Movies like Pulse (2017)
The best movies like Pulse (2017) are Vesper (2022), The Zero Theorem (2013) and Special (2006). If Pulse hooked you with its drama and fantasy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedInjustice (2021)7.3/10 from 886 votes
- NewestProm Party Massacre (2025)Released 2025
Vesper (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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Zero Theorem (2013)
A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpecial (2006)
A lonely metermaid has a psychotic reaction to his medication and becomes convinced he's a superhero. A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
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 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 drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2073 (2024)
Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRight at Your Door (2006)
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like this40 Acres (2025)
Hailey Freeman and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm, as they make one last stand against a vicious militia hell-bent on taking their 40 Acres.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mandela Effect (2019)
A man becomes obsessed with facts and events that have been collectively misremembered by thousands of people. Believing the phenomena to be the symptom of something larger, his obsession eventually leads him to question reality itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHorns (2013)
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOmni Loop (2024)
Diagnosed with a black hole growing inside her chest and stuck in a loop reliving the last five days of her life, a 55-year-old wife and mother from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSuicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
Amanda Waller's top-secret "Task Force X" — consisting of Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, and Copperhead — is on a mission to retrieve a mystical object so powerful that they're willing to risk their lives to steal it. However, the Suicide Squad isn't the only group of villains seeking to possess the object. It's a race for the golden prize, and second place isn't an option if they want to stay alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInjustice (2021)
When Lois Lane is killed, an unhinged Superman decides to take control of the Earth. Determined to stop him, Batman creates a team of freedom-fighting heroes. But when superheroes go to war, can the world survive?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSplit (2016)
The story of a young woman who takes an epic journey to claim her own darkness and sexuality so she can stop putting it into the hands of her abusive lover. When Inanna, a young actress, working as a stripper, becomes obsessed with a mask maker, she sacrifices parts of herself and her life, piece by piece, in order to win his love. At the same time she enters a mythic journey in the theater. One that forces her to face the many abuses endured by women around that world and that blurs her performance, her dreams and her real life and results in a provocative and powerful confrontation that frees her. -- from official website
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both fantasy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisNine Days (2021)
A bureaucrat interviews five souls to decide which of them will be given a life on Earth. But he soon faces an existential challenge of his own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloset Monster (2016)
A creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & fantasy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRetroactive (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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloud Atlas (2012)
A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParallel (2024)
Grief-stricken after the loss of her child, Vanessa takes refuge at a lake house only to be met with an aberration of herself from a parallel universe and realizes the multiverse gates hold the key to releasing her grief or trapping her forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Marvelous Visit (1974)
In a small French village, an angel appears disguised as a beautiful young blond.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & drama
Boys On Film 16: Possession (2017)
Golden boys, teen lust, self-conscious dolls, chance encounters, a vengeful creature, holiday romance, hidden sexuality — Boys On Film celebrates it's (not so) sweet sixteen with an astonishing selection of the latest international gay short films. Volume 16: Possession features ten complete films: Kai Stänicke's "Golden" with Christian Tesch and Maximilian Gehrlinger; Christopher Manning's "Jamie" starring Sebastian Christophers and Raphael Verrion; Kai Stänicke's "B." starring Susanne Bormann and Andreas Jähnert; Blake Mawson's "PYOTR495" starring Alex Ozerov; Charlie Francis's "When A Man Loves A Woman" starring Tommy Jay Brennan, Jemima Spence, and Diane Brooks Webster; Anthony Schatteman's "Follow Me" starring Ezra Fieremans and Maarten Ketels; Jake Graf's "Chance" starring 'ABS' and Clifford Hume; Andrew Keenan-Bolger's "Sign" starring John McGinty and Preston Sadleir; Oliver Mason's "Away With Me" starring Chris Polick and Lee Knight; and "We Could Be Parents" by Björn Elgerd.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both fantasy & drama
What the Eyes Can't See (2019)
Four Spanish-language shorts about the importance and complexity of people's perception from award winning directors. Stories of identity, misconceptions, regrets, dreams and love are told in this diverse collection. Includes: Tenants [Inquilinos] (2018); My Brother [Mi hermano] (2015); Guillermo on the Roof [Guillermo en el tejado] (2018); You Are Not a Woman [Usted no es mujer] (2018).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Runaway Valley (2025)
Two lesbian women in their late-30s journey across America together in an attempt to recapture their youth, but one is questioned on whether she is to commit towards the fresh start because of her already established life in Pennsylvania.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Two Drifters (2005)
After breaking up with her boyfriend, a woman named Odete descends into madness and claims to be pregnant with the child of her neighbour Pedro, who died in a car crash and is mourned by his boyfriend Rui.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeatoo (2019)
A naive actor auditions for a film which could launch his career. The things he's asked to do make him more and more uncomfortable, until a choice remark from the director makes him see red.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Stupid Boy (2004)
This coming-of-age drama deals with a young man, realizing who he really is and which things he will never do...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
More Than T (2017)
Seven transgender and gender nonconforming individuals share their unique experiences with Silas Howard.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Prom Party Massacre (2025)
A gay high school student throws a swinging prom party in the hopes of finally wooing the football captain - but when popular kids start turning up dead, the partygoers discover a slasher killer amongst the student body!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Savage Fire (2017)
In the city of Cajamar, in the middle of ruined nature, lonely characters deal with the police, rodeos and mysterious fires.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Pulse and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Pulse?
The closest matches to Pulse are Vesper (2022), The Zero Theorem (2013) and Special (2006). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Pulse?
Start with Vesper (2022), the closest match to Pulse.
What is the highest-rated movie like Pulse?
Injustice (2021), rated 7.3/10 by 886 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Pulse?
Prom Party Massacre (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Pulse?
Yes: Vesper (2022), The Zero Theorem (2013) and Special (2006).
How are movies similar to Pulse chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Pulse, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.