10 Best Movies Like Se7en: Top Dark Crime Thrillers to Watch

Because movies like Se7en is such a dark and good crime story, it’s easy to forget how silly the title is—it sounds like “Sesevenen” because it changes the “v” to a “7.” It might have been David Fincher’s first great movie, and the story is about two detectives who are after a dangerous serial killer who seems to be killing people based on one of the seven deadly sins.

In the years since it came out, this type of movie has been very influential and very famous (it even got a 4k remaster). At the same time, some movies that came out before Se7en may have influenced it and its dark neo-noir plot. The movies below are all a lot like Fincher’s 1995 movie in some ways. Fans of dark, twisty, and sometimes scary crime, thriller, and mystery movies should check them out.

10 Best Movies Like Se7en:

1. The Crimson Rivers (2000):

Two French police officers are working on different cases at the same time. One is looking into a horrible murder at a college in the mountains, and the other is looking into how skinheads messed up the grave of a young girl. The signs from both cases bring them together. As soon as they start working together, more deaths happen, and the two start to figure out what dark secrets are behind them.

2. The Ghost Writer (2010):

Romeo Polanski, the famous director who used to be married to the late Sharon Tate, takes the political thriller to a whole new level with The Ghost Writer. A ghostwriter named “The Ghost,” played by Ewan McGregor, is hired to finish writing the autobiography of a former U.K. Prime Minister, played by Pierce Brosnan. The former politician is a controversial figure, and the Ghost starts to think that he is hiding some bad things.

The best thing about this movie is that all of its twists and turns *feel* like they should be clear, which makes the actual events even more surprising. Like Prisoners, it ends in a way that isn’t clear, leaving watchers with questions that will never be answered.

3. No Country for Old Men (2007):

The crime movie No Country for Old Men is both beautiful and sad. It intentionally focuses on people who break the law and how those who are on the “right side” can’t do much. This story is about what happens after a bad drug deal. One man stumbles upon the site and steals a lot of cash, which makes him the target of a determined killer who wants to get that cash back.

No Country for Old Men is intense for almost the whole movie, even if you know how it ends. The main bad guy is a big part of that constant feeling of dread and/or outright fear. It’s not a feel-good movie by any means, but it is a great movie and probably the best movie version of a Cormac McCarthy story ever.

4. Frenzy (1972):

Even though Alfred Hitchcock made most of his movies during a time when there were limits on what could be shown in movies, he still made some dark, scary, and violent movies. Frenzy was one of his last movies generally, and it was made at a time when it was okay to show a little more. This is why a lot of it still works well after more than 50 years.

Although Frenzy has a dark sense of humor, it is still a pretty sad and intense movie. It follows a crazy search for the serial killer responsible for a string of killings in London that are mostly women. If you like good crime/thriller movies and don’t mind things getting a little mean (again, in a funny way, at least sometimes), you should watch this.

5. The Call (2020):

When Young-sook calls Seo-yeon, she is 28 years old and wants to talk to her friend. Seo-yeon hangs up because she thinks the woman has the wrong number. He finds out later that the call came from the same house 20 years ago.

6. Side Effects (2013):

Side Effects by Steven Soderbergh isn’t as good as movies like Se7en, that much is clear. Still, the big twist is very exciting. The movie is mostly about a woman named Emily who starts taking a new drug after her husband gets out of jail. But the medicine has side effects that don’t make sense and have effects on many people.

The ad for this movie makes people think they are going to see one movie when they are actually going to see another. Some of the big names in the group are Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They give an already complex story even more depth.

7. 8MM (1999):

Another movie with Nicolas Cage and a great supporting cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Catherine Keener is 8MM, a dark and dirty mystery/thriller that works pretty well. In the movie, Cage plays a surveillance expert who finds a reel of plastic film and realizes that what’s on it could reveal something very frightening. As you might expect, this leads him on a surprising probe.

There is a sense of going deeper into a scary underworld as 8MM goes on, and it can be pretty interesting and frightening at times. Aside from how poorly the movie is written and directed, the acting is also pretty good. 8MM can be let down in those areas. Even though it doesn’t quite work together well enough to be a masterpiece, the parts that do work are usually strong enough to make it worth seeing for people who like dark crime and thriller movies.

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991):

While movies like Se7en is great, The Silence of the Lambs is also a great American crime/mystery movie from the 1990s that makes it almost impossible to choose as the best of that decade. The movie is brilliantly written and superbly played, and it may be the best movie or TV show about Hannibal Lecter so far.

Anthony Hopkins plays him in what is probably his most famous role. The story is about a young FBI agent (Jodie Foster) who forms an uneasy alliance with a prisoner Lecter because he might be able to help her catch another killer who is still on the loose. Besides the writing and acting, The Silence of the Lambs is hard to fault in terms of direction, images, music, and just about everything else. It’s great in every way, and it’s one of the best movies of the 1990s.

9. The Pale Blue Eye (2023):

In 1830, a skilled detective looks into a string of killings at West Point, the U.S. Military Academy. Edgar Allan Poe, a smart and eager young cadet who will go on to become one of America’s most important writers and the creator of the detective genre, helps him with his investigation.

10. Nightcrawler (2014):

If you want to see justice done before leaving the theater, Nightcrawler might not be the best choice. This dark and gritty crime thriller, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal again, is about a thief who has lost all sense of right and wrong who becomes a famous freelance press photographer, or “stringer.” But as his commitment to the job grows, so does his readiness to make rash choices.

The exact opposite of boring is Nightcrawler. It calls into question not only the morality of the media but also how Americans credit people who make the things they want to make, even if it means breaking the rules. The film is not for everyone because it has a slow burn. Still, both reviewers and viewers have found a place for it.

Conclusion:

If movies like Se7en made you want more stories with creepy mysteries, tense atmospheres, and detectives who are morally gray, these movies will more than meet your need. What made Se7en so memorable is different in each movie, whether it’s a relentless serial killer, a twisted psychological journey, or a dark look at the worst parts of human nature.

From the neo-noir classic The Silence of the Lambs to the more recent slow-burn chiller Nightcrawler, these movies show that dark crime stories will always be powerful. They push the limits, make you think, and challenge watchers long after the credits roll.

The best part? Every book has something different to offer, like political plots, chilling investigations, foreign detective cases, or mysteries that are very well put together and require careful reading. If you like dark psychological thrillers, atmospheric crime plays, or intense cat-and-mouse stories, this list has something for everyone. Your next movie night will be just as exciting and memorable as movies like Se7en.

So get some popcorn, turn down the lights, and start watching these expertly made thrillers. Every time, you’ll be on the edge of your seat with fear.

Also Read: 10 Best Movies Like The Sixth Sense for Mind-Bending Thrills