Whether it’s a fiery asteroid speeding inevitably towards Earth, a mysterious virus that turns mild-mannered neighbors into feral, blood-thirsty monsters, or a massive environmental disaster caused by good old human greed, there are about a zillion ways the world could end at a moment’s notice.
Sometimes it seems like Hollywood has explored all of these end of the world tropes ad nauseum, but there are still a few disaster movies that have something important to say. Luckily for us, Netflix has (at least) ten great tense thrillers streaming on their platform right now! All feature intrepid heroes in a race against time, yet each film also exhibits a unique twist on the classic apocalyptic genre that raises it to a higher level.
Leave The World Behind (2023)
Based on a novel by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind raises the question of what would happen if someone pulled the plug on our tech-dependent society with no notice. Julia Roberts stars as Amanda Sandford, a grumpy rich lady who makes a sudden decision to rent a luxury home in the woods with her husband (Ethan Hawke) and teenage kids (Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans). They’ve barely settled in when strange things start to happen worldwide: a massive tanker ship runs aground at the beach, the TV and Wi-Fi are on the fritz, and most bizarrely, all of the deer in the vicinity seem to have totally lost their marbles. The sight of a doomsday prepper (Kevin Bacon) buying up all the supplies his truck can carry gives Amanda pause, but the truth of the situation doesn’t become apparent until later, when G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) turn up unannounced.
It turns out G.H. and Ruth own the home the Sandfords are renting, but they ran into trouble on their way out of town and need to come home. The two families must try to get along in spite of their mutual confusion and suspicion, and fear.
Bird Box (2018)
Sandra Bullock veers drastically away from every bubbly rom-com character she’s ever played in this post-apocalyptic thriller. Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman who gave birth at the start of a terrifying mass suicide event that’s wiping out entire cities in days. There’s some sort of entity that causes people to lose their minds the instant they set eyes on it, and Malorie’s sister is one of the first to fall victim.
Malorie and another survivor manage to stay alive for five years, but in true end of the world movie style, no one stays safe for long. Soon Malorie must make a perilous journey down river with both of her children, battling infected people, white water rapids, and other dangers the whole time. Oh, and she has to do it all while blindfolded!
Don’t Look Up (2021)
Modern audiences already feel like we were living in the darkest timeline, so Don’t Look Up’s message about climate change, willfully-ignorant politicians and their cronies, and logical scientists being ignored (and ridiculed) hit home particularly hard when it premiered during the COVID-19 pandemic!
Jennifer Lawrence plays doctoral candidate Kate Dibiasky, the first scientist to notice a massive comet speeding directly and inevitably towards Earth. The only person who believes her is her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), but they bring their devastating findings to the nation’s highest level nevertheless. Meryl Streep plays the President of the United States, a Trumpish character who employs both of her sons (Jonah Hill at his most hilariously sycophantic) in her cabinet.
An all-star ensemble cast also includes Timothée Chalamet, Cate Blanchette, Rob Morgan, Tyler Perry, Ariana Grande, and Kid Cudi.
Melancholia (2011)
On its surface, Melancholia is a movie about a family gathering for a wedding at a stunning castle somewhere in Europe, but it’s actually a movie about depression. It’s the second movie in writer-director Lars von Trier’s “Depression Trilogy,” sandwiched between Antichrist (2009) and Nymphomaniac (2013). Melancholia stars Kirsten Dunst as Justine, who is about to marry Michael (Skarsgård), when the pressure of the wedding and her job triggers her underlying depression. She abruptly calls off the wedding, quits her job, and slides deeper into her funk.
Months later, Justine returns to the estate to await the impact of Melancholia, a rogue planet that will soon destroy Earth. Some people can’t handle the pressure of the end of the world, and Justine and her sister (Charlotte Gainsbourg) experience a range of emotions before eventually making peace with their fate.
2012 (2009)
John Cusack in an action movie? Yes, please! The erstwhile ’80s heartthrob stars as Jackson Curtis, a novelist struggling to survive a series of natural disasters sparked by a solar flare that’s heating up Earth’s core. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the geologist whose warnings are ignored (there’s one in most natural disaster movies!), and Amanda Peet plays Jackson’s estranged wife and mother of his kids.
This blockbuster film has lots of special effects, and you can expect to see our leading man battling earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and tsunamis as he tries desperately to get his family to one of nine arks created to salvage society.
Train to Busan (2016)
This heart-pounding South Korean action horror film takes place mostly aboard a KTX train on its way from Seoul to Busan. Beleaguered dad Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) has promised his young daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) that he will take her to celebrate her birthday with her mother in Busan, but on the way there, a zombie apocalypse breaks out.
Seok-woo fights to protect his daughter from the other passengers on the train as the zombie infection spreads rapidly. A stop at Daejeon Station proves that there’s no safety to be had outside of the train, so the father and daughter forge onward towards a supposed quarantine zone in Busan.
Cargo (2017)
Hold onto your heartstrings, because this disaster thriller might tug at them while also making you jump out of your seat. This Australian drama stars Martin Freeman as Andy Rose, a man navigating a deadly viral apocalypse with his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and their infant daughter, Rosie. The virus spreading across Australia causes victims to become rabid 48 hours after being bitten by an infected person, giving them plenty of time to A: try to hide their bite wounds or B: worry endlessly about what’s to come.
Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that not every character you come to know and love will make it out of this one alive.
65 (2023)
In a cool twist on the “asteroid-heading-towards-Earth” category, Adam Driver stars in this pre-apocalyptic thriller about an astronaut who lands on Earth sixty-five million years ago, when the dinosaurs still ruled. Unable to repair his spaceship, he loses all hope until he finds a child survivor named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt) and resolves to save her. The astronaut must fight off T-Rexes and other oversized reptiles while mission control on his old planet tries to save them. It’s a race against time as the asteroid that will cause the end of the dinosaurs soars towards Earth. Will he and Koa’s rescue vessel make off the planet in time?
Extinction (2018)
Extinction stars Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan as parents racing to save themselves and their children from an alien-like invasion. Dad Peter (Peña) has been having recurring nightmares about an alien invasion, and his family does not understand. He sees a psychiatrist, but it’s unclear whether his visions are true … until one night, when the invasion begins.
Peter’s visions become shockingly real, but even then, not everything is as it seems.
Love and Monsters (2020)
Joel Dawson (Dylan O’Brien) is learning to live in a new world after an asteroid caused all of the cold-blooded animals to mutate into massive monsters. Most of humanity has been killed, but there are pockets of survivors. Joel has spent seven years in a colony dreaming of finding his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick), who was separated from him during one of the battles. One day, a giant ant kills Joel’s friend, and he decides enough is enough … it’s time to find Aimee.
The story follows Joel’s dangerous journey as he battles worm-monsters and other creepy-crawlies. A friend teaches him how to identify dangerous (and not dangerous) creatures by their eyes, a trick that comes in very handy in the final moments of the film.
Feeling your mortality yet? We sure are! All of these fine films are streaming now on Netflix.
(featured image: Netflix)
