NoBadPicks

Movies Like The Drowning

If you loved The Drowning's Drama and Thriller storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

It's Kind of a Funny Story
7.0

It's Kind of a Funny Story

2010

A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.

The Double
6.5

The Double

2014

An awkward office drone becomes increasingly unhinged after a charismatic and confident look-alike takes a job at his workplace and seduces the woman he desires.

Neverwas
6.4

Neverwas

2005

Zach Riley is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, Millwood. What he doesn't reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson, spent many years of his life.

Stay
6.6

Stay

2005

Psychiatrist Sam Foster has a new patient, Henry Letham, who claims to be suicidal. In trying to diagnose him, Sam visits Henry's prior therapist and also finds Henry's mother -- even though Henry has said that he murdered both of his parents. As reality starts to contradict fact, Sam spirals into an unstable mental state. Then he finds a clue as to how and when Henry may try to kill himself, and races to try to stop him.

Prayers for Bobby
8.1

Prayers for Bobby

2009

Bobby Griffith was his mother's favorite son, the perfect all-American boy growing up under deeply religious influences in Walnut Creek, California. Bobby was also gay. Struggling with a conflict no one knew of, much less understood, Bobby finally came out to his family.

The Last Word
5.8

The Last Word

2008

An odd-but-gifted poet, Evan Merck makes his living writing suicide notes for the soon-to-be departed. So when he meets Charlotte, the free-spirited sister of his latest client, Evan has no choice but to lie about his relationship to her late, lamented brother.

The Number 23
6.4

The Number 23

2007

Animal control officer Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.

A Dry White Season
6.6

A Dry White Season

1989

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

More Movies Like The Drowning

The Friend
6.7

The Friend

2025

New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
6.7

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

2025

Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.

On the Count of Three
6.5

On the Count of Three

2022

Val has reached a place where he feels the only way out is to end things. But he considers himself a bit of a failure—his effectiveness lacking—so he figures he could use some help. As luck would have it, Val’s best friend, Kevin, is recovering from a failed suicide attempt, so he seems like the perfect partner for executing this double suicide plan. But before they go, they have some unfinished business to attend to.

Imaginary Heroes
6.5

Imaginary Heroes

2004

Matt Travis is good-looking, popular, and his school's best competitive swimmer, so everyone is shocked when he inexplicably commits suicide. As the following year unfolds, each member of his family struggles to recover from the tragedy with mixed results.

Mister Frost
6.2

Mister Frost

1990

Frost is arrested and committed for murder after he is apprehended burying his victims in the garden. However, even while under psychiatric care and tight hospital security, it becomes obvious that Mr. Frost is not all he seems to be.

Snow Angels
6.4

Snow Angels

2007

Waitress Annie has separated from her suicidal alcoholic husband, Glenn. Glenn has become an evangelical Christian, but his erratic attempts at getting back into Annie's life have alarmed her. High school student Arthur works at Annie's restaurant, growing closer to a new kid in town, Lila, after class. When Glenn and Annie's daughter go missing, the whole town searches for her, as he increasingly spirals out of control.

The Unsaid
6.6

The Unsaid

2001

A doctor dealing with the aftermath of his son's death tries to help a troubled young man.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things
6.6

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

2020

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.

Bird Box
6.8

Bird Box

2018

Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.

Stonehearst Asylum
6.9

Stonehearst Asylum

2014

An Oxford Medical School graduate takes a position at a mental institution and soon becomes obsessed with a female mental patient, but he has no idea of a recent and horrifying staffing change.

Dorothy Mills
6.0

Dorothy Mills

2008

When a gloomy, God-fearing island community is rocked by the assault of an infant, a psychiatrist is called in to examine Dorothy Mills, the teenager accused of the crime. Despite the villagers' hostility to her inquiry, she soon comes to suspect that Dorothy suffers from multiple personality disorder...

The Truth About Emanuel
6.0

The Truth About Emanuel

2013

A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with The Drowning (2016): Drama and Thriller themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of The Drowning.

See full details for The Drowning (2016)

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