Movies like Shortwave
If you like "Shortwave" you are looking for psychological thriller, tense and psychological movies about / with grief, isolation, loss of child, paranormal phenomena, mysterious disappearance, problem and family problems themes of Sci-Fi 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).
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Shortwave (2016)
2K
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A modern and unrelentingly tense psychological thriller based on a theory of the origins of shortwave radio frequencies, Shortwave is an unnerving reminder that some stones are best left unturned.
Style:
psychological thriller, tense, psychological, captivating, suspenseful, psychological horror, ambiguous ending, creepy, art house, realistic
Plot:
grief, isolation, loss of child, paranormal phenomena, mysterious disappearance, problem, family problems, secret, paranormal activity, vanished man, obsession, hallucination, a vision, paranoia, trauma, investigation, supernatural, claustrophobia, domestic drama, moral ambiguity, experimental narrative, female masturbation, paranormal, alien contact, suicide attempt ...
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Most similar movies to Shortwave
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out psychological thriller, suspenseful, psychological horror and tense films with plots about isolation, paranoia, claustrophobia, slow burn, obsession, moral ambiguity and investigation mostly in Thriller, Sci-Fi and Horror genres. Some movies like Shortwave: Stranger in the Woods (2024), Lookout (2025), The Arbors (2020), Cerebrum (2021), Descendent (2025). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Olivia and her friends go on a vacation. After Olivia nearly drowns with a slit wrist in her bathtub after her fiancé's funeral, her friends suspect that she tried to kill herself, but she believes someone attacked her.
Style:
thrilling, captivating, psychological, suspenseful, psychological thriller ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
suicide attempt, female protagonist, trauma, grief, mental health, bereavement, secret, suicide, problem, mourning, post traumatic stress, isolation ...
Similarity:
95%
856
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min.
Story:
Seeking peace away from her turbulent life, a young woman accepts a job as a fire lookout at a remote wilderness tower. As she settles into her new role, eerie disturbances and strange occurrences begin to unfold, and she must uncover the chilling ...
Style:
suspenseful, psychological thriller, atmospheric, tense, psychological horror ...
Plot:
isolation, secrets, solitude, forest, macabre, female protagonist, haunting, character study, mountain, slow burn, investigation, claustrophobia ...
Similarity:
89%
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Set against a dreary small town, reclusive locksmith Ethan Daunes struggles to keep ties with his younger brother Shane. Ethan's life takes an unsettling turn after finding a strange small creature and forming a mysterious connection. After a ...
Style:
suspense, bleak, tense, scary, thrilling ...
Plot:
creature feature, paranoia, supernatural, monster, gas station, birthday present, supernatural being, murder, magical creature, supernatural horror, supernatural power, isolation ...
Similarity:
85%
264
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
To make ends meet, Tom signs on as a guinea pig at a home-based lab, but when he commits a crime he cannot remember, he must risk his own sanity to reveal the truth.
Style:
tense, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, captivating ...
Plot:
amnesia, memory loss, memory, chase, amnesiac, memory lapse, problem, experiment gone awry, battles, scientific experiment, fight, experiment ...
Similarity:
80%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
After a traumatic brain injury triggers terrifying visions of extraterrestrials and a newfound talent for drawing, a father-to-be begins to question his reality and becomes obsessed with the need to protect his family from an unseen threat.
Style:
psychological thriller, dread, psychological horror, suspenseful, surreal ...
Plot:
trauma, family drama, family tragedy, obsession, hallucination, paranormal, grief, paranoia, loss, character study, slow burn, psychosis ...
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
79%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min.
Story:
After a car accident leaves her boyfriend in a coma, April’s panic attacks return and make her life a living hell. However, once she accepts the kindness of a stranger trying to help her, she realizes that he might not be the stranger she thought ...
Style:
suspense, tense, psychological thriller, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
coma, car accident, psychological manipulation, paranoia, relationships, problem, lifestyle change, changing lives, male female relationship, intrigue, secret, accident ...
Similarity:
77%
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
After witnessing the alien abduction of her mother as a child, Aurora joins the UFO cult "The Cosmic Dawn". At the cult's remote compound Aurora experiences miraculous revelations, and consciousness-expanding flowers but all ...
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, captivating, thrilling, psychological thriller ...
Plot:
alien abduction, sect, problem, dark past, secret past, ufo sighting, secret, mysterious past, alien, alien encounter, cult leader, religious fanaticism ...
Similarity:
75%
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
A remote helpline volunteer is targeted by a stranger who lures women from their homes with a recording of a crying baby.
Style:
creepy, psychological, thrilling, captivating, suspenseful ...
Plot:
killer, cold blooded killer, problem, secret, psychological manipulation, stalker, cat and mouse, paranoia, isolation, manipulation, female protagonist, claustrophobia ...
Similarity:
72%
Movie in collections
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Rishi and his girlfriend Adithi are on their way to visit Rishi's father and their car breaks down. A stranger offers them a stay at his house. What is Rishi's connection with the stranger, and how does they come out of the weird situation
Style:
twisted, suspense, twist ending, tense, creepy ...
Plot:
male female relationship, car breakdown, mysterious character, secret, undercover, car trouble, mind game, claustrophobia, paranoia, nightmare, isolation, road trip ...
Similarity:
65%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Story:
Years after the tragic death of his sister, Zach returns to his childhood home. There he finds an old toy phone he used to "talk" to his dead sister, setting off a series of terrifying events, making him question what, and who, is real.
Style:
tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, psychological, mystical ...
Plot:
supernatural, trauma, loss, grief, reality versus fantasy, loss of sister, mysticism, supernatural horror, paranormal activity, paranormal, getting home, loss of family member ...
Similarity:
64%
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A man who has gone into isolated hiding is haunted by visions of the woman he loves and a mysterious creature in the nearby woods.
Style:
suspenseful, thrilling, captivating, mystical, psychological ...
Plot:
creature feature, creature, woods, paranormal activity, isolation, secret, paranormal phenomena, mysticism, supernatural horror, paranormal, threat, survival horror ...
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
Writer Zora Matthews is the daughter of famous author Thomas Morgan Matthews who died a year ago. Both Zora and Thomas suffer from schizophrenia. After a fight with husband Drew, Zora escapes to her father's hideaway house in beautiful Topanga ...
Style:
slasher, psychological horror, psychological thriller, psychological, thrilling ...
Plot:
schizophrenia, problem, writers, writer's life, tragic past, female writer, secret past, schizophrenic, troubled past, paranoid schizophrenia, paranoia, madness ...
Place:
california
Similarity:
59%
Genre: Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 87 min.
Story:
Twin sister librarians Nan and Ana plan revenge when their author mother commits suicide, with her final words suggesting her biographer murdered her.
Style:
tense, psychological thriller, suspenseful, disturbing, captivating ...
Plot:
revenge, twin sister, twins, grief, female protagonist, women, murder, criminal's revenge, secret, haunting, suicide, mother and daughter ...
Place:
wales
Similarity:
59%
402
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
After waking up disoriented and frightened in a hospital room, George discovers that he has received a full face transplant.
Style:
psychological thriller, captivating, disturbing, suspense, psychological ...
Plot:
amnesia, memory loss, investigation, identity crisis, memory lapse, changing lives, amnesiac, problem, repressed memory, transplant, lifestyle change, mysterious character ...
Similarity:
57%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Inspired by true events, the supernatural thriller "House of Darkness" recounts the mysterious case of a San Francisco family who claimed that a dark force was responsible for the tragic events that unfolded. Trying to save their ...
Style:
suspense, suspenseful, mystical, captivating, tense ...
Plot:
female protagonist, ghost, haunting, possession, haunted house, paranoid schizophrenia, insanity, paranormal, haunted, paranoid, mysticism, fear ...
Similarity:
57%
224
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
The daughter of a billionaire tech mogul questions her own memories about her mothers death after being kidnapped by a stranger.
Style:
suspenseful, psychological thriller, captivating, psychological, suspense ...
Plot:
kidnapping, family secret, dead mother, billionaire, dysfunctional family, life is a bitch, wealthy family, family problems, murder, uncover truth, abduction, relationship problems ...
Time:
future
Similarity:
56%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Accused of the ritualistic murder of his best friend, a vice detective bent on finding the truth is plunged into Hell when he goes undercover and discovers that demons might be real.
Style:
detective, dark, psychological thriller, suspenseful, disturbing ...
Plot:
demon, undercover, insanity, guilt, trauma, investigation, paranoia, supernatural, obsession, ritual, mental institution, occult ...
Similarity:
56%
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min.
Story:
A group of ordinary people band together in a suburban home to battle imposters who have replaced their families, friends, and neighbors.
Style:
suspenseful, suspense, thrilling, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
paranoia, mind control, battles, body snatcher, paranoid schizophrenia, secret, psychopath, survival, alien invasion, paranoid, isolation, home invasion ...
Similarity:
55%
Movie in collections
110
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
The film follows Michael Todd, a lonely college student, with no direction in his life; he is assigned a research paper about a local New Orleans legend, the tale of Erica Fisc, a girl who disappeared some twenty years prior. As he looks into the ...
Style:
tense, psychological, serious, suspenseful, dark ...
Plot:
missing person, investigation, danger, uncover truth, on the run, urban legend, fear, obsession, chase, suspicion, survival, cat and mouse ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new orleans, louisiana, usa
Similarity:
52%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
"Limbus" is a surreal thriller set in the afterlife. It's the story of four cult members after a mass suicide. Stuck in purgatory, they must search for the secrets beyond their existence. They travel through their pasts to unravel the ...
Style:
psychological thriller, surreal, captivating, thrilling, suspenseful ...
Plot:
purgatory, afterlife, supernatural, surrealism, problem, mass suicide, guilt, sacrifice, redemption, moral dilemma, past life, identity crisis ...
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A grieving mother is haunted by the tragic loss of her daughter in a car accident that left her abusive husband in a coma. As she battles a surreal descent into darkness, her sleepwalking episodes intensify. Plagued by haunting visions of her ...
Style:
psychological thriller, psychological horror, tense, ambiguous ending
Audience:
adult
Plot:
grief, sleepwalking, nightmare, trauma, character study, paranoia, abusive relationship, guilt, supernatural horror, domestic drama, claustrophobia, coma ...
Similarity:
51%
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
The Yellow Wallpaper (Motion Picture) is an "Origins Myth"... rather than a direct adaptation of the famous Charlotte Perkins Gilman story. Drawing from the original short story and a number of Gilmans' other gothic works (The Giant ...
Style:
psychological thriller, atmospheric, psychological horror, gothic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
isolation, afterlife, female protagonist, mental illness, mental disorder, life is a bitch, haunting, grief, claustrophobia, postpartum depression, countryside, attic ...
Similarity:
50%
Genre: Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min.
Story:
Struggling to balance her demanding job and managing her daughter Daphne while separating from her husband, hospital researcher Maria enlists her friendly new neighbor, Eve, to babysit. But Maria soon learns that Eve has ulterior motives and will do ...
Style:
suspenseful, tense, captivating, psychological, thrilling ...
Plot:
single mother, female protagonist, problem, family problems, single parent, nanny, secret, intrigue, psychological manipulation, protective mother, obsession, paranoia ...
Similarity:
48%
Movie in collections
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A psychological thriller set in the world of underground dubstep, Snap is the story of Jim Whitman, a brilliant but painfully introverted musician who develops a crush on a young social worker.
Style:
suspenseful, psychological, tense, bleak, realistic ...
Plot:
mental illness, obsession, composer, danger, dangerous attraction, stalking, haunted by the past, character study, psychosis, paranoia, isolation, hallucination ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, america
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
After witnessing his girlfriend's murder, a man risks everything - including reality itself - to discover the truth.
Style:
suspense, tense, psychological thriller, dark, intense ...
Plot:
murder, male protagonist, grief, loss, obsession, investigation, trauma, identity crisis, isolation, moral ambiguity, paranoia, revenge ...
Similarity:
47%
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Gemma moves to LA, hoping to become an actress. She takes an overnight gig at a sleep clinic that promises to make their clients’ dreams come true. But the longer she spends there, the more it becomes clear that something sinister is going on.
Style:
psychological thriller, psychological horror, mind bending, tense, atmospheric ...
Plot:
dream, nightmare, paranoia, female protagonist, hallucination, insomnia, identity crisis, obsession, isolation, character study, claustrophobia, slow burn ...
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
A day in the life of a teacher after her husband leaves for a one day trip for business. She is pregnant and is left alone in their isolated house at the countryside. She begins to feel invisible presences, which frighten her all night. Who are they ...
Style:
tense, suspenseful, mystic, captivating, mystical ...
Plot:
female protagonist, pregnancy, home alone, isolation, fear, mysticism, paranormal, paranormal activity, paranormal phenomena, pregnant woman, uncertainty, claustrophobia ...
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
An ailing former scuba diver, who faces extremely tough times, begins experiencing otherworldly incidents.
Style:
mind bending, tense, scary, psychological, serious ...
Plot:
mentally unstable, haunted by the past, dealing with death, losing-it hero, life is a bitch, scuba diver, isolation, haunting, supernatural, grief, trauma, obsession ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
46%
Genre: Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
Six complete strangers recall the details of their individual experiences with alien forces-sharing the terrifying stories of their abductions and possessions.
Style:
anthology, suspenseful, psychotronic, captivating, dark ...
Plot:
alien contact, alien abduction, monster, distopia, ufo, possession, supernatural, possessed, alien encounter, alien, obsession, space and aliens ...
Similarity:
45%
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Grief-stricken after the loss of her child, Vanessa takes refuge at a lake house only to be met with an aberration of herself from a parallel universe and realizes the multiverse gates hold the key to releasing her grief or trapping her forever.
Style:
suspenseful, psychological thriller, captivating, thrilling, mind bending ...
Plot:
female protagonist, journey, alternate reality, multiverse, grief, parallel world, parallel universe, adventure hero, supernatural ability, supernatural power, identity crisis, trauma ...
Similarity:
45%
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