feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like The Third Man (1949)

If you loved The Third Man, the closest films we have are Identity (2003), The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Red Sparrow (2018). All three share The Third Man's tense and twisty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 6 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Cinemax Amazon Channel, Cinemax Apple TV channel and HBO Max Amazon Channel and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 99% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Carol Reedtensetwistyatmospheric

When is The Third Man streaming? β†’

If The Third Man hit the spot, these will too

Identity poster
Identity
2003 Β· dir. James Mangold
πŸ… 63%β˜… 7.3mystery Β· thriller

Tense and twisty in the same breath

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Complete strangers stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer is.

Feels alike?
The Da Vinci Code poster
The Da Vinci Code
2006 Β· dir. Ron Howard
πŸ… 25%β˜… 6.6thriller Β· mystery

Both trade on tension more than on being thriller

The difference: Not nearly as atmospheric as The Third Man

A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2,000 years a secret society closely guards information that β€” should it come to light β€” could rock the very foundations of Christianity.

Feels alike?
Red Sparrow poster
Red Sparrow
2018 Β· dir. Francis Lawrence
πŸ… 45%β˜… 6.6thriller Β· mystery

Twisty mystery in both cases

The difference: 69 years apart, and the 2010s show

Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Dominika emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, she meets a CIA agent who tries to convince her that he is the only person she can trust.

Feels alike?
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch poster
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
2018 Β· dir. David Slade
β˜… 7.1thriller Β· science fiction Β· mystery

Thriller built on atmosphere, twice over

The difference: Plays it as science fiction more than The Third Man does

In 1984, a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a dark fantasy novel into a video game. A mind-bending tale with multiple endings.

Feels alike?
Odd Man Out poster
Odd Man Out
1947 Β· dir. Carol Reed
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.6crime Β· drama Β· thriller

The same hand behind both of them: Carol Reed

The difference: Leans crime where The Third Man does not

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

Feels alike?
Three Days of the Condor poster
Three Days of the Condor
1975 Β· dir. Sydney Pollack
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4thriller Β· mystery

Tense mystery, and it commits to that

The difference: A 1970s film, from a different era of filmmaking

When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.

Feels alike?
Oldboy poster
Oldboy
2003 Β· dir. Park Chan-wook
πŸ… 82%β˜… 8.3thriller Β· mystery

Thriller with a pulse of twists, in both cases

With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.

Feels alike?
Basic Instinct poster
Basic Instinct
1992 Β· dir. Paul Verhoeven
πŸ… 56%β˜… 7.1thriller Β· mystery

The same thriller instincts

Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered -- a crime she had described in her latest story.

Feels alike?
Angels & Demons poster
Angels & Demons
2009 Β· dir. Ron Howard
πŸ… 36%β˜… 6.7thriller Β· mystery

Both are mystery through and through

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is recruited by the Vatican to investigate the apparent return of the Illuminati – a secret, underground organization – after four cardinals are kidnapped on the night of the papal conclave.

Feels alike?
Notorious poster
Notorious
1946 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.9romance Β· mystery Β· thriller

Cut from the same thriller cloth

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

Feels alike?
Out of the Past poster
Out of the Past
1947 Β· dir. Jacques Tourneur
πŸ… 87%β˜… 8crime Β· thriller

Both circle film noir and black and white

The peaceful life of a gas station owner is disrupted when a man from his past arrives in town and forces him to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

Feels alike?
Rear Window poster
Rear Window
1954 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.5thriller Β· mystery Β· drama

Mystery approached the same way

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more tense?

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The best-reviewed films that share The Third Man's defining feeling.