Movies like Contagion (2011)
The best movies like Contagion (2011) are The Andromeda Strain (1971), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). If Contagion hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFinch (2021)7.8/10 from 4,283 votes
- NewestSalaam Venky (2022)Released 2022
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those who have harmed him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSleep Dealer (2008)
Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisTranscendence (2014)
Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Core (2003)
Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes discovers that an unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating. With the planet's magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, our atmosphere literally starts to come apart at the seams with catastrophic consequences. To resolve the crisis, Keyes, along with a team of the world's most gifted scientists, travel into the earth's core. Their mission: detonate a device that will reactivate the core.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Resistance builds in numbers as humans are freed from the Matrix and brought to the city of Zion. Neo discovers his superpowers, including the ability to see the code inside the Matrix. With machine sentinels digging to Zion in 72 hours, Neo, Morpheus and Trinity must find the Keymaker to ultimately reach the Source.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTerminator Genisys (2015)
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGeostorm (2017)
After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWar for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Day After Tomorrow (2004)
After paleoclimatologist Jack Hall is largely ignored by UN officials when presenting his environmental concerns about the beginning of a new Ice Age, his research proves true when a superstorm develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam, who is trapped in New York City with his friend Laura and others, Jack and his crew must travel to get to Sam before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLight of My Life (2019)
Years after a pandemic wipes out most of the female population, a father struggles to shield his daughter from a dangerous and predatory world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFinch (2021)
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGemini Man (2019)
Henry Brogan is an elite 51-year-old assassin who's ready to call it quits after completing his 72nd job. His plans get turned upside down when he becomes the target of a mysterious operative who can seemingly predict his every move. To his horror, Brogan soon learns that the man who's trying to kill him is a younger, faster, cloned version of himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMax Winslow and The House of Secrets (2020)
Five teenagers compete to win a mansion owned by entrepreneur and scientist Atticus Virtue. To win the teens must face-off against a super computer named HAVEN who controls the mansion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
To prevent a world war from breaking out, famous characters from Victorian literature band together to do battle against a cunning villain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSelf/less (2015)
An extremely wealthy elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body's origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAutomata (2014)
Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDark Waters (2019)
A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMars Attacks! (1996)
A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArmageddon (1998)
When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Horror of Party Beach (1964)
Radioactive waste dumped off the coastline creates mutant monsters. The beasts attack slumber parties, beaches, tourists, and terrorize a waterfront community as a scientist, his daughter, her boyfriend and the local police try to find a way to stop them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhy did I write the Bible (2017)
Francis, a man in his sixties, is found in a diving suit, swimming in a river in the city center. Even his children, accustomed to their father's escapades, are surprised: since Francis knows he is condemned, it seems really unmanageable. Samuel and his sister must therefore find a way to accompany him at any cost.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Salaam Venky (2022)
Sujata, an ideal mother, who battles the most challenging situations one can ever face with a smile.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
The story of a New York pro baseball team and two of its players. Henry Wiggen is the star pitcher and Bruce Pearson is the normal, everyday catcher who is far from the star player on the team and friend to all of his teammates. During the off-season, Bruce learns that he is terminally ill, and Henry, his only true friend, is determined to be the one person there for him during his last season with the club. Throughout the course of the season, Henry and his teammates attempt to deal with Bruce's impending illness, all the while attempting to make his last year a memorable one.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScream and Scream Again (1970)
A serial killer stalks and drains the blood of women in London, eventually leading police to the countryside, where eccentric Dr Browning harvests body parts and constructs composite artificial humans as part of a twisted experiment to create a superior race.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Escape (1914)
A dramatic comparison between the mating habits of animals and the way humans choose their own partners. The film is now considered to be a lost film.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Black Holes: The Edge of All We Know (2020)
Black holes stand at the limit of what we can know. To explore that edge of knowledge, the Event Horizon Telescope links observatories across the world to simulate an earth-sized instrument. With this tool the team pursues the first-ever picture of a black hole, resulting in an image seen by billions of people in April 2019. Meanwhile, Hawking and his team attack the black hole paradox at the heart of theoretical physics—Do predictive laws still function, even in these massive distortions of space and time? Weaving them together is a third strand, philosophical and exploratory using expressive animation. “Edge” is about practicing science at the highest level, a film where observation, theory, and philosophy combine to grasp these most mysterious objects.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Creeping Flesh (1973)
A Victorian scientist returns to London with his paleontological bag-of-bones discovery from Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, when exposed to water, flesh returns to the bones, unleashing a malevolent entity on the scientist's family and friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Contagion?
The closest matches to Contagion are The Andromeda Strain (1971), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Contagion?
Start with The Andromeda Strain (1971), the closest match to Contagion.
What is the highest-rated movie like Contagion?
Finch (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 4,283 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Contagion?
Salaam Venky (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Contagion?
Yes: The Andromeda Strain (1971), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).
How are movies similar to Contagion chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Contagion, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.