Movies like The Primal Urge of Evil
The best movies like The Primal Urge of Evil are Blue (1993), Mad God (2021) and Koyaanisqatsi (1983). If The Primal Urge of Evil hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedKoyaanisqatsi (1983)7.9/10 from 814 votes
- NewestBOOTSTRAPS (2026)Released 2026
Blue (1993)
Against a plain, unchanging blue screen, a densely interwoven soundtrack of voices, sound effects and music attempt to convey a portrait of Derek Jarman's experiences with AIDS, both literally and allegorically, together with an exploration of the meanings associated with the colour blue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMad God (2021)
A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisDestino (2003)
Short film to a song of love lost and rediscovered, a woman sees and undergoes surreal transformations. Her lover's face melts off, she dons a dress from the shadow of a bell and becomes a dandelion, ants crawl out of a hand and become Frenchmen riding bicycles. Not to mention the turtles with faces on their backs that collide to form a ballerina, or the bizarre baseball game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSymbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot the exchange, and another camera records Greaves and his crew. Sometimes we watch the crew discussing this scene, its language, and the process of making a movie. Is there such a thing as natural language? Are all things related to sex? The camera records distractions - a woman rides horseback past them; a garrulous homeless vet who sleeps in the park chats them up. What's the nature of making a movie?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnthinkable (2010)
The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVery Nice, Very Nice (1961)
Arthur Lipsett's first film is an avant-garde blend of photography and sound. It looks behind the business-as-usual face we put on life and shows anxieties we want to forget. It is made of dozens of pictures that seem familiar, with fragments of speech heard in passing and, between times, a voice saying, "Very nice, very nice." The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNaqoyqatsi (2002)
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIt's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVampir Cuadecuc (1972)
An atmospheric essay, which is an alternative version of Count Dracula, a film directed by Jess Franco in 1970; a ghostly narration between fiction and reality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTupac: Resurrection (2003)
Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTwenty One Pilots: Livestream Experience (2021)
A one-night livestream concert performed by Twenty One Pilots on May 21, 2021, introducing their newest album "Scaled and Icy".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCurve (2016)
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOne More Time with Feeling (2016)
Andrew Dominik's One More Time With Feeling is a remarkable black and white documentary which chronicles the creation of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' album Skeleton Tree. Originally a performance based concept, the film evolved into something much more significant as Dominik delved into the tragic backdrop of the writing and recording of the album. The result is stark, fragile and raw, and a true testament to an artist trying to find his way through the darkness. It documents the writing, recording and performing of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ sixteenth studio album, Skeleton Tree.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLava (2015)
Inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes, Lava is a musical love story that takes place over millions of years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Turin Horse (2011)
A look at the monotonous daily struggle of a father and daughter in a windswept, desolate landscape. Over six days, their routine of eating boiled potatoes and tending a failing horse crumbles, symbolizing a slow descent into darkness, emptiness, and the end of existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisProject Almanac (2015)
A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle for Terra (2007)
A peaceful alien planet faces annihilation, as the homeless remainder of the human race sets its eyes on Terra. Mala, a rebellious Terrian teenager, will do everything she can to stop it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRhythm (1934)
A comfortable rhythm composed of light and shadow. Director Ogino-style absolute movie which freely manipulates geometric figures.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
multiverse (2019)
A crowd moving in one direction.People who flow in a moment. A scene where the difference with other people disappears and looks uniform. There are many different kinds of life there. You can feel invisible energy when you see a large mass of individuals. I set myself in the streets of Taiwan, and I multilayered a lot of time to create a new timeline that reflects individuals.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dance of the Eternal (2025)
A young girl is born into an enchanting yet complex world where she must make the crucial decision to follow the path of an angel or a demon, two forces mercilessly competing for her attention, set to the music of Mahler's Eighth Symphony.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
BOOTSTRAPS (2026)
Alone. Empty. Followed. How fast does fear make you run?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
PXXXL (2012)
Using century old technology, PXXXL creates digital glitch from analog process. It was animated directly on the celluloid without a camera, in a darkroom, using lights, objects, and handmade lenses. There is no digital manipulation involved-- just light, celluloid, and processing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Haelgung - Rea (TBA)
The „Haelgung“ films are charmingly impressionistic diary entries, crafted as mini homages to my closest friends, captured with a delightful lack of planning or structure and edited in camera.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Scenes from an Island (2022)
Hand-edited Lomokino 35mm footage captures scenes from an island, blending shifting textures with guitars and watery drones. A visual and sonic meditation on place and transience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Peregrine (2021)
A dedicated bird watcher observes a hawk and journeys to the limits of what it means to be human.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Kill Your TV: Jim Moir’s Weird World of Video Art (2019)
Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves) explores Video Art, revealing how different generations ‘hacked’ the tools of television to pioneer new ways of creating art that can be beautiful, bewildering and wildly experimental.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Megalópolis (2019)
Experimental short, soundtrack of someone coughing and grasping for air, manipulated images of lung scans.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Primal Urge of Evil?
The closest matches to The Primal Urge of Evil are Blue (1993), Mad God (2021) and Koyaanisqatsi (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Primal Urge of Evil?
Start with Blue (1993), the closest match to The Primal Urge of Evil.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Primal Urge of Evil?
Koyaanisqatsi (1983), rated 7.9/10 by 814 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Primal Urge of Evil?
BOOTSTRAPS (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Primal Urge of Evil chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Primal Urge of Evil, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.