31 Suspenseful Movies Like 'Escape Room' To Watch Next

Escape Room presents one of those classic “it could never happen to me — but what would I do if it did?” scenarios that horror movies love to play out. In this case, the film follows six people who are given black boxes with tickets to an elaborate escape room in a mansion. While they take the opportunity to win a $10,000 cash prize at face value, it turns out that they’re actually in a living nightmare as they try to escape for their lives. Some detractors on Rotten Tomatoes say that the suspenseful fright fest has too many plot holes, while other fans revel in the originality of the plot and the tension that builds throughout the film. But whether you loved it or hate-watched it, you’re likely interested in movies like Escape Room that’ll give you a good suspense fix.

Of course, if you truly loved the campiness of the film, then your first next watch should be its 2021 sequel, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. Austen Goslin at Polygon wrote of the sequel, “In many ways, Tournament of Champions feels like the newly minted Escape Room franchise coming back to earth. The first movie was a tonal miracle, tense and exciting while simultaneously being silly and earnest. ”

With that in mind, here are a bunch of horror movies like Escape Room to dive into next.

Best Movies Like Escape Room to Binge Next

1. Saw (2004)

The Saw movies revolve around the Jigsaw Killer, who likes to kill, torture, and maim his victims by placing them in scenarios they have to get out of — usually at the cost of some psychological torture. The plots are convoluted, and the gore is rather gratuitous, but many critics compared Escape Room to the Saw franchise (there are a handful of ’em) when it was released. So, the movies are worth checking out if that’s your thing.

2. No Escape (2020)

This horror movie — not to be confused with the Owen Wilson and Lake Bell flick of the same name — is also known internationally as Follow Me. It’s about a social media influencer who brings all of his friends to Moscow to do a super-exclusive escape room. As you can imagine, the movie, which stars Keegan Allen, Holland Roden, George Janko, Denzel Whitaker, Siya, and Ronen Rubinstein, gets very dark and twisty very, very fast.

3. The Hunt (2020)

This movie comes from Blumhouse Productions, the company behind films like Get Out and The Purge, and was co-written by Damon Lindelof, the guy behind HBO’s The Leftovers, so you know it’s going to be good. What Escape Room might charmingly lack in plot and depth, The Hunt does not. It’s a satirical horror movie/thriller in which wealthy Americans hunt “deplorables” for sport… until the game gets turned around. The movie nearly missed being released altogether due to the political climate around the time of its release date — and it not being released was almost as controversial as the movie itself. Still, with Hilary Swank, Justin Hartley, Betty Gilpin, Emma Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, and others starring, it’s definitely worth seeing for yourself.

4. Countdown (2019)

Starring Elizabeth Lail of You fame, Countdown might hit a little too close to home for the smartphone-addicted. When she downloads an app that supposedly tells you the exact day you will die (peak social media if you ask us), she learns that she has just three days — and a new shady figure haunting and stalking her that she needs to escape to survive.

5. The Purge (2013)

If you haven’t seen any of the Purge movie franchise yet have watched Escape Room over and over again, you need to get on it. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey star as two parents fighting to keep themselves and their two kids alive during a government-sanctioned 12 hours in which everyone can live out their most twisted, violent, murderous fantasies. It’s not exactly the family vacation of anyone’s dreams, but it does make for a good horror fix.

6. Don’t Breathe (2016)

Don’t Breathe and its sequel, Don’t Breathe 2, is about three thieves who break into a blind vet’s house only to find that they aren’t going to get away with things so easily. Think Home Alone but with actual torture. The tough critics at Rotten Tomatoes write that the movie “twists its sturdy premise to offer a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to the home invasion genre that’s all the more effective for its simplicity.” Not bad.

More Scary Thriller Movies Like Escape Room

1. Cube (1997)
2. Truth or Dare (2018)
3. Nine Dead (2009)
4. Exam (2009)
5. Get Out (2017)
6. No Escape (2020)
7. Devil (2010)
8. Fantasy Island (2020)
9. No Escape Room (2018)
10. The Maze Runner (2014)
11. Breathing Room (2008)
12. Would You Rather (2012)
13. Happy Death Day (2017)
14. The Box (2009)
15. The Game (1997)
16. The Room (2019)
17. Circle (2015)
18. House of 9 (2005)
19. Meander (2020)
20. Cry Wolf (2005)
21. Nerve (2016)
22. Don’t Hang Up (2016)
23. The Belko Experiment (2016)
24. Jigsaw (2017)
25. Hostel (2005)