50 Movies Like Chronicle (2012) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Chronicle details →Josh Trank's 2012 feature reworks the superhero origin as a found-footage character study, following three high schoolers who stumble onto an inexplicable source of power. What begins as giddy experimentation curdles as their new abilities magnify old resentments, and one of them slides toward something darker. It's science-fiction with the texture of a teen drama and the momentum of a thriller, more interested in how power warps a lonely adolescent than in spectacle for its own sake. Watch it if you like grounded genre films that treat wish-fulfilment with suspicion, and expect a lean, escalating story rather than a polished franchise entry.
If you loved Chronicle (2012) by Josh Trank, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are War of the Worlds, The Platform, The Circle. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to Chronicle
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Chronicle in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
War of the Worlds
2025 · Rich Lee
Will Radford is a top analyst for Homeland Security who tracks potential threats through a mass surveillance program, until one day an attack by an unknown entity leads him to question whether the gov
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
The Platform
2019 · Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Circle
2017 · James Ponsoldt
A young tech worker takes a job at a powerful Internet corporation, quickly rises up the company's ranks, and soon finds herself in a perilous situation concerning privacy, surveillance and freedom. S
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Replicas
2018 · Jeffrey Nachmanoff
A scientist becomes obsessed with returning his family to normalcy after a terrible accident.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Contagion
2011 · Steven Soderbergh
As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Project Almanac
2015 · Dean Israelite
A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
End of Watch
2012 · David Ayer
Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Missing
2023 · Nicholas D. Johnson
When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June cre
In common: Drama · Thriller
Searching
2018 · Aneesh Chaganty
After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the
In common: Drama · Thriller
Gravity
2013 · Alfonso Cuarón
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Under the Skin
2014 · Jonathan Glazer
A seductive stranger prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Day the Earth Stood Still
2008 · Scott Derrickson
A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Transcendence
2014 · Wally Pfister
Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transce
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
WarGames
1983 · John Badham
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war co
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Outbreak
1995 · Wolfgang Petersen
A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col. Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined,
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
10 Cloverfield Lane
2016 · Dan Trachtenberg
After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist's underground bunker, where he claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
I Am Legend
2007 · Francis Lawrence
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City a
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Glass
2019 · M. Night Shyamalan
In a series of escalating encounters, former security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Meanwhile, the s
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Brick
2025 · Philip Koch
When a mysterious brick wall encloses their apartment building overnight, Tim and Olivia must unite with their wary neighbors to get out alive.
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
Sunshine
2007 · Danny Boyle
Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the Sun — but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team is
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
The Happening
2008 · M. Night Shyamalan
When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated cities into the countryside in a fight to discover the
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
Cloverfield
2008 · Matt Reeves
Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
The Machinist
2004 · Brad Anderson
Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Nowhere
2023 · Albert Pintó
A young pregnant woman named Mia escapes from a country at war by hiding in a maritime container aboard a cargo ship. After a violent storm, Mia gives birth to the child while lost at sea, where she m
In common: Drama · Thriller
Room
2015 · Lenny Abrahamson
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Margin Call
2011 · J.C. Chandor
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. An entry-le
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sliver
1993 · Phillip Noyce
A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Last Breath
2025 · Alex Parkinson
Seasoned deep-sea divers battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Fourth Kind
2009 · Olatunde Osunsanmi
Since the 1960s, a disproportionate number of the population in and around Nome, Alaska, have gone missing. Despite FBI investigations, the disappearances remain a mystery. Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psycho
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
Night Hunter
2019 · David Raymond
A Minnesota police officer crosses paths with a committed and tireless vigilante as he follows the trail of a ruthless predator responsible for several abductions and murders.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Mothers' Instinct
2024 · Benoît Delhomme
Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sleeping with the Enemy
1991 · Joseph Ruben
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Fractured
2019 · Brad Anderson
Driving cross-country, Ray and his wife and daughter stop at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse,
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sirāt
2025 · Oliver Laxe
A man and his son arrive at a rave lost in the mountains of Morocco. They are looking for Marina, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at another rave. Driven by fate, they decide to
In common: Drama · Thriller
Crash
1996 · David Cronenberg
A car crash victim suddenly finds himself turned on by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground sub-culture of like-minded souls.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Emilia Pérez
2024 · Jacques Audiard
Rita, an underrated lawyer working for a large law firm more interested in getting criminals out of jail than bringing them to justice, is hired by the leader of a criminal organization.
In common: Drama · Thriller
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011 · Lynne Ramsay
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Escape from Alcatraz
1979 · Don Siegel
San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Lost Bus
2025 · Paul Greengrass
A determined father risks everything to rescue a dedicated teacher and her students from a raging wildfire.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Amores Perros
2000 · Alejandro G. Iñárritu
A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his sister-in-law, and a homeless man.
In common: Drama · Thriller
JFK
1991 · Oliver Stone
Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Lady Vengeance
2005 · Park Chan-wook
Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Man from Earth
2007 · Richard Schenkman
A departing professor gathers his closest colleagues for an intimate farewell, but the night takes an unexpected turn when he shares a stunning secret about his past. As the conversation unfolds, skep
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
The Crush
1993 · Alan Shapiro
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Nocturnal Animals
2016 · Tom Ford
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastin
In common: Drama · Thriller
Thirteen Lives
2022 · Ron Howard
Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world. Twelve boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team explore the Tham Luang cave when an unexpected rainstorm traps them in a chamber inside
In common: Drama · Thriller
Tetris
2023 · Jon S. Baird
In 1988, American video game salesman Henk Rogers discovers the video game Tetris. When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Cur
In common: Drama · Thriller
Conclave
2024 · Edward Berger
After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerf
In common: Drama · Thriller
Eden
2025 · Ron Howard
A group of disillusioned outsiders abandon modern society in search of a new beginning. Settling on a remote, uninhabited island, their utopian dream quickly unravels as they discover that the greates
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Impossible
2012 · J. A. Bayona
In December 2004, close-knit family Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand. But the day after Christmas, the idyllic holiday turns into an incomprehensible nightmare
In common: Drama · Thriller
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Breaking Bad
2008 · Michelle MacLaren
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · Kazutaka Yamanaka
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s m
The Chosen
2019 · Tyler Thompson
The life of Christ through the eyes of those who encountered him.
When Life Gives You Tangerines
2025 · Park Sang-hyun
In Jeju, a spirited girl and a steadfast boy's island story blossoms into a lifelong tale of setbacks and triumphs — proving love endures across time.
