Movies like They Came from the Ether (2014)
The best movies like They Came from the Ether (2014) are Impostor (2001), The Arrival (1996) and Paycheck (2003). If They Came from the Ether hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedArrival (2016)7.6/10 from 20,162 votes
- NewestDisclosure Day (2026)Released 2026
Impostor (2001)
A top-secret government weapons designer is arrested by a clandestine government organization on suspicion of being a clone created by the hostile alien race wanting to take over Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Arrival (1996)
Zane Ziminski is an astrophysicist who receives a message that seems to have extraterrestrial origins. Eerily soon after his discovery, Zane is fired. He then embarks on a search to determine the origins of the transmission that leads him into a Hitchcockian labyrinth of paranoia and intrigue.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaycheck (2003)
Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid – and why he's now in hot water.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisArrival (2016)
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisForbidden Planet (1956)
Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship "Bellerophon," a scientific expedition that has been missing for twenty years. They find themselves unwelcome by the expedition's lone survivor and warned of destruction by an invisible force if they don't turn back immediately.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFire in the Sky (1993)
After clearing brush for the government, a group of men return to town claiming their friend was abducted. Despite no apparent motive or evidence of foul play, no-one believes their story and his disappearance is treated as murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorror Express (1972)
Mysterious and unearthly deaths start to occur while Professor Saxton is transporting the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid creature he found in Manchuria back to Europe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisclosure Day (2026)
A cybersecurity expert becomes a whistleblower after uncovering secrets about aliens, putting him on the run from a corporation. Meanwhile, a meteorologist experiencing strange phenomena joins forces with him to prove there's life beyond our understanding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 27th Day (1957)
Five individuals from five nations, including the USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien saucer, where an alien gives each a container holding three capsules. The alien explains that no power on earth can open a given container except a mental command from the person to whom it is given, then anyone may take a capsule and, by speaking a latitude and longitude at it, cause instant death to all within a given radius: thus each of the five has been provided with the power of life and death. Then, they are given 27 days to decide whether to use the capsules, and returned to the places from which each one came...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLifeforce (1985)
A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, commencing an apocalyptic descent into chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Resurrection (1997)
Two hundred years after Lt. Ripley died, a group of scientists clone her, hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. But the new Ripley is full of surprises … as are the new aliens. Ripley must team with a band of smugglers to keep the creatures from reaching Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe November Man (2014)
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext (2007)
Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrimes of the Future (2022)
With his partner Caprice, celebrity performance artist Saul Tenser publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. An investigator from the National Organ Registry obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission — to use Tenser's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)
After a mysterious blackout, a son goes out to investigate and captures footage of actual aliens. When the aliens follow he and his brothers back to their home all hell breaks lose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this2149: The Aftermath (2016)
In an oppressive future, where everyone's only contact is their computer, one lonely young man is forced to venture forth in search of human contact.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLandscape with Invisible Hand (2023)
Years into a benevolent alien occupation, mankind is still adjusting to its new overlords. Their technology initially held promise for global prosperity, but rendered most human jobs – and steady income – obsolete. When two teenagers discover the aliens are fascinated with human love and will pay for access to it, they decide to livestream their romance to make extra cash for their families.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies 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
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like They Came from the Ether?
The closest matches to They Came from the Ether are Impostor (2001), The Arrival (1996) and Paycheck (2003). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after They Came from the Ether?
Start with Impostor (2001), the closest match to They Came from the Ether.
What is the highest-rated movie like They Came from the Ether?
Arrival (2016), rated 7.6/10 by 20,162 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like They Came from the Ether?
Disclosure Day (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like They Came from the Ether?
Yes: Impostor (2001), The Arrival (1996) and Paycheck (2003).
How are movies similar to They Came from the Ether chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside They Came from the Ether, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.