Movies like Instinct
If you like "Instinct" you are looking for philosophical, emotional and psychological movies about / with prison, estrangement, violence, murder, redemption, jungle and survival themes of Drama and Thriller genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Instinct (1999)
35K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
In a prison for the criminally insane, deranged anthropologist Ethan Powell is set to be examined by a bright young psychiatrist, Theo Caulder. Driven by ambition and a hunger for the truth, Caulder will eventually risk everything -- even put his very life on the line -- in a harrowing attempt to understand the bizarre actions of this madman.
Style:
philosophical, emotional, psychological, suspense, touching, tense, serious, bleak, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
prison, estrangement, violence, murder, redemption, jungle, survival, greed, human animal relationship, corruption, psychologist, doctors and patients, research, treatment, mentor, environment, gorilla, jail, consciousness, anthropologist, instinct, prison escape, revenge, prisoner, environmental ...
Time:
90s
Place:
usa, africa, florida, rwanda, cuba
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Instinct
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, suspense, serious and suspenseful films with plots about murder, violence, death, storytelling, mentor, dialogue and brutality mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres. Some movies like Instinct: The Crossing Guard (1995), Committed (1991), Changing Lanes (2002), I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), Jailbreak Pact (2020). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
After his daughter died in a hit and run, Freddy Gale has waited six years for John Booth, the man responsible, to be released from prison. On the day of release, Gale visits Booth and announces that he will kill him in one week. Booth uses his time ...
Style:
emotional, bleak, suspenseful, intense, suspense ...
Plot:
revenge, obsession, haunted by the past, murder, hit and run, loss of daughter, tragedy, vengeance, redemption, car accident, tragic event, justice ...
Time:
90s
Place:
usa, nebraska, los angeles, glendale california, california
Similarity:
100%
268
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A nurse is taken hostage by a patient pretending to be a doctor and is forced to administer to everyone.
Style:
serious, suspenseful, realistic, bleak, independent film ...
Plot:
mental institution, doctor, nurse, murder, mistaken identity, power relations, dishonesty, mentally unstable, misfit, patient, trap, woman in danger ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two ...
Style:
psychological, clever, harsh, realistic, psychological thriller ...
Plot:
revenge, lawyer, vengeance, feud, court, drug addict, brutality, destiny, justice, courtroom, coincidence, vigilante ...
Time:
year 2002, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Style:
mindfuck, suspense, thought provoking, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot:
dementia, suicide, winter, farm, relationships, high school, waitress, blizzard, road trip, elderly couple, estrangement, haunted by the past ...
Time:
2020s, 21st century
Place:
america, oklahoma
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Chile
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
During the last years of Pinochet's military regime, a group of militants from the "Manuel RodrÃguez Patriotic Front" plan a prison break of political prisoners, through a tunnel that will take them 18 months to dig.
Style:
tense, suspense, disturbing, suspenseful, unusual plot structure ...
Plot:
convict, prison escape, prison break, danger, prison, vengeance, race against time, murder, fugitives, against the odds, death, pursuit ...
Time:
90s, year 1990
Place:
chile
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Style:
psychological, rough, visually appealing, reflective, clever ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
psychology, prison, prison life, confined, gay rape, violence, brutality, experiment gone awry, bullying, prison rape, sadism, moral ambiguity ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
india
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Das Experiment is a shocking psycho thriller about the potential for brutality that humans hide. Even more shocking is the fact that it’s based on an actual occurrence—a 1971 psychological experiment at Stanford University that was aborted ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, thought provoking, rough, tense ...
Plot:
prison, experiment, torture, abuse, social experiment, aggression, prison escape, disorder, degradation, warden, psychology, violence ...
Time:
year 2001, 70s, year 2002, 21st century
Place:
germany, canada
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A decent but troubled young man is sent to a psychiatric institution for the criminally insane and soon finds himself in a fight for his life battling ghosts inside his head and very real enemies all around him.
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, tense, rough, independent film ...
Plot:
mental institution, murder, psychopath, redemption, mentally unstable, criminal psychologist, woman in danger, crime and punishment, haunted by the past, prison, love, prison life ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
29%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story:
Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in ...
Style:
suspense, period piece, emotional, depressing, dark ...
Plot:
prison, courtroom, alcatraz, lawyer, court, courtroom drama, legal, justice, murder, escape attempt, corporal punishment, torture ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, year 1941, 20th century, year 1938
Place:
san francisco, bay area, usa, california
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.
Style:
serious, psychological, disturbing, bleak, political ...
Plot:
politics, prisoner, terrorism, rebelliousness, against the odds, danger, state affairs, haunted by the past, injustice, political corruption, revolution, dictatorship ...
Similarity:
28%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Taking place during the 1976 Soweto uprising, the story follows a white school teacher whose life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.
Style:
talky, disturbing, emotional, thought provoking, realistic ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
racism, lawyer, society, legal, injustice, rebellion, discrimination, children, courtroom, freedom, chess, social commentary ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, year 1976
Place:
south africa, africa, poland, canada, new jersey ...
Similarity:
28%
49K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Drumgoole was assigned to a hell-hole prison after his administration was publicly humiliated by ...
Style:
suspense, intense, realistic, serious, suspenseful ...
Plot:
prison, revenge, prison escape, prison warden, corruption, vengeance, prisoner, prison life, tough guy, electric chair, jail, self sacrifice ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new jersey
Similarity:
27%
263K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Novelist Paul Sheldon crashes his car on a snowy Colorado road. He is found by Annie Wilkes, the "number one fan" of Paul's heroine Misery Chastaine. Annie is also somewhat unstable, and Paul finds himself crippled, drugged and at her ...
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, disturbing, atmospheric, scary ...
Audience:
girls' night, adult
Plot:
obsession, insanity, hostage, loneliness, psychopath, stephen king, kidnapping, snow, isolation, captivity, obsessed fan, female psychopath ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1990, 80s
Place:
colorado, persia, usa, new york
Similarity:
27%
14K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
An older, reclusive man's best friend and inspiration for living is his 14-year-old dog named "Red". When three troublesome teens kill the dog for no good reason, the grieving man sets out for justice and redemption by whatever means ...
Style:
suspense, touching, tense, serious, psychological horror ...
Plot:
revenge, twists and turns, violence, vigilante, justice, dog, redemption, murder, small town, greed, pets, tragedy ...
Time:
20th century, year 2008, 21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
27%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
FBI trainee, Clarice Starling ventures into a maximum-security asylum to pick the diseased brain of Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist turned homicidal cannibal. Starling needs clues to help her capture a serial killer. But her Faustian relationship ...
Style:
psychological, suspenseful, suspense, scary, psychological thriller ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, adult
Plot:
serial killer, psychopath, investigation, murder, psychology, cannibalism, kidnapping, maniac, murder investigation, mind game, fbi, cannibal ...
Time:
year 1991, 20th century, 90s
Place:
pittsburgh, baltimore, persia, usa, memphis ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style:
clever, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place:
usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Similarity:
27%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Upon taking a new job, young lawyer Rick Hayes is assigned to the clemency case of Cindy Liggett, a woman convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. As Hayes investigates the background for her case, the two begin to form a deep ...
Style:
emotional, talky, intense, tense, serious ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
death penalty, prison, death row, lethal injection, lawyer, dedicated lawyer, death sentence, justice, love story, courtroom drama, prison life, life is a bitch ...
Time:
90s
Place:
india, taj mahal, california, australia, texas ...
Similarity:
26%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When a reclusive backwoodsman finds a mute little girl wandering alone in the forest, he must protect her from the evil forces determined to end her life.
Style:
tense, suspense, captivating, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Plot:
forest, nature, struggle for survival, teenager fighting adult, recluse, violence, life risking, child fighting adult, child in peril, survival, backwoods, danger ...
Similarity:
26%
Movie in collections
13K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Seemingly mild-mannered businessman Edmond Burke visits a fortuneteller and hears a remark that spurs him to leave his wife abruptly and seek what is missing from his life. Encounters with strangers and unsavory people weaken the barriers ...
Style:
psychological, disturbing, bleak, philosophical, stylized ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, bipolar disorder, murder, sodomy, oral sex, redemption, starting over, prison, society, unlikely criminals, self control, violence ...
Time:
year 2005, 21st century
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
25%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Shotgun Stories tracks a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father. Set against the cotton fields and back roads of Southeast Arkansas, these brothers discover the lengths to which each will go to protect ...
Style:
bleak, realistic, harsh, suspense, depressing ...
Plot:
violence, vengeance, violent, brutality, revenge, family relations, character study, sibling relationship, family bonds, family feud, siblings relations, estrangement ...
Time:
year 2007, 20th century, 90s, 80s
Place:
usa, arkansas, southern usa, california
Similarity:
25%
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police, a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.
Style:
tense, suspense, disturbing, rough, exciting ...
Plot:
prison, revenge, maximum security prison, kidnapping, prison guard, prison warden, murder, prisoner, extreme violence, violence, boxer, police shootout ...
Time:
year 2017, 2010s
Similarity:
25%
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.
Style:
psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, confusing ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, adult
Plot:
twists and turns, plot twist, investigation, mental illness, insanity, psychology, memory, paranoia, mental institution, schizophrenia, psychiatrist, mental patient ...
Time:
1950s, year 2010, year 1954, 1940s, year 1945 ...
Place:
iran, persia, america, boston
Similarity:
25%
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
For burned-out Seattle cop Daniel Pruitt, a camping trip turns hellish when his wife, Jessica, is savagely attacked in the forest. En route to the hospital, the Pruitts collide with a semi, and Jessica identifies the driver as her assailant. ...
Style:
suspense, suspenseful, serious, realistic, crime drama ...
Plot:
small town, vengeance, law enforcement, police investigation, rivalry, murder, dishonesty, life is a bitch, mistaken identity, moral ambiguity, sexual assault, investigation ...
Time:
2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, seattle
Similarity:
25%
Movie in collections
115K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Style:
psychological, dark, ambiguous ending, suspense, disturbing ...
Plot:
mental illness, nightmare, schizophrenia, obsession, insanity, paranoia, nervous breakdown, dream, delusion, character study, premonition, couple relations ...
Time:
2010s, year 2011, year 1986, 21st century
Place:
ohio, columbus ohio, peru, usa
Similarity:
24%
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Dr. Martin Blake, who has spent his life looking for respect, meets an 18-year-old patient named Diane, suffering from a kidney infection, and gets a much-needed boost of self-esteem. However, when her health starts improving, Martin fears losing ...
Style:
medical horror, tense, serious, suspenseful, psychological ...
Plot:
obsession, doctors and patients, hospital, nurse, family dinner, workaholic, power relations, manipulation, medication, sociopath, teenage girl, evil doctor ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
24%
882K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan.
Style:
psychological, cerebral, atmospheric, suspense, twist ending ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult
Plot:
ballet, mental illness, obsession, psychology, character study, dancing, insanity, hallucination, mother daughter relationship, ballerina, surrealism, schizophrenia ...
Time:
year 2010, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
bolivia, usa, new york, manhattan new york city
Similarity:
24%
234K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, twist ending, intellectual, suspenseful ...
Plot:
murder, twists and turns, courtroom drama, lawyer, adultery, investigation, murder mystery, manipulation, mind game, courtroom, trial, police investigation ...
Time:
year 2007, 20th century, 1900s, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, persia, california, usa
Similarity:
24%
310K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it seems Lecter is the only one who can help Graham track down a new serial killer.
Style:
suspense, neo noir, psychological thriller, scary, gothic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
serial killer, psychopath, cannibalism, mind game, investigation, fbi agent, murder, psycho killer, profiler, split personality, killer, cruelty ...
Time:
2000s, 80s, year 2002, 21st century
Place:
baltimore, birmingham alabama, florida, washington d.c., chicago ...
Similarity:
24%
240K
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? Fourteen years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a ...
Style:
psychological, suspense, suspenseful, neo noir, creepy ...
Plot:
rape, fear, family in danger, revenge, violence, lawyer, serial killer, sexualized violence, dangerous attraction, psychology, justice, prison ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1991
Place:
north carolina, georgia, florida, southern usa, usa
Similarity:
23%
269K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min.
Story:
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the ...
Style:
bleak, harsh, depressing, rough, gloomy ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
survival, apocalypse, post apocalypse, post apocalyptic, father son relationship, distopia, end of the world, cannibalism, starvation, dystopia, on the road, journey ...
Time:
future, year 2009, near future, distant future, 2000s ...
Place:
pittsburgh, usa, north america, canada
Similarity:
23%
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