truth of his actions and the growing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes.

Thesis poster
Thesis
1996 · dir. Alejandro Amenábar
🍅 86%★ 7.4horror · thriller

Another one that scratches it

While working on a thesis about audiovisual violence, film student Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that she was a former student in her university, and that the authors of the video are not very far either.

Run poster
Run
2020 · dir. Aneesh Chaganty
🍅 88%★ 6.7thriller · horror · dramaHulu

Drama of the same temperament

Chloe, a teenager who is confined to a wheelchair, is homeschooled by her mother, Diane. Chloe soon becomes suspicious of her mother and begins to suspect that she may be harboring a dark secret.

In the mood for more dread?

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