Movies Like The Snake Pit (1948)

The Snake Pit is a 1948 drama, mystery film from Anatole Litvak with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Mad to Be Normal and Twelve Monkeys.

Drama Mystery

Mad to Be Normal

2017

The story of Scottish psychiatrist RD Laing and his unique community at Kingsley Hall, East London in the 1960s.

5.9

MagicScore

Twelve Monkeys

1995

In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.

7.6

MagicScore

The Living and the Dead

2006

Lord Donald and Lady Nancy reside in the magnificent but run-down Longleigh House with James, their mentally disabled adult son. Nancy has fallen seriously ill and Donald is preparing to sell the house to raise enough money to pay for an operation. He arranges for the family nurse, Mary, to take care of Nancy while he leaves to tend to the sale. However, James wants to prove to his father that he can look after his mother on his own and decides to lock Mary out of the house. It isn't long before James starts mixing his mother's pills and forgetting to take his own medication, and as the stress of looking after his mother increases, so too does the severity of his own condition.

6.3

MagicScore

Eternal Beauty

2020

When Jane is rejected by life, she spirals into a chaotic, schizophrenic world where love and normality collide with humorous consequences.

6.2

MagicScore

Changeling

2008

Los Angeles, 1928. When single mother Christine Collins leaves for work, her son vanishes without a trace. Five months later, the police reunite mother and son. But when Christine suspects that the boy returned to her isn't her child, her quest for truth exposes a world of corruption.

7.6

MagicScore

Tarnation

2003

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

6.8

MagicScore

High Wall

1947

Steven Kenet, suffering from a recurring brain injury, appears to have strangled his wife. Having confessed, he's committed to an understaffed county asylum full of pathetic inmates. There, Dr. Ann Lorrison is initially skeptical about Kenet's story and reluctance to undergo treatment. But against her better judgement, she begins to doubt his guilt.

6.3

MagicScore

Family Life

1971

A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life and consider their daughter to be “misbehaving” whenever she’s trying to find her own way in life.

7.2

MagicScore

The Ruling Class

1972

When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.

6.4

MagicScore

#10

Romulus, My Father

2007

The story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.

5.7

MagicScore

#11

The Soul Keeper

2003

Zurich, 1905. Nineteen-year-old Russian Sabina Spielrein is put by her parents in a psychiatric hospital, suffering from a severe form of hysteria and refusing to eat. A compassionate doctor, Carl Gustav Jung, takes her under his care and, for the first time, experiments with the psychoanalytical method of his teacher Sigmund Freud. Thus is born a sweeping story of love and passion, of body and soul, soaring to the utmost heights, but also plunging to the darkest depths of the 20th century.

6.5

MagicScore

#12

Kyon Ki...

2005

After accidentally killing his fiancee, Anand becomes insane and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Tanvi, his doctor, falls in love with him, but her father does not approve, given his past.

5.7

MagicScore

#13

Caveat

2021

A lone drifter suffering from partial memory loss accepts a job to look after a psychologically troubled woman in an abandoned house on an isolated island.

6.2

MagicScore

#14

Peacock

2010

A minor train accident in rural Nebraska gradually unveils a mystery involving the town's reclusive bank clerk.

6.1

MagicScore

#15

Session 9

2001

Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

6.1

MagicScore

#16

Keane

2004

William Keane is barely able to cope. It has been six months since his six-year-old daughter was abducted from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling with him. Repeatedly drawn to the site of the abduction, Keane wanders the bus station, compulsively replaying the events of that fateful day, as if hoping to change the outcome.

6.0

MagicScore

#17

Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story

2019

An investigative reporter Nellie Bly, who’s on a mission to expose the deplorable conditions and mistreatment of patients at the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum, and feigns mental illness in order to be institutionalized to report from the inside. The movie is an account of actual events surrounding Nellie’s stay beginning after she has undergone treatment, leaving her with no recollection of how she came to the asylum or her real identity.

7.5

MagicScore

#18

Shutter

2004

When Jane and Tun run over a girl in a car accident, they speed away immediately from the crime scene. However, Tun, a photographer, soon discovers strange shadows in his photos, which unsettles them.

7.3

MagicScore

#19

13

2010

A naive young man assumes a dead man's identity and finds himself embroiled in an underground world of power, violence, and chance where men gamble behind closed doors on the lives of other men.

5.8

MagicScore

#20

The Night Visitor

1971

An insane Swedish farmer escapes from an asylum to get revenge on his sister, her husband and others.

6.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Snake Pit?

The top films similar to The Snake Pit by MovieMagicScore are Mad to Be Normal (5.9), Twelve Monkeys (7.6), The Living and the Dead (6.3). Each shares drama/mystery themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Snake Pit worth watching?

The Snake Pit holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 107 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Snake Pit?

The Snake Pit (1948) is a drama, mystery film directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Snake Pit?

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 Mad to Be Normal Movies like Twelve Monkeys Movies like The Living and the Dead Movies like Eternal Beauty Movies like Changeling Movies like Tarnation

About movies like The Snake Pit

This ranked list pairs The Snake Pit (1948), a drama and mystery film from Anatole Litvak, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Olivia de Havilland 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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