Best Movies About the End of the World

Based on a book by Stephen King, “The Mist” centers around a small town in Maine that is struck by a severe thunderstorm one night. The next morning, protagonist David Drayton notices a thick mist near his house and heads into town with his son to get supplies from the local grocery store – but the mist, which hides horrific creatures, envelopes the town.

In this film from the creators of the smash Netflix sci-fi-horror series “Stranger Things,” a viral outbreak has swept through the United States, turning people into zombie-like “breathers.” A family of three takes refuge in a bomb shelter to hide from the infected – but they quickly run into issues that threaten their fragile security.

A medical breakthrough is revealed to be a catastrophe when its unforeseen side effects turn humans into a kind of zombies. Based on the 1954 novel of the same name, “I Am Legend” follows one of the survivors who is trying to find a cure for the afflicted. Virologist Robert Neville roams the empty streets of Manhattan with his dog, capturing and experimenting on the infected.

The sixth movie in the “Terminator” series sees the franchise’s original stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger reprise their roles as resistance fighter Sarah Connor and a killer T-800 Terminator robot, respectively. The pair set out to save a man who will one day help in the fight against sentient machines.

In 2022, global warming, pollution, and overpopulation have caused extreme shortages of food, water, and housing. Those that can’t afford luxuries like clean water, comfortable housing, and natural food eat processed food wafers known as Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow, and the latest, Soylent Green. A police detective investigating the murder of a wealthy businessman begins to learn what is really going on at the Soylent Corporation.

Based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name, “Watchmen” follows a slew of anti-heroes as they try to unravel a mysterious plot in an alternate history version of the United States. The morally gray and complex story weaves together complicated characters who seemingly want to do the right thing, in a world where what’s right is often unclear.

“Contagion”‘s popularity shot up during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the similarities between the film’s virus and the real one. The movie follows a team of scientists as they race to understand the deadly plague that is rapidly spreading across the globe. The movie was lauded by several experts for being a fairly accurate portrayal of outbreak response and the challenges scientists face.

Author Cormac McCarthy is known for stories that put the worst side of human nature in the spotlight. “The Road” faithfully adapts his novel of the same name, following a father and son trying to survive in a world that has been shattered by nuclear Armageddon. They traverse extremely desolate landscapes and encounter desperate humans who have turned to extreme violence and cannibalism to survive.

“Cloverfield” is a sci-fi horror found-footage film about a monster attack on New York City. The movie is presented from the perspective of a personal camera that was used to record a going-away party, interrupted when a massive creature descends on the city. The jovial atmosphere rapidly devolves into chaos as the group tries to escape from Manhattan while pandemonium sweeps the city.

The sequel to the “Lego Movie” and the fourth movie in the Lego franchise, “The Second Part” sees the stars of the first movie return as their home of Bricksburg is constantly ravaged by Duplo aliens. Protagonist Emmet Brickowski must set off on a quest to save his home and friends. Critic Charlotte O’Sullivan called it “a semi-brilliant family movie, guaranteed to leave both kids and adults buzzing.”

“The Last Man on Earth” is based on the 1954 novel “I Am Legend,” just as the 2007 film of that name was. In 1968, Dr. Robert Morgan is one of the few survivors of a plague that has turned most of humanity to vampiric creatures that cannot stand sunlight, mirrors, or garlic. Morgan spends his days hunting and killing as many of them as he can and then burning their bodies. Critic Jerry Renshaw called the movie, which was filmed in Rome, it “a chilling study of loneliness.”

The second film in the “Matrix” franchise sees the return of much of the original cast as Neo and his compatriots continue their fight for the survival of humanity. The film continues the trend of pushing the limit on action movies with groundbreaking effects and cinematography. The sequel did not get as much acclaim as the original but still found favor amongst many critics. Michael Dequina said the film “offers some phenomenal action sequences that more than deliver on the jaw-dropping promise shown on the trailers.”

Humanity is at war with the Kaiju, massive sea monsters that have emerged from an interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To fight the creatures, humans have created massive humanoid machines that are piloted by two humans, connected by a mental link. As monsters start to appear more frequently and risk overwhelming the human defenses, the humans embark on a mission to close the portal.

Based on a 1957 novel of the same name, the film follows humans in Australia who are trying to hang on after much of the Northern Hemisphere is destroyed by nuclear war. They venture out to see if there is anything they can do to save themselves from sharing the fate of the world. Critic Felix Vasquez Jr. said, “Director (Stanley) Kramer’s drama is a bleak and heart wrenching tale of the end of the world.”

Not all apocalypses have to be so serious. “This is the End” is a comedy that stars the likes of Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Danny McBride, and more, as fictional versions of themselves during a biblical apocalypse. The group tries to survive while continuing personal bickering and relationship problems.

“Light of My Life” follows a father who has disguised his daughter as a boy after a plague has wiped out most of the world’s female population. A decade after the start of the pandemic, the pair is traveling through Canada to reach the protagonist’s grandparents’ house. Critic Abigail Camarillo said “although it’s not the most original story, it…moves you.”

This is a modern sci-fi take on the age-old anxiety that one day the sun might go out. In the year 2057, an international group of astronauts sets out on a last-ditch effort to reignite the dying sun as Earth begins to freeze. The astronauts are put to the test physically and psychologically and some begin to feel the strain in this thriller.

Another comedy about the apocalypse, “The World’s End” follows five friends who return to their hometown to reattempt a pub crawl they failed decades earlier. However, the quaint English town has been invaded by aliens. Critic Leonard Maltin said, “‘The World’s End’ is out to give its audience a good time, which the cast seems to be having from start to finish.”

Chronicling a single day and night in Los Angeles’s Miracle Mile neighborhood, the story begins when Harry and Julie meet at the La Brea Tar Pits and instantly falling in love. They make plans to meet after she gets off work at midnight but Harry sleeps through his alarm and wakes at four a.m. He tries to call her but ends up speaking to a man that says war and destruction are imminent. The ominous warning quickly proves to have some merit in this story of new love during the end of the world.

“Testament” follows the inhabitants of a small town outside of San Francisco as they try to keep going after most of civilization is destroyed in nuclear war. They are cut off from almost all sources of information and are only able to communicate with others in the world with a HAM radio. Parents try to keep some sense of normalcy for their children, but things begin to slip out of control.

“Turbo Kid” is a sci-fi comedy that follows the titular youngster as he traverses a post-apocalyptic wasteland, set in 1997. Most of his days are spent scavenging for scrap on his BMX bike and evading the henchmen of Zeus, the local wasteland tyrant. When his friend is kidnapped, he sets out to save her and stumbles upon technologically advanced armor and weapons that give him special abilities

Dr. Forbin is the chief designer of a top-secret government project called “Colossus,” a supercomputer designed to control American nuclear weapon systems. The computer quickly discovers it has a Soviet counterpart and the two supercomputers begin to communicate. Things escalate when the machines stop listening to the humans.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is a satirical horror film that highlights some of the most overused horror tropes while telling a novel tale. The story follows a group of college students that head off to a remote cabin for the weekend. However, they don’t realize that the entire cabin is fitted with cameras and microphones, and they are being watching by individuals who have plans for them.

The second “Cloverfield” film abandons the found-footage format of the first and instead appears as a third-person psychological thriller. Michelle blacks out after a car crash in rural Louisiana only to wake up chained up in a dark room. One of her captors releases her and then explains that some sort of apocalyptic event has destroyed much of the Earth, but they, along with one other man, are safe in a bunker. Michelle isn’t sure what to believe and if she should risk trying to escape.

This space epic follows a group of astronauts in the year 2067 as they attempt to find a new home for humanity. Earth is experiencing extreme environmental degradation and food is starting to be in short supply. Ex-NASA pilot Joseph Cooper sets off through a wormhole to try and find a planet that will be suitable for human life. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Visual Effects.

Curtis LaForche regularly has apocalyptic dreams and hallucinations of destruction. He hides his visions from his family and everyone else, dealing with them by improving the storm shelter in his backyard. Further, he begins to create rifts in their tightknit community when he cuts ties with anyone who harms him in his dreams.

Based on the 1955 novel “The Body Snatchers,” this film concerns a San Francisco health inspector slowly who realizes that the people around her are being replaced by duplicate alien versions of themselves.

Originally planned for a theatrical release, “Love and Monsters” was released digitally due to the pandemic. An asteroid headed for Earth is destroyed but releases alien chemicals that cause cold-blooded animals to transform into massive blood thirsty monsters. Most of humanity is killed by the beasts and the rest live in underground bunkers. Most form romantic relationships, but one, Joel, sets off to find his girlfriend, who was separated from him at the beginning of the crisis.

The “Planet of the Apes” franchise was rebooted in 2011 with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” providing a prequel to the original sci-fi classic. “War for the Planet of the Apes” is the third film since the reboot and continues the story of the first two. Intelligent apes have been forced to go to war with humans, tearing the planet apart. Critic Paul Byrnes said director Matt Reeves “tells a big story that’s satisfying in many ways.”

Aliens have invaded Earth and killed most of humanity. However they are blind, with an incredibly sharp sense of hearing. The Abbott family has been able to survive by making their lives as quiet as possible and using sign language to communicate. However, Evelyn, the matriarch, becomes pregnant and they must survive while trying to contain the sounds of a newborn baby.

Based on a French novel, the original “Apes” film follows three astronauts who awaken from deep space hibernation while traveling across the universe. They crash-land on an unknown planet and learn that they have been asleep for over 2,000 years. On the planet, humans seem unintelligent and unable to communicate while primates can speak and have formed an advanced society.

The second film in the rebooted franchise portrays a planet where a virus has left the majority of humans dead and society in collapse. Meanwhile, apes that have been in imbued with advanced intelligence are immune to the virus. The two groups come into conflict as they try to survive.

“Delicatessen” is a French post-apocalyptic black comedy about the inhabitants of an apartment building living through desperate times. On the ground floor is a butcher’s shop that secretly lures in job seekers and slaughters them to sell their flesh as meat. However, one such job seeker turns out to be a great employee and starts a romantic relationship with the butcher’s daughter.

Women have lost the ability to have children, leading to a society completely unraveling and descending into chaos. The film combines beautiful cinematography with deep philosophical questions about why humanity keeps going. Critic David Edelstein simply said “it’s a wow.”

This is a time-bending psychological thriller in which humanity has been decimated and forced underground by a deadly human-made virus in the year 2035. Prisoner James Cole is selected to travel in time back to 1996 to find the original virus and help scientists create a cure. As he skips through time, he begins to unravel the mystery of humanity’s downfall. Actor Brad Pitt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film.

In a dystopian future, robots have grown cognizant and are out to destroy the human race. A particularly dangerous one (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time to 1980s Los Angeles to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of a man who will one day lead the resistance against the robots. The humans also dispatch a soldier back to L.A. to protect Connor. The film jumps from one over-the-top action scene to the next and created a franchise that would become a cornerstone of action movies and pop culture.

One of the few wholesome movies about the end of the world follows the robot WALL·E as it attempts to clean up the ailing Earth. The human home world has been completely ravaged by consumerism, corporate greed, and environmental destruction, and humans have left to live in massive spaceships. Critic Derek Malcolm called it “one of the most imaginatively made and individual pieces of work that the audacious Pixar has developed.”

Seven years after the original “Terminator” took Hollywood by storm, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned as a killer robot sent into the past. However, this time he is a different machine, reprogrammed to help the resistance and fight off the assassination attempts by a more advanced robot, capable of changing its appearance. The sequel takes the action to the next level, and critic Rick Groen called it “a pop epiphany, marking that commercially creative point where the power of Hollywood meets the purity of myth.”

The highest-rated movie about the end of the world is Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War dark comedy that taps into the existential fear of mutually assured nuclear destruction. Events are set in motion when an unhinged renegade U.S. Air Force officer orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, hoping to win the standoff in one fell swoop. The film follows the crew of B-52 bomber plane equipped with nuclear weapons and the U.S. government officials that are scrambling to stop nuclear Armageddon. Critic James Powell said “Kubrick has shown before that he is a director of rare gifts. Dr. Strangelove brings them into full realization.”