Movies Like Shelley (2016)

Shelley is a 2016 drama, horror, mystery film from Ali Abbasi with a MovieMagicScore of 5.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with When the Bough Breaks and Baby Mama.

Drama Horror Mystery

When the Bough Breaks

2016

A surrogate mother harbors a deadly secret desire for a family of her own with the husband who is expecting to raise her child.

5.8

MagicScore

Baby Mama

2008

A successful, single businesswoman who dreams of having a baby discovers she is infertile and hires a working class woman to be her unlikely surrogate.

6.0

MagicScore

Mimi

2021

An aspiring actress in a small town in Rajasthan agrees to bear a child for a visiting couple seeking a surrogate mother, but her experience takes an unexpected turn when they refuse to have the child anymore.

6.9

MagicScore

Losing Isaiah

1995

Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted social worker, Margaret Lewin, and her husband, Charles. Years later, Khaila has gone through rehab and holds a steady job. After learning that her child is still alive, she challenges Margaret for the custody.

6.5

MagicScore

Together Together

2021

When young loner Anna is hired as the surrogate for Matt, a single man in his 40s, the two strangers come to realize this unexpected relationship will quickly challenge their perceptions of connection, boundaries and the particulars of love.

6.4

MagicScore

The Way of the Gun

2000

Two criminal drifters without sympathy get more than they bargained for after kidnapping and holding for ransom the surrogate mother of a powerful and shady man.

6.3

MagicScore

The Baby

2023

Joseph learns that his son and his companion have just perished in an accident. They were expecting a child via a surrogate mother in Belgium. What will become of their future baby? Is Joseph the legitimate grandfather? Carried by the promise of this birth which will prolong the existence of his son, the sexagenarian goes to meet the young Flemish woman with a fierce and indomitable character.

6.2

MagicScore

The Handmaid's Tale

1990

In a dystopian, polluted right-wing religious tyranny, a young woman is put in sexual slavery on account of her now rare fertility.

6.1

MagicScore

Unhook the Stars

1996

Widowed mother Mildred must suddenly redefine herself and find an outlet for her nurturing side when her adult daughter moves out of the family home. Though Mildred thinks she's found her purpose when her neighbor, overworked single mother Monica, asks her to look after her little boy, she has great difficulty learning to strike a healthy balance between giving selflessly to others and remembering to take care of herself.

5.9

MagicScore

#10

Diane Has the Right Shape

2017

Diane doesn't hesitate for a moment when her best friends, Thomas and Jacques, ask her to be their surrogate mother. It is in these hardly ideal circumstances that she becomes infatuated with Fabrizio.

5.6

MagicScore

#11

The Surrogacy Trap

2012

After losing hope of conceiving a child on their own, Christy and Mitch turn to surrogacy in hopes of creating the perfect family. However, their confidence is quickly shaken when they discover that the young woman might not be as perfect as they first thought...

5.3

MagicScore

#12

Pédale dure

2004

Loic and Seb are a couple living in Paris's gay district, the Marais. Seb is the owner of the district's most trendy, chic and camp nightclub. It's a world devoid of judging eyes where the clientele can be themselves. Things are just terrific. What's more, Loic's dream of transmitting his heart and soul to another human being is about to come true: he's going to be a father. He gave his sperm. Things are just terrific. Marie Haguette, their accomplice, is offering them this gift, the most beautiful gift that two gay guys could receive: a baby! She's three-months pregnant, that dicey moment when things could go wrong... Maybe this is why Loic has morning sickness, contractions and cravings. Things are just terrific. Except for love, Love with a capital L of course, upsets the pie-cart. Marie falls madly in love with Charles, a wonderful stranger, but at least he's straight. What's more, he's coming to dinner tomorrow night. What should Loic and Seb do?

3.4

MagicScore

#13

Dragonfly

2002

A grieving doctor is being contacted by his late wife through his patient's near death experiences.

6.5

MagicScore

#14

The Unseeable

2006

Set in 1934 Siam, the story involves a young pregnant woman named Nualchan who's searching for her missing husband. She comes to stay in the spooky rural mansion of a widow, Runjuan.

6.5

MagicScore

#15

Birth/Rebirth

2023

A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead.

6.3

MagicScore

#16

Evolution

2016

11-year-old Nicolas lives with his mother in a seaside housing estate. The only place that ever sees any activity is the hospital. It is there that all the boys from the village are forced to undergo strange medical trials that attempt to disrupt the phases of evolution.

6.0

MagicScore

#17

Kindred

2020

When her boyfriend Ben suddenly dies in an accident, mother-to-be Charlotte collapses upon receiving the news. She wakes up in Ben’s family home, a crumbling old manor house in the middle of nowhere with Ben’s overbearing mother and his controlling stepbrother who are determined to care for her. Grief-stricken and increasingly haunted by visions possibly brought on by the pregnancy, Charlotte begins to doubt the family's intentions and her suspicions grow that they may be trying to control her and her unborn baby.

5.4

MagicScore

#18

A Quiet Place

2018

A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

7.4

MagicScore

#19

Climax

2018

When a dance troupe is lured to an empty school, a bowl of drug-laced sangria causes their jubilant rehearsal to descend into a dark and explosive nightmare as they try to survive the night—and find who's responsible—before it's too late.

7.0

MagicScore

#20

mother!

2017

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Shelley?

The top films similar to Shelley by MovieMagicScore are When the Bough Breaks (5.8), Baby Mama (6.0), Mimi (6.9). Each shares drama/horror/mystery themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Shelley worth watching?

Shelley holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.5/10 from 130 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Shelley?

Shelley (2016) is a drama, horror, mystery film directed by Ali Abbasi, starring Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Peter Christoffersen.

Where can I find more recommendations like Shelley?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like When the Bough Breaks Movies like Baby Mama Movies like Mimi Movies like Losing Isaiah Movies like Together Together Movies like The Way of the Gun

About movies like Shelley

This ranked list pairs Shelley (2016), a drama and horror and mystery film from Ali Abbasi, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Ellen Dorrit Petersen take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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