There are many other movies like Old, whether it is the movie’s tropical setting, complex plot, or unsettling atmosphere.
In “Old,” M. Night Shyamalan adds a philosophical edge to his unique brand of surreal horror.
The movie centers on guests who discover that they are aging quickly.
A pleasant beach day turns ominous as parents see their children aging before their eyes and struggle with the possibility of passing away from old age before the end of the day.
The movie (and its director) are particularly good at locating terror in the most unlikely places, and they wait until the big reveal at the end to convey why the scenario is so evil.
This list is for you if you like story twists, a bunch of strangers trapped in a dangerous setting, or simply a general air of unsettling unpredictability.
Below is a list of movies like Old.
1. The Others (2001)
- Director: Alejandro Amenábar
- Cast: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Eric Sykes, and Elaine Cassidy
- IMDb rating: 7.6/10
The twist in both “Old” and “The Others” will leave you speechless, which is their main similarity.
Alejandro Amenábar, a Spanish-Chilean director, released “The Others” in 2001.
In the movie, Nicole Kidman portrays Grace as a devoutly religious lady and mother of two.
Grace decides to relocate her children Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) to an old house on the English seaside during World War II.
She spends time there attempting to shield her children from an illness that severely burns them in the heat as she waits to hear from her absent husband.
Strange things happen when they are left alone in a dark house with just servants for companionship.
When Anne informs her mother she sees ghosts, Grace ultimately learns that things are not as they appear.
Even while “The Others” has more in common with “The Sixth Sense” than it does with “Old,” it is nevertheless a fitting sequel if you like movies like Old for its superbly unsettling atmosphere.
After viewing it, you may want to avoid visiting old, abandoned homes, but Kidman’s terrifying portrayal is worth the potential psychological horror.
2. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
- Director: Dan Trachtenberg
- Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr., Douglas M. Griffin, Suzanne Cryer, Bradley Cooper, and Sumalee Montano
- IMDb rating: 7.2/10
Some of the best horror movies like Old, will make you doubt the concept of reality.
These are questions that Shyamalan excels at asking, and “Old” is no exception.
Shyamalan fans will undoubtedly like that “10 Cloverfield Lane” is another movie that saves all of its explanations until the end.
“10 Cloverfield Lane,” directed by Dan Trachtenberg and produced by J.J. Abrams, is a “spiritual successor” to “Cloverfield,” which debucenters2008.
The story centers on Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who wakes up in a bunker with two strangers after a car accident.
A guy called Howard (John Goodman), who is chained to a wall and has a damaged leg, informs Michelle that there has been a significant assault on Earth that has left the air unbreathable and that they must remain inside.
EmmettGallagher Jr.), who is also stranded in the bunker with Howard, introduces himself to Michelle.
Michelle is skeptical of Howard’s story and becomes weary of his domineering behavior.
She prepares for her escape but may not be prepared for the reality of what the world has turned into. The story of “10 Cloverfield Lane” has interesting twists and truth bombs.
3. Cast Away (2000)
- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Paul Sanchez, Lari White, Leonid Citer, David Allen Brooks, and Yelena Popovic
- IMDb rating: 7.8/10
At the beginning of Cast Away, an aircraft crashes while flying to Malaysia due to a severe storm.
A FedEx employee is the lone survivor among the passengers of the aircraft. He is stranded on an island by himself and must rely on little supplies to survive.
Wilson, an inanimate volleyball, becomes an unexpected companion to him. This 2000 Robert Zemeckis picture stars Tom Hanks in an Oscar-nominated performance.
It may not be a classic thriller, but it does highlight a similar concept to Old, in which the protagonist is alone in a lonely location with nothing but the will to live to keep him going.
The character matures similarly to those in Old, but without any science fiction aspects and in a more conventional historical period.
Fans of movies like Old will be delighted with another movie that highlights the hardship of regular people who endure remarkable circumstances. Cast Away is one of Tom Hank’s best movies.
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- Director: David Fincher
- Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond, Faune Chambers Watkins, Elias Koteas, and Donna Duplantier
- IMDb rating: 7.8/10
While he ages in reverse and is born older, Benjamin Button differs from every other human in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Despite his difficulties, he tries to enjoy life to the fullest by traveling the world on adventures and falling in love with Daisy.
The touching drama from David Fincher is neither a thriller nor a horror movie, but it explores the idea of hastened aging in characters like Old.
The similarity is that whereas Old is about aging quickly due to a supposedly supernatural environment, this movie concentrates on the social and physical challenges of reversal aging.
Yet, it displays a lovely story of Benjamin Button’s mystery and the acceptance of his situation.
According to Metacritic, the 2008 movie is one of Brad Pitt’s best movies and received 13 Oscar nods.
5. Devil (2010)
- Director: John Erick Dowdle
- Cast: Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O’Hara, Bojana Novakovic, and Geoffrey Arend
- IMDb rating: 6.3/10
Another movie that takes the “strangers trapped together” idea and goes with it is “Devil,” which came out in 2010.
Based on a story by the “Old” director, “Devil” was directed by John Erick Dowdle and produced by Shyamalan.
The movie centers on five strangers trapped in an elevator in a Philadelphia office building.
The passengers eventually distrust one another as the lift stops longer than intended.
A security guard manning the lift claims to have seen the Devil on the monitor earlier that day when a man killed himself and left a message warning of the Devil’s coming invasion.
A fresh horror is exposed when the lights in the lift switch back on after a brief outage.
The people in the lift quickly realize that the Devil could be among them, but they are unsure of which person.
The intriguing notion of the “Devil” is guided towards a logical ending.
It has an 80-minute length, is a tight thriller, and doesn’t spend time on pointless character development or exposition.
While not a Shyamalan movie in the typical sense, it works well with his other movies like old and is a fantastic illustration of the idea that sometimes, little is more.
6. 1408 (2007)
- Director: Mikael Håfström
- Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub, Len Cariou, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Jasmine Jessica Anthony
- IMDb rating: 6.8/10
In Mikael Hfström’s adaptation of Stephen King’s short story 1408, a bereaved novelist risks staying in one of America’s most frightening rooms.
The author must face his traumatic past while waiting for the paranormal to occur.
Like Old, 1408 tells the story of an enigmatic area where strange events occur. It focuses on the author’s journey through his phases of grief and is largely character-driven.
The haunted hotel plot also has a few spooky scenes. Fans of movies like Old will enjoy the tension and John Cusack’s outstanding performance in 1408 despite its distinct narrative and character journey.
7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
- Director: M. Night Shyamalan
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg, and Peter Anthony Tambakis
- IMDb rating: 8.2/10
The Sixth Sense, a classic horror movie by M. Night Shyamalan, is the source of the immortal phrase “I see dead people.”
The movie centers on a little child who claims to be able to see the dead and who informs his psychologist about it.
The scares are well-timed, and viewers quickly understand what he means.
The movie, which contains perhaps one of the finest reveals one can wish for, brilliantly builds a sense of dread.
If “Old’s” concept and ending seemed unusual, “The Sixth Sense” will demonstrate exactly how skilled the director is at tricking the viewer.
8. The Invitation (2015)
- Director: Karyn Kusama
- Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard, Aiden Lovekamp, Michelle Krusiec, and Mike Doyle
- IMDb rating: 6.6/10
While “Jennifer’s Body,” her most well-known movie, is a cult classic, Karyn Kusama’s follow-up, “The Invitation,” is well worth your time.
Similar to movies like Old, “The Invitation” depicts a group of people who find themselves in an environment far worse than it seems.
In the movie, Will accompanies Kira to a tea party that his ex-wife Eden and her husband David are throwing.
Will immediately notices something odd about the group, and it turns out he is anxious for the right reasons.
Eden and David reveal that they joined a cult with friends Pruitt and Sadie while traveling in Mexico.
Will starts to feel anxious and concerned about what is happening, but the other participants dismiss the cult issue as harmless.
9. Shutter Island (2010)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, and Patricia Clarkson
- IMDb rating: 8.2/10
In Martin Scorsese’s supernatural thriller Shutter Island from 2010, U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels and his colleague visit a mental health facility to investigate a woman’s disappearance.
Teddy faces his sad history, which begins to haunt him as they look into the case and discover the strange events inside the hospital.
Shutter Island shares Old’s dark mood and confinement to a certain area, with Scorcese’s movie predominantly taking place at the unsettling Ashecliffe Hospital.
In addition, both movies offer startling twist endings that need a second watching to grasp all the clues hidden throughout each movie’s plot.
10. The Shining (1980)
- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel
- IMDb rating: 8.4/10
In the 1980 horror movie, The Shining, writer and alcoholic Jack Torrance goes with his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, to work as a caretaker at a hotel in Colorado.
Danny begins to see the spirits of former guests, and Jack starts to lose his sense of reality when the hotel staff disappears and the snow engulfs the young family.
The renowned Stephen King adaption by Stanley Kubrick combines the foreboding mood of Old and the unsettling quality of a possibly paranormal setting.
Also, it shows the effect the creepy Overlook Hotel has on the character’s mental condition and the other characters’ frantic efforts to flee.
The Shining will appeal to movie lovers of all ages who want to see one of the best Stephen King film adaptations, thanks to its stunning photography and passionate performances. This is one of the most amazing movies like old.
11. As Above, So Below (2014)
- Director: John Erick Dowdle
- Cast: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar, and Cosme Castro
- IMDb rating: 6.2/10
In this movie, Scarlett explores the Paris catacombs in pursuit of the famous philosopher’s stone, only to discover that a lot of death is involved in the quest for eternal life.
As Scarlett loses team members one by one, the mind-bending movie, appropriately set in maze-like old underground passages, offers some genuinely horrifying scenes.
You’ll get shivers as you follow the protagonists on a search that takes them back to biblical times and maybe even the gates of hell before spitting them back out.
Once again, a beautiful location reveals its profoundly unsettling underbelly.
12. The Cabin In the Woods (2011)
- Director: Drew Goddard
- Cast Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford
- IMDb rating: 7.0/10
Contrary to “Old,” “The Cabin in the Woods” immediately reveals to viewers who is responsible for the tragedies that befall its characters.
Five college friends go on a weekend trip to a remote cabin in the woods in this Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon co-written movie.
They have no idea that two scientists (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford), who can influence horrible events, are in charge of their actions.
The friends encounter horrifying zombies during the weekend, but they cannot fend them off.
There is more to the cabin than meets the eye as they are surrounded by death and devastation.
Two friends aren’t sure they can live with what they know after learning what is actually driving all the monsters.
The movie’s plot is presented as a Shyamalan-like “twist” early on, yet “The Cabin in the Woods” still has some unexpected twists.
Like “Old,” the movie follows a group whose only chance of survival is to reveal the truth.
Given that Whedon wrote the screenplay, it’s no surprise that “The Cabin in the Woods” is much cheekier than a Shyamalan movie, but fans of movies like Old could find the journey to be fun.
13. Escape Room (2019)
- Director: Adam Robitel
- Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Deborah Ann Woll, Nik Dodani, and Yorick van Wageningen
- IMDb rating: 6.4/10
Six people participate in the thrill of an escape room with the potential to earn money in Adam Robitel Escape Room.
This escape room differs from others since the obstacles are deadly and might lead to instant death.
This 2019 horror movie also has a complex plot about a group of people who must use their intellect to unravel the mystery of their enigmatic enclosed environment.
In addition, the plots the characters are thrust into at the start of both movies are controlled by a previously unknown organization.
Despite some criticism of its scripting and idea, Escape Room is a fun movie that will appeal to Old fans who want a good fright.
14. 1408 (2007)
- Director: Mikael Håfström
- Cast: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Mary McCormack, Tony Shalhoub, Len Cariou, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Jasmine Jessica Anthony
- IMDb rating: 6.8/10
Based on a Stephen King short story, this psychological horror movie with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson takes place in the titular hotel room.
A paranormal skeptic is imprisoned in the room and forced to relive a strange hour; suffice it to say, by the time the movie is over, he has changed his mind.
Similar to movies like old, the movie plays with many existential concepts in the creepiest possible ways, and by the end, you’ll be wondering what is real and what isn’t.
Yet, the ending is more of a bottomless hole that will make you feel trapped in the eerie chamber than a dramatic surprise.
15. Mother! (2017)
- Director: Darren Aronofsky
- Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, and Jovan Adepo
- IMDb rating: 6.6/10
A married lady seeks to remodel her home in Darren Aronofsky’s 2017 drama Mother, but things take an odd turn when an unexpected visitor arrives at her home.
Shortly, additional guests arrive, and her husband plays the kind host while ignorant of his wife.
Mother, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, has the same unsettling and foreboding atmosphere as Old.
It displays peculiar happenings, character actions, and surroundings.
The horror movie, one of the most divisive movies of the decade, is clever and engrossing with its distinct plot, outstanding cinematography, and effective directing.
Anybody who appreciates a distinct and original thriller like Old will find Mother’s story compelling and daring.
16. Fantasy Island (2020)
- Director: Jeff Wadlow
- Cast: Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Jimmy O. Yang, Portia Doubleday, Ryan Hansen
- IMDb rating: 4.9/10
In Fantasy Island, a group of guests check into a stunning resort and observe the remarkable way of life that the strange mysticism of the island has shaped.
However, when the guest’s wishes come true, the situation gradually becomes gloomy, and the only way out is to answer the puzzles.
The thriller 2020 by Jeff Wadlow has a similar premise, with a holiday paradise in an unlikely location becoming deadly.
Additionally, although it depicts the island’s gorgeous and frightening nature, the movie underlines the narrative twists of situations occurring for a cause rather than random coincidence.
Fantasy Island is equally as exciting, with supernatural aspects and plot twists that will appeal to fans of movies like old, even if it handles its story of a mythical island differently.
