Movies like Variant (1973)
The best movies like Variant (1973) are Duck Amuck (1953), Crimes of the Future (2022) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988). If Variant hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDuck Amuck (1953)8.1/10 from 263 votes
- NewestDeep Water (2026)Released 2026
Duck Amuck (1953)
The short-tempered Daffy Duck must improvise madly as the backgrounds, his costumes, the soundtrack, even his physical form, shifts and changes at the whim of the animator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisKiller Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Aliens disguised as clowns crash land on Earth in a rural town to capture unsuspecting victims in cotton candy cocoons for later consumption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHobo with a Shotgun (2011)
A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and where the city's crime boss reigns. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes and even a pedophile Santa, the Hobo goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how - with a 20-gauge shotgun. Mayhem ensues when he tries to make things better for the future generation. Street justice will indeed prevail.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisExtracted (2012)
Thomas Jacobs invents a way to watch people's memories from the inside. Going against his morals, he accepts an offer to enter a heroin addict's memories to literally see if he committed a crime. However,a malfunction causes his consciousness to become trapped inside the criminal's mind. He remains a prisoner in the addict's memories for more than four years until he discovers the possibility of escape.
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 this12:01 (1993)
Office employee Barry Thomas is caught in a "time bounce" caused by a glitch in the company's secret project. Now the same day occurs again and again - and Barry's the only one who can do anything about it, including saving the life of beautiful research assistant Lisa Fredericks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey 17 (2025)
Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCurve (2016)
Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above a sentient abyss, a woman tries to cover the few feet back to safety without losing purchase and falling to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBen 10,010 (2021)
In a future where an adult Gwen Tennyson is president and the world is being taken over by the alien horde known as the Xerge, a disillusioned Ben 10,000 is called out of retirement to recruit his 10-year-old version from the past. Based on the 2016 reboot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPossible Worlds (2000)
The same man lives out several parallel lives in different "worlds" and in different relationships at the same time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad God (2021)
A silent figure known as The Assassin travels through a nightmare underworld of tortured souls, ruined cities and wretched monstrosities forged from the primordial horrors of the unconscious mind of Phil Tippett, the world's preeminent stop-motion animator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHollow Man (2000)
Cocky researcher Sebastian Caine is working on a project to make living creatures invisible. Determined to achieve the ultimate breakthrough, Caine pushes his team to move to the next phase — using himself as the subject. The test is a success, but when the process can't be reversed and Caine seems doomed to future without flesh, he starts to turn increasingly dangerous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRakka (2017)
A story of broken humanity following the invasion of a technologically superior alien species. Bleak, harrowing, and unrelenting, the humans must find enough courage to go on fighting.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeep Water (2026)
A group of international passengers on a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. The terrified group is forced to work together and overcome their differences if they hope to escape their sinking plane and the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCoherence (2014)
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDrive (1997)
A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers narrowly each time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Matrix Revisited (2001)
The film goes behind the scenes of the 1999 sci-fi movie The Matrix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Variant?
The closest matches to Variant are Duck Amuck (1953), Crimes of the Future (2022) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Variant?
Start with Duck Amuck (1953), the closest match to Variant.
What is the highest-rated movie like Variant?
Duck Amuck (1953), rated 8.1/10 by 263 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Variant?
Deep Water (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Variant?
Yes: Duck Amuck (1953), Crimes of the Future (2022) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988).
How are movies similar to Variant chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Variant, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.