Movies like Capsule (2016)
The best movies like Capsule (2016) are Retroactive (1997), Extinction (2018) and The Quiet Earth (1985). If Capsule hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFail Safe (1964)7.8/10 from 515 votes
- NewestRage of Stars (2026)Released 2026
Retroactive (1997)
A psychiatrist makes multiple trips through time to save a woman that was murdered by her brutal husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExtinction (2018)
A chief mechanic at a factory, haunted by apocalyptic nightmares, becomes a hero when Earth is invaded by a mysterious army bent on destruction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiet Earth (1985)
After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEuropa Report (2013)
A crew travels to Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, to investigate signs of life in its subsurface ocean, but disaster cuts them off from Earth, leading to a tense and dangerous exploration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKursk (2018)
Barents Sea, August 12th, 2000. During a Russian naval exercise, and after suffering a serious accident, the K-141 Kursk submarine sinks with 118 crew members on board. While the few sailors who are still alive barely manage to survive, their families push for accurate information and a British officer struggles to obtain from the Russian government a permit to attempt a rescue before it is late. But general incompetence are against all their efforts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSerenity (2005)
A group of rebels travel the outskirts of space evading the sinister Alliance regime. Their lives of smuggling and cargo-running are interrupted by a psychic passenger who harbours a dangerous secret. Soon, the crew find themselves being pursued by an Alliance agent who will stop at nothing to find them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Abyss (1989)
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRage of Stars (2026)
A story about a woman from the International Special Forces Unit, who has a premonition about the impending end of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisProximity (2020)
A young NASA JPL scientist is abducted by extraterrestrials but when no one believes his story he becomes obsessed with finding proof which leads him on a journey of discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnter Nowhere (2015)
Three strangers arrive one by one to a mysterious cabin in the middle of nowhere after enduring separate life-altering predicaments. Searching for a way out of the woods, frustrated, hungry and battling to stay warm they discover their mysterious connection and realize what they have to do in order to get out of the woods alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Angel (1990)
Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. While involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner is killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFirefox (1982)
The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called 'Firefox'. Worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon—as there are rumours that it is undetectable by radar—the British send ex-Vietnam War pilot, Mitchell Gant on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal the Firefox.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisExecutive Decision (1996)
Terrorists hijack a 747 inbound to Washington D.C., demanding the release of their imprisoned leader. Intelligence expert David Grant suspects another reason and he is soon the reluctant member of a special assault team that is assigned to intercept the plane and hijackers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFail Safe (1964)
Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLockout (2012)
Set in the near future, Lockout follows a falsely convicted ex-government agent , whose one chance at obtaining freedom lies in the dangerous mission of rescuing the President's daughter from rioting convicts at an outer space maximum security prison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisSphere (1998)
A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSwan Song (2021)
In the near future, Cameron Turner is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Presented with an experimental solution to shield his wife and son from grief, he grapples with altering their fate in this thought-provoking exploration of love, loss, and sacrifice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBody of Lies (2008)
The CIA’s hunt is on for the mastermind of a wave of terrorist attacks. Roger Ferris is the agency’s man on the ground, moving from place to place, scrambling to stay ahead of ever-shifting events. An eye in the sky – a satellite link – watches Ferris. At the other end of that real-time link is the CIA’s Ed Hoffman, strategizing events from thousands of miles away. And as Ferris nears the target, he discovers trust can be just as dangerous as it is necessary for survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnderground (1970)
An American intelligence agent attempts to kidnap a top Nazi general.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Little Nikita (1988)
An FBI agent works to uncover an all-American family as Soviet sleeper agents, and gets caught up in friendship with their oblivious teenage son.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSet Fire to the Stars (2014)
An aspiring poet in 1950s New York has his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Frank and Ava (2018)
A destitute Frank Sinatra pursues sultry starlet Ava Gardner while campaigning for the lead in 'From Here to Eternity'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Deep Impact (1998)
A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it's up to the president of the United States to save the world. He appoints a tough-as-nails veteran astronaut to lead a joint American-Russian crew into space to destroy the comet before impact. Meanwhile, an enterprising reporter uses her smarts to uncover the scoop of the century.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiet American (2002)
Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Planet (2000)
Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisVoyager 1 (2024)
Under the supervision of the tyrannous ruler Supremo, a fleet of aliens responsible for the creation of the universe conduct their daily work around the Milky Way. Among them is a curious alien called Melius, who dreams of leaving their weary job as a star polisher to explore distant planets. When the space probe ‘Voyager 1’ crashes into their ship, Melius sees their chance of escaping using the probe’s coordinates for planet Earth. What follows is an adventure full of extraordinary surprises and new friends, where our hero will be forced to choose between duty and love, their teachings and beliefs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Critters 4 (1992)
A super strain of genetically engineered mutants are designed to take over the universe, hungry to conquer the galaxy, with an appetite for mankind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like this
Like Capsule and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Capsule?
The closest matches to Capsule are Retroactive (1997), Extinction (2018) and The Quiet Earth (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Capsule?
Start with Retroactive (1997), the closest match to Capsule.
What is the highest-rated movie like Capsule?
Fail Safe (1964), rated 7.8/10 by 515 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Capsule?
Rage of Stars (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Capsule?
Yes: Retroactive (1997), Extinction (2018) and The Quiet Earth (1985).
How are movies similar to Capsule chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Capsule, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.