Movies like First Man (2018)
The best movies like First Man (2018) are Apollo 11 (2019), Apollo 13 (1995) and Gravity (2013). If First Man hooked you with its history and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedProject Hail Mary (2026)8.6/10 from 8,753 votes
- NewestTenzing (2026)Released 2026
Apollo 11 (2019)
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisApollo 13 (1995)
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGravity (2013)
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Right Stuff (1983)
At the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Spacewalker (2017)
March 1965. In the heat of the Cold War, the USA and the USSR are competing for supremacy in space. What both superpowers aim for in this race, is to be the first to have a man walk in outer space. To accomplish that, no price is too high and no risk is too great. Now it’s up to the unlikely duo of a seasoned war veteran and a hot-headed test-pilot to fulfill this mission. Two men in a tiny spaceship, without proper testing, facing the complete unknown. They were supposed to do what no man has done before—and no man imagined what would happen next.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Million Miles Away (2023)
The life of engineer and former NASA astronaut José M. Hernández, the first migrant farmworker to go to space.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisApproaching the Unknown (2016)
Captain William Stanaforth is on a one-way solo mission to take the first steps in colonising Mars. Like all pioneers throughout history, Stanaforth will face insurmountable odds and life and death decisions as he rockets bravely through space.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisStowaway (2021)
A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpace Cowboys (2000)
Frank Corvin, ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and ‘Tank’ Sullivan were hotdog members of Project Daedalus, the US Air Force's test program for space travel, but their hopes were dashed in 1958 with the formation of NASA and the use of trained chimps. They blackmail their way into orbit when Russia's mysterious ‘Ikon’ communications satellite's orbit begins to degrade and threatens to crash to Earth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSolaris (2002)
A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCapsule (2016)
1959: Guy is an experienced British fighter pilot who is in command of Britain's first manned mission to space. He has trained for this for three years at the height of the Cold War and now he is alone in space, suffering Hypoxia, with a malfunctioning capsule. He has limited contact with the UK, some unusual communication with the US and some unorthodox communication with Tyuratam deep in Soviet Russia. Can he get home? Who will help him? Will he make the right choice?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Martian (2015)
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHidden Figures (2016)
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Astronaut Farmer (2007)
Texan Charles Farmer left the Air Force as a young man to save the family ranch when his dad died. Like most American ranchers, he owes his bank. Unlike most, he's an astrophysicist with a rocket in his barn - one he's built and wants to take into space. It's his dream. The FBI puts him under surveillance when he tries to buy rocket fuel, and the FAA stalls him when he files a flight plan – but Charles is undeterred.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Moon (2023)
In 2029, Korea's lunar probe Woori embarks on a historic journey to the moon, capturing global attention.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisProject Hail Mary (2026)
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisInterstellar (2014)
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFord v Ferrari (2019)
American car designer Carroll Shelby and the British-born driver Ken Miles work together to battle corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSalyut-7 (2017)
USSR, June 1985. After contact with the Salyut 7 space station is lost, cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh dock with the empty, frozen craft, and bring her back to life. Based on actual events.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Challenger Disaster (2013)
When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, it was the most shocking event in the history of American spaceflight. The deaths of seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, were watched live on television by millions of viewers. But what was more shocking was that the cause of the disaster might never be uncovered. The Challenger is the story of how Richard Feynman, one of America's most famous scientists, helped to discover the cause of a tragedy that stunned America.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisProxima (2019)
Sarah is a French astronaut training at the European Space Agency in Cologne. She is the only woman in the arduous program. She lives alone with Stella, her seven year old daughter. Sarah feels guilty that she cannot spend more time with her child. Her love is overpowering, unsettling. When Sarah is chosen to join the crew of a year-long space mission called Proxima, it creates chaos in the mother-daughter relationship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSully (2016)
On 15 January 2009, the world witnessed the 'Miracle on the Hudson' when Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger glided his disabled plane onto the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and career.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThirteen Days (2000)
The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTenzing (2026)
A determined man embarks on a high-stakes quest—and defies seemingly impossible odds—to fulfill his dream of being the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOctober Sky (1999)
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTesla (2020)
The story of the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology—including his own previous work—by pioneering a system of wireless energy that would change the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMission to Mars (2000)
When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpaceman (2024)
Six months into a solo mission, a lonely astronaut confronts the cracks in his marriage with help from a mysterious creature he discovers on his ship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend (2022)
Follow the launch of Lamborghini’s career as a manufacturer of tractors, a creator of military vehicles during World War II, and the designer of Lamborghini cars, which he launched in 1963 as the high-end sports car company Automobili Lamborghini.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like First Man and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like First Man?
The closest matches to First Man are Apollo 11 (2019), Apollo 13 (1995) and Gravity (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after First Man?
People who watched First Man most often go on to Apollo 11 (2019), Apollo 13 (1995) and Gravity (2013).
What is the highest-rated movie like First Man?
Project Hail Mary (2026), rated 8.6/10 by 8,753 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like First Man?
Tenzing (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like First Man?
Yes: Apollo 11 (2019), Apollo 13 (1995) and Gravity (2013).
How are movies similar to First Man chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside First Man, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.