Movies The 10 best apocalypse movies streaming on Netflix right now From natural disasters to man-made horrors, the streaming giant has fan-favorites like "Bird Box," "Don’t Look Up," and more. By Sara Netzley Published on August 29, 2024 01:05PM EDT Photo: everett (2); netflix Feeling less “Netflix and chill” and more “Netflix and chill your blood imagining all the ways the world could end” these days? If so, the streaming giant’s got you covered. Whether you prefer it when humanity ends with a bang (Badland Hunters, Zombieland) or with a whimper (Don’t Look Up), read on for Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 10 best apocalypse movies streaming on Netflix right now. 01 of 10 Leave the World Behind (2023) JoJo Whilden/ Netflix Based on a book by Rumaan Alam, this star-studded film follows two families who are thrown together when a cyberterror attack knocks society offline. Director Sam Esmail told EW he wanted to “get inside your mind and unlock the fears that you might really have about our world” in Leave the World Behind, which was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company. You can’t argue about the film’s pedigree — or the terror of a world without technology. Where to watch Leave the World Behind: Netflix Director: Sam Esmail Cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon Related content: Mahershala Ali on his 'prophetic' Leave the World Behind character and film's mysterious ending 02 of 10 Badland Hunters (2024) Netflix The newest film on this list is also one of the bloodiest. Ma Dong-seok (Train to Busan) plays a battle-hardened hunter who sets out to save a teenager from a mad scientist three years after a catastrophic earthquake left Seoul a lawless wasteland. First-time director Heo Myeong-haeng, a former stuntman, packs Badland Hunters with the brutal, eye-popping fight sequences you want in your Korean action cinema, complete with super soldiers, fast-moving zombies, and an entertaining outing from the immensely likable Dong-seok. Where to watch Badland Hunters: Netflix Director: Heo Myeong-haeng Cast: Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, Lee Jun-young, Roh Jeong-eui 03 of 10 Zombieland (2009) Everett Collection The best-ever zombie apocalypse comedy/action/romance/road-trip flick stars Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin as a found family of survivors cheerfully bickering their way across a ruined America where the hungry undead greatly outnumber the available supply of Twinkies. EW’s critic praised Zombieland’s “snarky banter and self-referential pop cultural allusions.” So buckle up, check the backseat, and enjoy that celebrity cameo, which sparks joy no matter how many times you’ve rewatched this film. Where to watch Zombieland: Netflix EW grade: B+ (read the review) Director: Ruben Fleischer Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin Related content: Emma Stone wants to make a Zombieland film every 10 years 04 of 10 Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017) Everett It’s a Gojira-pocalpyse in Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, the first in Polygon Pictures’ anime trilogy that follows a group of refugees returning to a ravaged Earth 20,000 years after the cranky lizard drove out all the humans. Directors Hiroyuki Seshita and Kôbun Shizuno created a visual feast in this fresh, sci-fi-infused take on the monster mythos, continuing in Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, which are also available on Netflix. Where to watch Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters: Netflix Director: Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita Cast: Mamoru Miyano, Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Yūki Kaji Related content: Every Godzilla movie, ranked from worst to best 05 of 10 Don’t Look Up (2021) Everett The mega-comet is real, but it’s a fame and fake news apocalypse that ultimately dooms the Earth in Don’t Look Up. EW’s critic called the Adam McKay film a “winking indictment of climate-change deniers and alternative-fact peddlers” who are happy to ignore global existential threats as they chase a little more clout. As McKay told EW, “This movie came from my terror about the climate crisis and the fact that we live in a society that tends to place it as the fourth or fifth news story, or even deny that it's happening, and how horrifying that is, but at the same time [how] preposterously funny.” Don’t Look Up stars Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, and, conservatively, a billion other famous faces. (As tempting a target as Earth is for killer comets, McKay’s gravitational pull on actors is even stronger.) Where to watch Don’t Look Up: Netflix EW grade: B (read the review) Director: Adam McKay Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill Related content: How Meryl Streep became the U.S. president in Don't Look Up 06 of 10 The Bad Batch (2016) Neon EW’s writer describes The Bad Batch as “a uniquely berserk tale of love and cannibalism” from director Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night). After an unnamed apocalypse upends society, Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) is dumped in a fenced-off wasteland reserved for undesirables, where she meets human-eaters, cult leaders, and other oddballs, including Keanu Reeves and Giovanni Ribisi. Come for the heavy doses of body trauma, stay for the perma-shirtless Jason Momoa. Where to watch The Bad Batch: Netflix Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Cast: Suki Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves Related content: Ana Lily Amirpour made a brilliant COVID-19 short for Netflix. It's unlike anything she's ever done 07 of 10 The Worthy (2016) Everett This brutal Arabic thriller from the producers of Insidious and The Conjuring follows a band of survivors battling over scarce resources after a political faction poisons the global water supply. Emirati director Ali F Mostafa worked on a shoestring budget to create this violent cat-and-mouse story, which reminds us that the apocalypse is sometimes just an excuse for very bad people to do very bad things. Where to watch The Worthy: Netflix Director: Ali F. Mostafa Cast: Mahmoud Al Atrash, Rakeen Saad, Samer Ismail, Maisa Abd Elhadi 08 of 10 The Midnight Sky (2020) Netflix George Clooney directed, co-produced, and starred in The Midnight Sky, which finds his lushly bearded Arctic scientist attempting to prevent a crew of astronauts, including Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo, from returning to Earth where a global catastrophe awaits them. Filming took place in Iceland, and the weather proved to be its own mini-catastrophe for Clooney. “It was like 40 below, 60-70-mile-an-hour winds, and it's tricky because you could get lost 15 feet away from the camera," he told EW. “I lost like 25 pounds [for the part], so I was pretty weak in general and I'm also directing a big film and you need energy. I was pretty beat up." Where to watch The Midnight Sky: Netflix EW grade: B (read the review) Director: George Clooney Cast: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, Demián Bichir Related content: With The Midnight Sky, George Clooney issues a warning for humanity 09 of 10 Bird Box (2018) Merrick Morton/Netflix This deeply unsettling Sandra Bullock film finds humanity blindly stumbling to survive after an unseen force drives the bulk of the population to suicide. “It's a thriller about motherhood,” director Susanne Bier told EW. “[Bullock’s character is] very forceful, very uncompromising. She's a very contemporary female hero.” EW’s critic called Bird Box “taut and defiantly in the moment.” Watch it, and you’ll never take the luxury of driving without a blindfold for granted again. Where to watch Bird Box: Netflix EW grade: B (read the review) Director: Susanne Bier Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Danielle Macdonald, Rosa Salazar, Sarah Paulson Related content: Catfish star Nev Schulman reveals his blink-and-you'll-miss-it Bird Box appearance 10 of 10 I Am Mother (2019) Ian Routledge/Sundance Institute If you like a little sci-fi with your apocalypse, you should meet this Mother. After humanity’s extinction, a strange woman (Hilary Swank) upends the life of a teenager raised in an austere post-apocalyptic bunker under the care of a maternal robot voiced by Rose Byrne. Australian filmmaker Grant Sputore’s debut outing offers a heady mix of rich characters, shifting loyalties, and thought-provoking ideas, along with a fierce performance from Danish actress Clara Rugaard as a young woman grappling with the threat to the only life she’s ever known. Where to watch I Am Mother: Netflix Director: Grant Sputore Cast: Clara Rugaard, Rose Byrne, Hilary Swank