Films with a theme of the apocalypse have fascinated moviegoers for decades. Something about watching how characters react during the end of the world and its aftermath consistently draws moviegoers to the box office. Recent events have made the concept of the apocalypse even more of a reality rather than a work of fiction, and the best endings of the film display humanity’s struggle in the face of total devastation.
Check out the best apocalypse movies to ever transfix an audience.
1. The Matrix Franchise (1999-2021)
After the world experiences a total collapse of technology, humans remain unawares, kept within the Matrix. This highly developed virtual reality network uses their unconscious bodies to power it. A handful of rebels who have managed to escape and fight against the Matrix compete against a powerful, nearly invincible opponent. It’s an apocalyptic David versus Goliath story, and a series of definitive apocalypse movies.
2. 28 Days Later (2002)
While a young bicycle courier in an unconscious state following an accident in Great Britain recovers in the hospital, an outbreak of the highly contagious rage virus occurs, spreading throughout the country. The speed of the virus’s transmission leads to an epidemic, causing a massive loss of life. Twenty-eight days into the epidemic, the courier awakes to a broken-down society with a few survivors trying to stave off becoming infected.
3. Planet of the Apes Franchise (1968-2017)
4. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Considered one of the greatest films of all time, this black comedy about the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union remains a classic among apocalypse movies (or any other movie, for that matter). When a mentally unstable Air Force general initiates a potential nuclear war by ordering the U.S. to attack the Soviets, other leaders, including the President and his staff, try to intervene before it’s too late.
5. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
6. Living Dead Franchise (1968-2009)
7. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
This film harkens back to the disaster movies of the 1970s but with a more realistic spin: how the Earth finally collapses under the weight of decades of global warming. More than just a movie about the ending of the world as we know it, it features a cautionary message about what could happen if people don’t heed the warnings.
8. The Terminator Franchise (1984-2019)
In the first film of the Terminator series, the world hasn’t ended yet. Still, things look bleak when a human fighter and a cyborg from the post-apocalyptic future go against each other – one to save the world from the destruction of humankind and the other to accelerate its demise. The later sequels take place after the inevitable apocalypse happens. Still, the fight against Skynet’s race of artificial intelligence cyborgs continues.
9. Children of Men (2006)
In the year 2027, humans have decimated the world’s natural ecosystems. As a result, governments and societies worldwide have broken down or verging on total collapse. The inability of women to reproduce for nearly 20 years further accelerates the social decline. When one woman miraculously becomes pregnant, the race is on to protect her and her baby from the evil forces in a dystopic world.
10. On The Beach (1959)
The film version of Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel takes place in 1964, in the aftermath of World War III. The nuclear fallout that has eradicated all human life in the Northern Hemisphere gradually spreads into the Southern Hemisphere, eliminating the population there. This Cold War-era cautionary tale has themes that resonate in today’s time.
11. I Am Legend (2007)
A genetically modified virus meant to cure cancer goes wrong, virtually infecting the world’s population. Anyone the virus hasn’t outright killed changes into cannibalistic zombies. The sole survivor in New York, who’s a scientist, and his dog navigate a horrific new world while he tries to find a cure. The movie tells a story of tense and heartbreaking struggle for survival.
12. Mad Max Franchise (1979-2015)
The original Mad Max film takes place in a dystopian society actively teetering on the edge of mass destruction and chaos. The combined impact of an oil shortage and environmental disasters creates a dog-eat-dog world where violence is the norm—the already weakened social fabric tears even more in the subsequent movies.
13. This is the End (2013)
The end of the world after the biblical Rapture occurs in this darkly comedic spin in this movie. A group of celebrities, playing exaggerated versions of themselves, sit trapped at actor James Franco’s house during a party when the apocalypse occurs. The raucous happenings include encounters with monsters, demons, and Satan himself. Even the Backstreet Boys make an appearance.
14. Don’t Look Up (2021)
This film, a thinly veiled, satirical take on climate change, shows how people don’t take the warnings about the climate crisis seriously enough. Don’t Look Up illustrates how the most influential people in society, including politicians, government officials, and media personalities, ignore the truth right in front of them when they’re alerted about a comet that will destroy the Earth.
15. Take Shelter (2011)
In this mind-bending thriller, a husband and father with a family history of paranoid schizophrenia fears he may have the same disorder after having dreams and visions of a storm that will usher in an apocalypse. There’s a mystery about whether the hallucinations are make-believe or an ominous prediction of the future. This question keeps audiences riveted until the end, when the truth reveals itself.
16. Night of the Comet (1984)
This comedy horror cult classic from the 1980s follows the escapades of two teenage sisters who survive a comet strike purely by accident. There exist only a few people, as the rest of humanity has either turned immediately to dust or transformed into zombies. Evil scientists using survivors to save their lives before turning to dust, complicate matters. Night of the Comet is an end-of-the-world movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
17. The Road (2009)
Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel comes to life in this film about an unnamed man and his young son and their struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic land that’s left nearly all plant and animal life rendered extinct after an unknown catastrophic event. Making matters worse, the few humans who left turn into cannibals or their prey.
18. A Quiet Place (2018)
A race of blind space aliens with superior hearing and no apparent physical weaknesses invade Earth, wiping out most of the population. The humans left alive learn to survive by not making any noise that will alert the creatures to their presence. The movie follows a young couple from upstate New York and their challenges to keep their young children and themselves alive.
19. Snowpiercer (2013)
After Earth plunges into another Ice Age, the survivors live on a train called the Snowpiercer, which circles the planet. The passengers live separated by social class, with the elites living in luxury at the front of the train while the lower class passengers live in poor conditions at the rear under armed guard. Eventually, the rear passengers revolt to even the score against their wealthy adversaries. Of all the recent apocalypse movies, this one stands out as one of the strangest…in the best possible way.
20. Time of the Wolf (2003)
A French family struggles to find hope after a massive disaster of unknown origins destroys their lives. The catastrophic event contaminates most of the water sources and requires the destruction of livestock. As the family wanders to the French countryside to seek shelter and assistance, they find their pleas for help rejected by neighbors and friends. The film reveals a depressing and dysfunctional society after an apocalypse.
21. Zombieland (2009)
A strain of mad cow disease morphs into an epidemic, infecting humans across America and turning them into zombies. Those who manage to avoid infection are encouraged to seek out other survivors. Instead of using their real names, they’re told to use their home city as nicknames. With characters named Wichita, Little Rock, and Columbus, you know this film will bring the laughs.
22. The Day After (1983)
This made-for-television movie, aired during the last years of the Cold War, depicts the devastation experienced by people living in Midwest communities in the immediate hours and days following the start of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the U.S. The realistic portrayal of a nuclear apocalypse shocked and frightened audiences.
23. 12 Monkeys (1995)
In 1996, the release of a lethal virus killed most of the global population, and the few remaining survivors had to move underground. A prisoner from the underground travels back in time to find the source of the outbreak in the hopes that scientists can find a cure. The prisoner has to fight against time and questions of his sanity to get to the bottom of the mystery.
24. Fail Safe (1964)
Echoing the events of the harrowing Cuban Missile Crisis of the Kennedy administration, this Cold War-era film portrays a nuclear crisis that starts with a terrible misunderstanding that results in the U.S. sending bombers to launch a nuclear attack on Moscow. Despite efforts from both sides to avert tragedy, the worst-case scenario turns into reality.