Movies like Surface Madness (2024)
The best movies like Surface Madness (2024) are Space/Time (2025), 9 (2009) and Panic in Year Zero! (1962). If Surface Madness hooked you with its science fiction and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTransformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)7.1/10 from 5,521 votes
- NewestSpace/Time (2025)Released 2025
Space/Time (2025)
After a fatal test shuts down their project, a disgraced team of scientists enters the criminal underworld to rebuild a forbidden space-bending engine that could rescue humanity or annihilate it entirely.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like this9 (2009)
When 9 first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPanic in Year Zero! (1962)
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
After being punished for retreat from combat, Ranger David Martel is given command of the Liandra, a haunted 20-year old Minbari fighting ship. He's escorting ambassadors to a secret archaeological site, the oldest city on record and a clue to a dangerous ancient race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArctic Apocalypse (2019)
A massive influx of glacial melting triggers a new ice age in the Northern Hemisphere, forcing a family to make their way across the ice-covered landscape before they are frozen out for good.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1984 (1956)
In a totalitarian future society, a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The River of Souls (1998)
A group of Soul Hunters come to Babylon 5 demanding the return of something that was stolen from them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: A Call to Arms (1999)
Allies of the Shadows seek revenge against humanity. This movie sets up the series, "Crusade," the sequel to "Babylon 5."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Gathering (1993)
The feature-length pilot for this Emmy award-winning show. Babylon 5 is the latest in a series of space stations built by humans. The Vorlon ambassador, Kosh, has been poisoned. It is the new commanding officer, Jeffrey Sinclair, who has the responsibility of finding the culprit. Otherwise, the space station will fail in its role of bringing many alien races together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
A crack test pilot lands to find the planet has been devastated by unknown forces. There are a few survivors, so he organizes them in a plan to ward off control by a group of killer robots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilent Zone (2025)
In a zombie-ravaged world, a resourceful teen and her protector fight for survival, facing relentless dangers and testing the limits of hope and loyalty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTransformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, Optimus Prime and the Autobots must team up with a powerful faction known as the Maximals. With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, humans Noah and Elena will do whatever it takes to help the Transformers as they engage in the ultimate battle to save Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTitan A.E. (2000)
A young man finds out that he holds the key to restoring hope and ensuring survival for the human race, while an alien species called the Drej are bent on mankind's destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Star (1974)
A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Name on the Bullet (1959)
When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Toys (2016)
A group of middle school kids stumble upon a chest full of incredible toys from the future. The discovery takes them on an adventure using their newfound toys to save their neighborhood and ultimately the world from a maniacal corporate madman. In the process, these "loser" kids learn they have the qualities they thought they were lacking all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisEarth to Echo (2014)
After a construction project begins digging in their neighbourhood, best friends Tuck, Munch and Alex inexplicably begin to receive strange, encoded messages on their cell phones. Convinced something bigger is going on, they go to their parents and the authorities. The three embark on a secret adventure to crack the code and follow it to its source, and discover a mysterious being from another world who desperately needs their help. The journey that follows will change all their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisF.R.E.D.I. (2018)
An intelligent, lovable robot known as "F.R.E.D.I." is stolen from a secret research facility by the project's lead scientist. The robot is found by a 15 year old teenager, James. Soon the two begin to communicate and create a bond in which F.R.E.D.I. learns about teenage life and James learns about some new values.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisRace with the Devil (1975)
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014)
In this epic two-part finale, the Doctor comes face to face with the mysterious Missy, and an impossible choice is looming. With Cybermen on the streets of London, old friends unite against old enemies, and the Doctor takes to the air in a startling new role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like this2047: Sights of Death (2014)
The year is 2047. Our planet is ruled by the repressive Confederate Central Government (CCG). Ryan is a Green War rebel agent sent on a mission by Sponge to collect evidence against the CCG for its heinous crimes. Ryan soon faces the sinister Colonel Asimov, Major Anderson and a group of mercenaries lead by Lobo. His mission quickly turns chaotic when he meets Tuage, a mutant survivor of the CCG rebellion who swears to help Ryan save what is left of their world … or does she?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisMad Max (1979)
In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPostscript (2016)
Anthology film set in a nightmarishly beautiful and apocalyptic future where global survivors try to stay alive against terrifying confrontations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Logan's Run (1976)
In the 23rd century, inhabitants of a domed city freely experience all of life's pleasures — but no one is allowed to live past 30. Citizens can try for a chance at being "renewed" in a civic ceremony on their 30th birthday. Escape is the only other option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Years after the Racoon City catastrophe, survivors travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against hordes of zombies and the evil Umbrella Corp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJudge Dredd (1995)
In a dystopian future where Judges maintain law and order by acting as judge, jury, and executioner, Dredd fights to prove his innocence after being falsely accused of murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThat Which Once Was (2011)
In 2032 an eight-year old boy, displaced by global warming, fends for himself as an environmental refugee in a hostile northern metropolis. Haunted by memories of flooding that left him homeless and orphaned, the boy forms an unexpected friendship with an Inuk ice carver who helps him confront his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Spectres of the Spectrum (2000)
In post-apocalyptic 2007 where a government cover-up disseminates via mass media and the history of electromagnetic technologies, from X-rays to the Internet, telepath Boo Boo travels through the history of TV to fight against a corporate-controlled 'New Electromagnetic Order'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Maggie (2015)
There's a deadly zombie epidemic threatening humanity, but Wade, a small-town farmer and family man, refuses to accept defeat even when his daughter Maggie becomes infected. As Maggie's condition worsens and the authorities seek to eradicate those with the virus, Wade is pushed to the limits in an effort to protect her. Joely Richardson co-stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Surface Madness?
The closest matches to Surface Madness are Space/Time (2025), 9 (2009) and Panic in Year Zero! (1962). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Surface Madness?
Start with Space/Time (2025), the closest match to Surface Madness.
What is the highest-rated movie like Surface Madness?
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), rated 7.1/10 by 5,521 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Surface Madness?
Space/Time (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Surface Madness?
Yes: Space/Time (2025), 9 (2009) and Panic in Year Zero! (1962).
How are movies similar to Surface Madness chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Surface Madness, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.