Movies like Expansion (1973)
The best movies like Expansion (1973) are Unidentified Flying Mater (2009), Cat Soup (2001) and Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026). If Expansion 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 ratedOnce Upon a Studio (2023)8.3/10 from 457 votes
- NewestCosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseCat Soup (2001)Also in Japanese
Unidentified Flying Mater (2009)
Mater finds a small UFO called Mator and they have a night out. Later, when Mator is captured by military forces, Mater sneaks up and saves him with the help of Lightning McQueen and the UFO's mother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCat Soup (2001)
The surreal black comedy follows Nyatta, an anthropomorphic kitten, on his travel to the land of the dead and back in an effort to save his sister's soul.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026)
Iroha's life gets knocked off its orbit when Kaguya, a carefree runaway from the Moon, moves in and convinces her to perform in a virtual world together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 · both animation & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomeone's Gaze (2013)
Aya Okamura has been working for two years and has begun living on her own for a job opportunity. With her mother working overseas as a doctor, her father is now living alone with the family's longtime pet cat Mii-san. One night, Aya returns from a long day at work, and as she rests on her bed, she reminiscences about the times the family had together. She remembers the sadness she felt when her mom went overseas, and the solace she felt when her father brought home Mii-san to give her comfort. Then, she receives a phone call.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYo-kai Watch: The Movie - The Great Adventure of the Flying Whale & the Double World, Meow! (2016)
A giant whale appears and flies above Sakura New Town. With the whale’s sound of crying, some changes occur to Kenta Amano and Yokai.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSing: Thriller (2024)
Buster Moon dreams up a star-studded spectacle set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in this animated short featuring characters from the hit "Sing" films.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe House (2022)
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHawaiian Vacation (2011)
The toys throw Ken and Barbie a Hawaiian vacation in Bonnie's room.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisArctic Dogs (2019)
Animals band together to save the day when the evil Otto Von Walrus hatches a sinister scheme to accelerate global warming and melt the Arctic Circle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
SnoozefestMovies like thisSummer Ghost (2021)
An urban legend says that lighting fireworks at an abandoned airfield will beckon the "summer ghost," a spirit that can answer any question. Three teenagers, Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo, each have their own reason to show up one day. When a ghost named Ayane appears, she reveals she is only visible to those "who are about to touch their death." Compelled by the ghost and her message, Tomoya begins regularly visiting the airfield to uncover the true purpose of her visits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: My Moving Story! Cactus Attack! (2015)
The Noharas must survive a hoard of man-eating killer cacti after Shin-chan's father relocates the family to Mexico for work.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOnce Upon a Studio (2023)
Created for Disney's 100th anniversary, the short features Mickey Mouse corralling a gallery of legendary Disney characters for a group photo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTome of the Unknown (2013)
Wirt and Gregory are brothers who get tired of walking, so, they borrow a car from a romantic songster made of vegetables.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMinions & More Volume 1 (2022)
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPikachu's Vacation (1998)
Pikachu and the gang learn responsibility, teamwork as well as cooperation during their Summer vacation at Pokemon Island.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMater and the Ghostlight (2006)
Mater, the rusty but trusty tow truck from Cars, spends a day in Radiator Springs playing scary pranks on his fellow townsfolk. That night at Flo's V8 Café, the Sheriff tells the story of the legend of the Ghostlight, and as everyone races home Mater is left alone primed for a good old-fashioned scare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both animation
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 · both animation
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe House That Jack Built (1976)
Story about the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Electric Eye (2021)
An experimental short film, shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, made by one person. Using recorded scenes and archival footage, the short presents an unorthodox narrative to explore the themes of self-identification, identity, gender expression and androgyny.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Bearpuncher (2022)
Bearpuncher, a mountaineer with a monstrous curse, aims her ursine fist towards all that may threaten the safety of the Smoky Mountains. But when she discovers a destroyed lab while tracking a mysterious wildfire, she stumbles into a conflict she can’t punch her way out of.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The Statue of Giordano Bruno (2005)
This film was made out of the capture of a live animation performance presented in Rome in January 2005 by Pierre Hébert and the musician Bob Ostertag. It is based on live action shooting done that same afternoon on the Campo dei Fiori where the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned by the Inquisition in 1600. A commemorative statue was erected in the 19th century, that somberly dominate the market held everyday on the piazza. The film is about the resurgence of the past in this place where normal daily activities go on imperturbably. The capture of the performance was reworked, shortened and complemented with more studio performances.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Kalashtar (2022)
The story spins around a frustrated unemployed youth who manages to get a parttime job , where he gets stirred up by a stranger who orders him to do an illegal activity , that makes a major change in his life in a not so good manner , did he manages to break his shackles ?!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The ErlKing (2003)
This animated short is a visual representation of Goethe's poem, The ErlKing that uses sand-on-glass animation set to the music of Franz Schubert. The moving images, resembling woodcuts, capture the haunting, nightmarish quality of the tale of the ErlKing who steals and kills a little boy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
The End of the Crisis (2010)
Susanne is called to her boss's office. There she drinks from a cup containing a paralyzing liquid. When Susanne regains consciousness, she has already become a will-less, controllable puppet of the system.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Growth Vitamin (1988)
The teacher at school made a scientific experiment - he put two rats in different cages. One of the rats was given carrots containing vitamin of growth, and the other did not feed. Time passed, and the rat, to whom nothing was given, became thicker than the rat that was fed. It turned out that one student from pity fed another rat.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
NO LITTERING (2013)
While enjoying a date in a park, a man carelessly tosses an empty bottle onto the ground. His selfish littering promptly summons an imposing figure wearing a white hockey mask. The gruesome events that follow tell an admonishing tale about the importance of preserving the outdoors and defending the environment from the ugly menace of litter. The short was made for the tve YouTube Relay project, but wasn't included because it's too violent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both animation
Last Train Out (TBA)
In a Dystopian future a long time imprisoned dissident escapes captivity. In one cold dark night, wounded, pursued he tries to reclaim as much of his former life as possible, before trying to catch the last train out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Expansion?
The closest matches to Expansion are Unidentified Flying Mater (2009), Cat Soup (2001) and Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Expansion?
Start with Unidentified Flying Mater (2009), the closest match to Expansion.
What is the highest-rated movie like Expansion?
Once Upon a Studio (2023), rated 8.3/10 by 457 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Expansion?
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Expansion?
Yes: Cat Soup (2001), Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (2026) and Someone's Gaze (2013).
How are movies similar to Expansion chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Expansion, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.