Movies like Hotaru (2016)
The best movies like Hotaru (2016) are Ghost Recon: Alpha (2012), Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006) and Code 8 Part II (2024). If Hotaru hooked you with its science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDoctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006)7.8/10 from 255 votes
- NewestAfterburn (2025)Released 2025
- In FrenchSurvive (2024)Also in French
Ghost Recon: Alpha (2012)
Ghost Recon: Alpha sees a team led by Ghost Leader infiltrate a trade at a Russian depot between a general and a mysterious other figure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006)
A young bride in the midst of her wedding finds herself mysteriously transported to the TARDIS. The Doctor must discover what her connection is with the Empress of the Racnoss's plan to destroy the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCode 8 Part II (2024)
In a world where superpowered people are heavily policed by robots, an ex-con teams up with a drug lord he despises to protect a teen from a corrupt cop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Time for Nuts (2006)
Scrat comes across a time machine and is transported to various times all in pursuit of his beloved acorn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSurvive (2024)
A couple celebrates their son’s birthday in the middle of the ocean on their boat. A violent storm hits and it brings up hungry creatures from the depths and they fight for their survival.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuperintelligence (2020)
When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study the most average person on Earth, Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisSpring (2014)
A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScrat: Spaced Out (2016)
In the main events of Ice Age: Collision Course, Scrat is captured by Scratazons who take away his acorn. Now, Scrat must rescue his Acorn and escape before the aliens can catch him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wave (2019)
A man on the verge of a promotion takes a mysterious hallucinogenic drug that begins to tear down his reality and expose his life for what it really is.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
After being punished for retreat from combat, Ranger David Martel is given command of the Liandra, a haunted 20-year old Minbari fighting ship. He's escorting ambassadors to a secret archaeological site, the oldest city on record and a clue to a dangerous ancient race.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien: Containment (2019)
Aboard a small escape pod, four survivors try to discover what caused the destruction of their spaceship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel One-Shot: Item 47 (2012)
Benny and Claire, a down-on-their-luck couple, find a discarded Chitauri weapon referred to as 'Item 47'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Last Christmas (2014)
The Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas. Trapped on an Arctic base, under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZygote (2017)
The two remaining crew members of a mining operation in the Arctic Circle fight to survive against an alien creature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Night of the Doctor (2013)
The Doctor struggles to help the only remaining crewmember of a crashing gunship. The people of the planet below offer to save his life, but at a dear cost to the life he's lived for hundreds of years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSpectral (2016)
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien: Specimen (2019)
During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElectric 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
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 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
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
Wasteland (2021)
Follows the quiet day of a lonely young girl who tries to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Outbreak Generation (2017)
In the midst of a global epidemic, Annie finds herself the sole carer of her eight-year-old nephew, but he has questions only a mother can answer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Meet Parker (2018)
In a near future where a simulation determines couples' eligibility to have children, one reserved father struggles to take care of his potential child.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Fish Out Of Water (2019)
Anxious about a new school and his relationship to his brother, a boy with Cerebral Palsy meets an alien who helps him cope with his fears.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Vanish in Smoke (2019)
Cidji lives in a world where ageing minds can be reversed and no one seems to understand him until he meets a like-minded friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Mort (2023)
Set on a barren planet, a creature named Mort’s daily routine is interrupted by the crash landing of a human spaceship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Like Hotaru and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hotaru?
The closest matches to Hotaru are Ghost Recon: Alpha (2012), Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006) and Code 8 Part II (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hotaru?
Start with Ghost Recon: Alpha (2012), the closest match to Hotaru.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hotaru?
Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006), rated 7.8/10 by 255 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hotaru?
Afterburn (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Hotaru?
Yes: Survive (2024).
How are movies similar to Hotaru chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hotaru, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.