Best movies like District 9
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Aliens land in South Africa and, with their ship totally disabled, have no way home. Years later, after living in a slum and wearing out their welcome the 'Non-Humans' are being moved to a new tent city overseen by Multi-National United (MNU).
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 708000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA, New Zealand, Canada
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, suspense, serious, biting, futuristic, intense, tense, cult classic, visually stunning, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like District 9 (2009):
Similar in 88%
Alien Outpost (2014)
Plot Summary:
A documentary crew follows an elite unit of soldiers in the wake of an alien invasion.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, suspense, captivating, futuristic, apocalyptic, independent film, homoerotic, fake documentary
Similar in 90%
Skyline (2010)
Plot Summary:
When strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, people are drawn outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Now the band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: suspense, futuristic, apocalyptic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, scary, thought provoking, intellectual, epic
Similar in 75%
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Plot Summary:
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 inflicted on their own planet. When barred from speaking to the United Nations, he decides humankind shall be exterminated so the planet can survive.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, stylized, apocalyptic, visual, atmospheric, suspense, mockbuster, cult classic, intelligent
Similar in 88%
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Plot Summary:
Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship 'Covenant' discovers what is thought to be an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world – which has its sole inhabitant the 'synthetic', David, survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 298000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: bad ending, futuristic, suspense, enigmatic, dark, twist ending, suspenseful, absurd, disturbing, intense
Similar in 76%
War of the Worlds (2005)
Plot Summary:
Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop of his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 469000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Russia
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, suspense, tense, futuristic, bleak, entertaining, scary, serious, apocalyptic
Similar in 85%
Chappie (2015)
Plot Summary:
Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings—some good, some bad—and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there's one thing that makes Chappie different from any one else: he is a robot.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 266000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, stylized, emotional, entertaining, exciting, humorous, suspenseful, semi serious, cyber, futuristic
Similar in 75%
Repo Men (2010)
Plot Summary:
In the future, medical technology has advanced to the point where people can buy artificial organs to extend their lives. But if they default on payments, an organization known as the Union sends agents to repossess the organs. Remy is one of the best agents in the business, but when he becomes the recipient of an artificial heart, he finds himself in the same dire straits as his many victims.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: futuristic, bloody, suspense, absurd, twisted, thought provoking, visually appealing, cyber, surprise ending, serious
Similar in 85%
Day of the Dead (2008)
Plot Summary:
Day of the Dead is a horror film which is nominally a quasi-remake of George A. Romero's classic zombie film of the same name, which was the third in Romero's Dead series. The film is directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th Part 2 & 3 and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) and written by Jeffrey Reddick.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: suspense, scary, stylized, rough, intense, apocalyptic, retro, dark, scenic, classic horror
Similar in 88%
Doomsday (2008)
Plot Summary:
A lethal virus spreads throughout the British isles,infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. To contain the threat, acting authorities brutally quarantine the country as it succumbs to fear and chaos. The quarantine is successful. Three decades later, the Reaper virus violently resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, South Africa, Germany
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, apocalyptic, suspenseful, rough, grindhouse, serious, road movie, splatter, cult classic
Similar in 86%
RoboCop (1987)
Plot Summary:
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 277000
Genere: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: futuristic, entertaining, black comedy, cyber, bloody, intense, humorous, dark comedy, brutal, satirical
Similar in 77%
Elysium (2013)
Plot Summary:
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 466000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: futuristic, cyber, serious, stylized, exciting, political, captivating, bleak, suspenseful, entertaining
Similar in 83%
The Island (2005)
Plot Summary:
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 325000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, action packed, apocalyptic, intense, thought provoking, entertaining
Similar in 81%
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Plot Summary:
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 721000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, exciting, heroic, clever, captivating, suspenseful, intense, entertaining, smart
Similar in 76%
Gattaca (1997)
Plot Summary:
Science fiction drama about a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics where humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. The young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet he is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 318000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: futuristic, thought provoking, intellectual, neo noir, psychological, philosophical, suspenseful, clever, mindfuck, visually stunning
Similar in 87%
Starship Troopers (1997)
Plot Summary:
Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs".
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 313000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: futuristic, stylized, entertaining, cult classic, bloody, exciting, allegory, action packed, parody, epic
Similar in 77%
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
Plot Summary:
A stranger stumbles into the desert town of Absolution with no memory of his past and a futuristic shackle around his wrist. With the help of mysterious beauty Ella and the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde, he finds himself leading an unlikely posse of cowboys, outlaws, and Apache warriors against a common enemy from beyond this world in an epic showdown for survival.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 230000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Western
Country: USA, India
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, serious, stylized, entertaining, suspense, period piece, captivating, intense, intellectual
Similar in 81%
Extinction (2018)
Plot Summary:
A chief mechanic at a factory, haunted by apocalyptic nightmares, becomes a hero when Earth is invaded by a mysterious army bent on destruction.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspense, light, apocalyptic, smart, cyber, twist ending, avant garde, thought provoking, futuristic, grindhouse
Similar in 81%
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Plot Summary:
After a spectacular crash-landing on an uncharted planet, brash astronaut Leo Davidson finds himself trapped in a savage world where talking apes dominate the human race. Desperate to find a way home, Leo must evade the invincible gorilla army led by Ruthless General Thade.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 226000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: futuristic, twist ending, bad ending, intense, suspense, surprise ending, exciting, suspenseful, apocalyptic, serious
Similar in 84%
Cloverfield (2008)
Plot Summary:
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 document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 416000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, suspenseful, tense, mockumentary, lovecraft, apocalyptic, rough, bleak, clever
Similar in 86%
Children of Men (2006)
Plot Summary:
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 522000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Japan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, neo noir, depressing, bleak, apocalyptic, captivating, political, intense, road movie, emotional
Similar in 79%
The Colony (2013)
Plot Summary:
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, tense, dark, suspense, apocalyptic, harsh, intense, scary, futuristic
Similar in 83%
The Hunger Games (2012)
Plot Summary:
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. The world will be watching.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 981000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: exciting, futuristic, suspenseful, disturbing, serious, teen, thought provoking, apocalyptic, suspense, action packed
Similar in 86%
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Plot Summary:
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There's Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: road movie, visually stunning, exciting, surreal, suspense, apocalyptic, cult classic, stylized, epic, visually appealing
Similar in 78%
Demolition Man (1993)
Plot Summary:
Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, has escaped during a parole hearing in 2032 in the utopia of San Angeles. Police are incapable of dealing with his violent ways and turn to his captor, John Spartan, who had also been cryogenically frozen when wrongfully accused of killing 30 innocent people while apprehending Phoenix.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 190000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, suspenseful, stylized, semi serious, rough, entertaining, apocalyptic, humorous, epic
Similar in 88%
The Terminator (1984)
Plot Summary:
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 909000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: tech noir, suspenseful, neo noir, serious, cult classic, action packed, cyber, apocalyptic, saga, action adventure
Similar in 75%
Lucy (2014)
Plot Summary:
A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 525000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, Taiwan, Canada, USA, UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, surreal, philosophical, intellectual, serious, exciting, cerebral, entertaining, breathtaking, tricky
Similar in 80%
They Live (1988)
Plot Summary:
Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 142000
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, allegory, political, serious, suspenseful, dark comedy, homoerotic, mind bending, clever, psychedelic
Similar in 83%
Total Recall (1990)
Plot Summary:
Construction worker Douglas Quaid discovers a memory chip in his brain during a virtual-reality trip. He also finds that his past has been invented to conceal a plot of planetary domination. Soon, he's off to Mars to find out who he is and who planted the chip.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 348000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, ambiguous ending, suspense, cyber, entertaining, cult classic, mindfuck, exciting
Similar in 88%
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Plot Summary:
Nearly 10 years have passed since Sarah Connor was targeted for termination by a cyborg from the future. Now her son, John, the future leader of the resistance, is the target for a newer, more deadly terminator. Once again, the resistance has managed to send a protector back to attempt to save John and his mother Sarah.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: exciting, apocalyptic, suspense, futuristic, tense, suspenseful, cyber, action packed, breathtaking, cult classic
Similar in 86%
Avatar (2009)
Plot Summary:
In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 162 min
Plot tags: futuristic, breathtaking, exciting, visually stunning, captivating, serious, epic, scenic, entertaining, spiritual