Movies like We Who Stayed Behind (2008)
The best movies like We Who Stayed Behind (2008) are War of the Worlds (2005), iBoy (2017) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011). If We Who Stayed Behind hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFight Club (1999)8.4/10 from 33,305 votes
- NewestThe Friend (2025)Released 2025
War of the Worlds (2005)
Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisiBoy (2017)
After an accident, Tom wakes from a coma to discover that fragments of his smart phone have been embedded in his head, and worse, that returning to normal teenage life is impossible because he has developed a strange set of super powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
A year after his father's death, Oskar, a troubled young boy, discovers a mysterious key he believes was left for him by his father and embarks on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Scanner Darkly (2006)
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChinese Coffee (2000)
When Harry Levine, an aging, unsuccessful Greenwich Village writer, is fired from his job as restaurant doorman, he calls on friend and mentor Jake, ostensibly to collect a long-standing debt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrain on Fire (2017)
Susannah Cahalan, an up-and-coming journalist at the New York Post becomes plagued by voices in her head and seizures, causing a rapid descent into insanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThree Days of the Condor (1975)
When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFallen (2016)
Lucinda Price is sent to a reform academy under the assumption that she has killed a boy. There, she meets two mysterious boys, Cam and Daniel, to whom she feels drawn to both. But as the love triangle unfurls, it is Daniel that Luce cannot keep herself away from, and things begin to take a darker turn when she finds out his true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpider-Man (2002)
After being bitten by a genetically altered spider at Oscorp, nerdy but endearing high school student Peter Parker is endowed with amazing powers to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe King's Man (2021)
As a collection of history's worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll the Bright Places (2020)
Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am Legend (2007)
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFight Club (1999)
A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Friend (2025)
New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSamaritan (2022)
Thirteen year old Sam Cleary suspects that his mysteriously reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith is actually the legendary vigilante Samaritan, who was reported dead 25 years ago. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hate U Give (2018)
Raised in a poverty-stricken slum, a 16-year-old girl named Starr now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shoot her unarmed best friend, she's torn between her two very different worlds as she tries to speak her truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSimon Birch (1998)
Simon Birch and Joe Wenteworth are boys who have a reputation for being oddballs. Joe never knew his father, and his mother, Rebecca, is keeping her lips sealed no matter how much he protests. Simon, meanwhile, is an 11-year-old dwarf whose outsize personality belies his small stature. Indeed, he often assails the local reverend with thorny theological questions and joins Joe on his quest to find his biological father.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassing (2021)
In 1920s New York City, a Black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who's passing as white.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Different Man (2024)
Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like We Who Stayed Behind?
The closest matches to We Who Stayed Behind are War of the Worlds (2005), iBoy (2017) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after We Who Stayed Behind?
Start with War of the Worlds (2005), the closest match to We Who Stayed Behind.
What is the highest-rated movie like We Who Stayed Behind?
Fight Club (1999), rated 8.4/10 by 33,305 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like We Who Stayed Behind?
The Friend (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to We Who Stayed Behind chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside We Who Stayed Behind, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.