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Movies Like Pencil

If you were moved by Pencil, should consider this hand-picked list which questions the purpose and weight of our choices all while offering targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character depth with narrative flow makes this definitely worth a watch.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

The Mirror Crack'd
6.1

The Mirror Crack'd

1980

Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.

Murder!
6.0

Murder!

1930

When actress Diana Baring is found in a daze beside her colleague’s murdered body, all evidence points to her guilt. During the trial, juror Sir John Menier doubts the verdict, but yields to pressure. Haunted by remorse, he launches his own investigation.

Young Sherlock Holmes
6.7

Young Sherlock Holmes

1985

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson meet as boys in an English Boarding school. Holmes is known for his deductive ability even as a youth, amazing his classmates with his abilities. When they discover a plot to murder a series of British business men by an Egyptian cult, they move to stop it.

The Scarlet Claw
6.9

The Scarlet Claw

1944

When a woman is found dead with her throat torn out, the local villagers blame a supernatural monster. But Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the case from nearby Quebec, suspects a human murderer.

A Shot in the Dark
7.2

A Shot in the Dark

1964

Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.

Time Without Pity
6.6

Time Without Pity

1957

Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”

A Study in Terror
6.2

A Study in Terror

1965

When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.

Murder She Said
7.3

Murder She Said

1961

Miss Marple believes she's seen a murder in a passing-by train, yet when the police find no evidence she decides to investigate it on her own.

More Movies Like Pencil

The Glass Key
6.6

The Glass Key

1942

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Ratsasan
7.4

Ratsasan

2018

A serial killer is murdering school girls, and a newbie cop has to track him down before the victim count increases.

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
6.9

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death

1943

During WWII several murders occur at a convalescent home where Dr. Watson has volunteered his services. He summons Holmes for help and the master detective proceeds to solve the crime from a long list of suspects including the owners of the home, the staff and the patients recovering there.

Por Thozhil
7.1

Por Thozhil

2023

Loganathan, a senior cop is asked to mentor Prakash, an academically bright but faint-hearted rookie and this unlikely duo team up to investigate a series of murder cases, and realize all of them are interlinked and that a psychopath serial killer is on the run.

Deathtrap
6.6

Deathtrap

1982

A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.

The Naked City
7.2

The Naked City

1948

After a former model is drowned in her bathtub, Detective James Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon attempt to piece together her murder.

The Verdict
6.5

The Verdict

1946

After an innocent man is executed in a case he was responsible for, a Scotland Yard superintendent finds himself investigating the murder of his key witness.

The Woman in the Window
7.4

The Woman in the Window

1944

A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.

Reap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery
6.9

Reap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

2018

Internet sensation and old family friend of Aurora Teagarden, Poppy Wilson, has returned to Lawrenceton to start her new embroidery business. But not everyone is happy with Poppy's success when she turns up dead. To find the killer, Roe must follow the unsettling truths that lead her—into the path of the killer.

M
6.4

M

1951

Remake of the 1931 Fritz Lang original. In the city, someone is murdering children. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.

Murder on the Orient Express
7.1

Murder on the Orient Express

1974

In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
6.4

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

2019

Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Pencil (2016): Crime and Romance 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 Pencil.

See full details for Pencil (2016)

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