Dynamic Watchlist Hub: Jan 19, 2026

10 Best Movies Like Desperate

If you loved Desperate, we've curated the perfect watchlist for you based on shared genres, themes, and directorial style.

🏆

Expert Review & Ratings

See our full critical analysis and audience score for Desperate.

View Review →
#1
Wild Things

Wild Things

1998★ 6.4

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Thriller. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

When teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan and troubled bad girl Suzie Toller accuse guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape, he's suspended by the school, rejected by the town, and fighti...

#2
Daybreak

Daybreak

1939★ 7.6

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Crime. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing....

#3
City on Fire

City on Fire

1987★ 6.9

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Thriller & Crime. It captures a similar adrenaline-pumping atmosphere.

Ko Chow is an undercover cop who is under pressure from all sides. His boss, Inspector Lau, wants him to infiltrate a gang of ruthless jewel thieves; his girlfriend wants him to co...

#4
Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer

2023★ 8.0

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II....

#5
Joker

Joker

2019★ 8.1

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Thriller & Crime. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure....

#6
12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men

1957★ 8.6

Why watch this? A perfect follow-up to Desperate for fans of Drama. It captures a similar emotionally gripping atmosphere.

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begi...