Movies like Unexpected Encounters (1994)
The best movies like Unexpected Encounters (1994) are Light of My Life (2019), My Zoe (2019) and Gray Matter (2023). If Unexpected Encounters hooked you with its science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedA Quiet Place (2018)7.4/10 from 15,930 votes
- NewestGreenland 2: Migration (2026)Released 2026
Light of My Life (2019)
Years after a pandemic wipes out most of the female population, a father struggles to shield his daughter from a dangerous and predatory world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Zoe (2019)
Isabelle, a geneticist recovering from a toxic marriage, is raising her only daughter, Zoe, with her contentious ex-husband. Zoe means everything to her mother and so when tragedy strikes the fractured family, Isabelle travels to Russia in seeking the help of a world-renowned fertility physician who Isabelle believes can help bring back her little girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGray Matter (2023)
All her life, Aurora has been taught by her mother that the superhuman abilities they possess, the abilities that make them unique, also make them dangerous. Now, on one fateful and deadly night, Aurora will find out if her mother was telling the truth and just what consequences the use of her powers might have.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChildren of the Damned (1964)
Six children are found spread through out the world that not only have enormous intelligence, but identical intelligence and have a strange bond to each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Mimzy (2007)
Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys, and soon their parents and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world – and find a task ahead of them that is far more important than any of them could imagine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ewok Adventure (1984)
Wicket the Ewok and his friends agree to help two shipwrecked human children, Mace and Cindel, on a quest to find their parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisA Quiet Place (2018)
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSouthbound (2015)
On a desolate stretch of desert highway, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisLEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red (2023)
The Avengers gather to celebrate their latest victory, but their celebration is quickly interrupted by the mysterious disappearance of Black Widow's father, Red Guardian. As the Avengers investigate, they discover that Red Guardian isn't the only one missing when they meet a dangerous new foe quite unlike anything they've ever encountered before.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpectral (2016)
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Color (2019)
A woman goes on the run after her superhuman abilities are exposed and, with nowhere left to hide, returns to the family she abandoned years earlier.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreenland 2: Migration (2026)
Having found the safety of the Greenland bunker after the comet Clarke decimated the Earth, the Garrity family must now risk everything to embark on a perilous journey across the wasteland of Europe to find a new home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlash/Back (2022)
In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaylight's End (2016)
Years after a mysterious plague has devastated the planet and turned most of humanity into blood-hungry creatures, a rogue drifter on a vengeful hunt stumbles across a band of survivors in an abandoned police station and reluctantly agrees to try to help them defend themselves and escape to the sanctuary they so desperately need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisNowhere (1997)
In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Queen (2002)
Since a bitter winter storm stole the life of Gerda's mother, she and her father have sadly continued to run the remote hotel they call home. Lonely and isolated, Gerda's only joy is Kai, the handsome bellboy. A mysterious guest with an icy stare arrives at the hotel one night, wrapped in fur and diamonds. By daybreak, the "Snow Queen" has vanished with Kai! Gerda embarks on a journey of morphing seasons, fantastical creatures, and long-frozen mysteries in a desperate quest to find her stolen love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRedux Redux (2025)
In an attempt to avenge her daughter’s death, Irene Kelly travels through parallel universes, killing her daughter’s murderer again and again. As she becomes consumed by vengeance, her humanity begins to slip away—until the cycle is disrupted when she rescues Mia, a sharp-witted teenager already marked by the killer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe App (2019)
Loving girlfriend, family fortune, breakout movie role: he's got it all. Until an app awakens a powerful new yearning. While in Rome to shoot his first movie, actor and industrial heir Niccolò becomes obsessed with the dating app "US" that sends him into a self-destructive spiral.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisVillage of the Damned (1960)
In a small English village everyone suddenly falls unconscious. When they awake every woman of child bearing age is pregnant. The resulting children have the same strange blond hair, eyes and a strong connection to each other.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSave Yourselves! (2020)
A young Brooklyn couple head upstate to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with themselves. Cut off from their devices, they miss the news that the planet is under attack.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisSenseless (1998)
A student gets his senses enhanced by an experimental drug. But abuse is not an option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fury (1978)
When a devious plot separates CIA agent Peter Sandza from his son, Robin, the distraught father manages to see through the ruse. Taken because of his psychic abilities, Robin is being held by Ben Childress, who is studying people with supernatural powers in hopes of developing their talents as weapons. Soon Peter pairs up with Gillian, a teen who has telekinesis, to find and rescue Robin.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCritters 3 (1991)
As fanged, furious furballs viciously invade an L.A. apartment building and sink their teeth into the low-rent tenants, Josh leads the battle to beat back the conniving critters and save the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing (2019)
Over 30 filmmakers and friends of Strand Releasing have come together to honor the company’s indelible contribution to independent cinema over the past thirty years. The participating filmmakers have each created a short film for the project, all shot on iPhones.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Peut-être (1999)
Arthur is invited to a New Year's Eve party to celebrate the year 2000. His girlfriend Lucie would like a baby from him but he refuses. Through the ceiling of the toilets, he discovers a passage leading to this futurist Paris. There, he meets an old man Ako who affirms he is his son and that he wants to exist. Otherwise he will vanish into the air. Arthur is still hesitant because his life is an unfulfilled one: a has a little lucrative job, is uncertain about his future and things are getting out of hand when Ako discovers the passage and interferes in the party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisMunchies (1987)
Simon Watterman, a space archaeologist, discovers the "Munchies" in a cave in Peru. Cecil Watterman, Simon's evil twin brother and snack food entrepreneur, kidnaps the creature. What Cecil does not know is that the creature, when chopped up, regenerates into many new creatures and are they mean!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this2071 - Horoscopes and Psychotropics (2021)
It is a feature film in development and research. It tells the story of a pharmacopornographic treatment imposed on a woman after an attempted suicide. But it is the year 2071 that an alternative comes to her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Like Unexpected Encounters and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Unexpected Encounters?
The closest matches to Unexpected Encounters are Light of My Life (2019), My Zoe (2019) and Gray Matter (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Unexpected Encounters?
Start with Light of My Life (2019), the closest match to Unexpected Encounters.
What is the highest-rated movie like Unexpected Encounters?
A Quiet Place (2018), rated 7.4/10 by 15,930 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Unexpected Encounters?
Greenland 2: Migration (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Unexpected Encounters chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Unexpected Encounters, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.