Movies like The Ghost in the Shell (2026)
The best movies like The Ghost in the Shell (2026) are Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021), Battle Angel (1993) and Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011). If The Ghost in the Shell hooked you with its animation and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSpirited Away (2001)8.5/10 from 19,198 votes
- NewestGhost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021)Released 2021
- In JapaneseGhost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021)Also in Japanese
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021)
In the year 2045, after an economic disaster known as the Synchronized Global Default, rapid developments in AI propelled the world to enter a state of "Sustainable War". However, the public is not aware of the threat that AI has towards the human race. A compilation film with newly added footage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle Angel (1993)
In his travels as a bounty hunter, Hunter–Warrior and cyborg healer Ido one day discovers and repairs the remnants of a cyborg whom he names Gally. Though possessing the body of a young woman, Gally now embodies Ido's most sophisticated and lethal cybernetic skills. The preternaturally strong, amnesiac Gally begins to forge a life for herself in a world where every day is a struggle for survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011)
Rescued by Doctor Easter from a deadly assault on their headquarters by Dimsdale Boiled, Rune Balot finds temporary shelter in "Paradise," a high-tech laboratory where the Scramble 09 protocol originated. While the severely injured Oeufcoque regenerates in a healing vat, Rune struggles to find the answers within herself that will let her equally injured psyche find some measure of peace. But as the search for clues to the location of Shell's hidden memories continues, Boiled finds them again, and Rune and the Doctor decide it's time to carry the war to the enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - Individual Eleven (2006)
The year is 2030, and an influx of refuges have effortlessly transformed themselves into a terrorist organization known as the "Individual Eleven." With a sadistic intent of mass destruction, will they triumph in victory or discover the gloomy pitfalls of defeat?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 4: Ghost Stands Alone (2014)
The upcoming installment's story takes place amidst signs of postwar reconstruction in the winter of 2028. Tensions are rising in New Port City as demonstrations are held concerning the interests of foreign cartels. This leads to a shooting incident involving riot police. It all started with a cyberbrain infection released by the terrorist "Fire Starter." An independent offensive unit led by Makoto Kusanagi entrusts the suppression of the situation to their ghosts and aims for their own justice. Below the surface of the incident, lies the "tin girl" Emma and the "scarecrow man" Burinda Junior. As Kusanagi deals with the incident, she draws near to what those two ghosts were seeking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (2007)
The story takes place in the year 2034, two years after the events in Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG. Female cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi has left Public Security Section 9, an elite counter-terrorist and anti-crime unit specializing in cyber-warfare, which has expanded to a team of 20 field operatives with Togusa acting as the field lead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell 2.0 (2008)
In the year 2029, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell (1995)
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAltered Carbon: Resleeved (2020)
On the planet Latimer, Takeshi Kovacs must protect a tattooist while investigating the death of a yakuza boss alongside a no-nonsense CTAC.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 3: Ghost Tears (2014)
Posing as lovers on vacation, Motoko and Batou work to try to stop a terrorist organization whose symbol is the Scrasath. Meanwhile, Togusa investigates a murder of a man who possessed a prosthetic leg manufactured by the Mermaid's Leg corporation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
Cyborg detective Batou is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by gynoids—doll-like cyborgs, which all malfunctioned, killed, then self-destructed afterwards. The brains of the gynoids initialize in order to protect their manufacturer's software, but in one gynoid, which Batou himself neutralized, one file remains: a voice speaking the phrase "Help me."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man (2005)
The year is 2030 and six years have passed since a criminal known only as "The Laughing Man" swept through top medical nanotechnology firms committing acts of cyber-terrorism, kidnapping, and espionage leaving no known suspects. New information is revealed, as Section 9 enters the hunt for a suspect capable of unfathomable actions in this compilation of Stand Alone Complex content.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain (2013)
The story is set in 2027, one year after the end of the fourth non-nuclear war. New Port City is still reeling from the war's aftermath when it suffers a bombing caused by a self-propelled mine. Then, a military member implicated in arms-dealing bribes is gunned down. During the investigation, Public Security Section's Daisuke Aramaki encounters Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg, wizard-level hacker assigned to the military's 501st Secret Unit. Batou, a man with the "eye that does not sleep," suspects that Kusanagi is the one behind the bombing. The Niihama Prefectural Police detective Togusa is pursuing his own dual cases of the shooting death and a prostitute's murder. Motoko herself is being watched by the 501st Secret Unit's head Kurutsu and cyborg agents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGhost in the Shell: Arise - Border 2: Ghost Whispers (2013)
Freed of her responsibilities with the 501 Organization, Motoko Kusanagi must now learn how to take orders from Aramaki. Someone hacks the Logicomas, and Batou enlists the help of former army intelligence officer Ishikawa and former air artillery expert Borma. Kusanagi also seeks to enlist ace sniper Saito and undercover cop Paz into the new Public Security Section 9.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel (2013)
A side story of the original Kara no Kyōkai - the Garden of sinners movie series divided into 2 parts. In the first part, Shizune Seo, who finds her life too predictable due to her precognition, and Mitsuru Kamekura, who uses his precognition to be a professional bomber, meet Mikiya and Shiki, respectively, and their futures begin to change. In the second part, 10 years after the original series, Shiki and Mikiya's daughter, Mana Ryōgi, spends a day with Mitsuru.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNeon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisNeon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (1997)
Originally a collection of clips from the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, Death was created as a precursor to the re-worked ending of the series. Rebirth was intended as that re-worked ending, but after production overruns Rebirth became only the first half of the first part of The End of Evangelion, with some minor differences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEVANGELION: DEATH (TRUE)² (1998)
A highly experimental film presenting a story out of chronological order taking place 15 years after a near-apocalyptic catastrophe, about four traumatized 14 year olds who are tasked with piloting massive humanoid decisive weapons called Evangelion, the psychologically maladjusted adults who handle and command them, and the events and forces that affect them or which they take part in as they engage massive hostile invaders known as "Angels."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMardock Scramble: The First Compression (2010)
Rune Ballot is a down-and-out teen prostitute in Mardock City. One day, she's picked up by an ambitious casino manager named Shell who gives her everything she could want. Renewed by a false innocence, a false past, and now the false life Shell has given her, Ballot feels grateful. However, she can't help but be curious about why he's done so much for her, so she does some research about his past on a computer. This turns out to be a mistake which will change her life greatly. When Shell finds out what she's done, he attempts to burn her to death by blowing up her car.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like this009-1: The End of the Beginning (2013)
In a universe where the Cold War never ended and growing conflicts result in the rapid advancement of technological warfare, the cyborg spy Mylene Hoffman of the 00 Organization battles the agents of the Eastern block in a game of high tech espionage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisAkira (1988)
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: Invasion!! Alien Shiriri (2017)
When the mysterious Shiriri turns his parents into children, Shin-chan must trek across Japan to help return them to adult form.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAppleseed XIII: Tartaros (2011)
Following World War V, a global-scale conflict fought with non-nuclear weapons that almost halved the earth's population, the city-nation of Olympus stands as a beacon of hope in a world of chaos.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & animation
Gundam: Mission to the Rise (1998)
Gundam Mission to the Rise is a short CGI movie with a duration of 5 minutes directed by Katsuhiro Otomo aired during the Gundam Big Bang Project event (August 1998). The story is settled in the Universal Century, although it's not completely clear whether in late years (after 0093) or in an alternative UC timeline.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & animation
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWarriors of the Wind (1984)
After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Simpsons Movie (2007)
After Homer accidentally pollutes the town's water supply, Springfield is encased in a gigantic dome by the EPA and the Simpsons are declared fugitives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpirited Away (2001)
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Terminator (1984)
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Ghost in the Shell?
The closest matches to The Ghost in the Shell are Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021), Battle Angel (1993) and Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Ghost in the Shell?
Start with Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021), the closest match to The Ghost in the Shell.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Ghost in the Shell?
Spirited Away (2001), rated 8.5/10 by 19,198 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Ghost in the Shell?
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Ghost in the Shell?
Yes: Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War (2021), Battle Angel (1993) and Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (2011).
How are movies similar to The Ghost in the Shell chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Ghost in the Shell, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.