Movies like Virtual Nightmare (2000)
The best movies like Virtual Nightmare (2000) are Signal One (2026), 12:01 (1993) and Frequency (2000). If Virtual Nightmare hooked you with its science fiction and tv movie, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedArrival (2016)7.6/10 from 20,147 votes
- NewestSignal One (2026)Released 2026
Signal One (2026)
A computer scientist is invited by a tech billionaire to join his private facility on a Caribbean island to investigate extraterrestrial matter on Earth. When they make contact beyond our world, chaos erupts as we’re left to wonder: do they come in peace?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrequency (2000)
When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal murders he and his father must find a way to fix the consequences of altering time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies 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 · both science fiction
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 · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisK-PAX (2001)
Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a far away planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Invisible Man (1933)
After experimenting on himself and becoming invisible, scientist Jack Griffin, now aggressive due to the drug's effects, seeks a way to reverse the experiment at any cost.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnderwater (2020)
After an earthquake destroys their underwater station, six researchers must navigate two miles along the dangerous, unknown depths of the ocean floor to make it to safety in a race against time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSource Code (2011)
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Thirteenth Floor (1999)
In Los Angeles, a wealthy man, known as Mr. Fuller, discovers a shocking secret about the world he lives in. Fearing for his life, he leaves a desperate message for a friend of his in the most unexpected place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuper 8 (2011)
In late 1970s Ohio, a group of friends filming a homemade zombie movie witness a devastating train derailment. Soon after, their quiet town is gripped by unexplained disappearances, strange phenomena, and a growing sense of fear, as they uncover that something terrifying has been set loose.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCode 46 (2003)
In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Asphyx (1972)
Hugo is a brilliant turn-of-the-century scientist, loved and respected by his family and friends, admired by his colleagues. But he is a man quickly becoming obsessed with a curious and frightening question...What is the mysterious apparition found in the photographs of his dying subjects?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReplicas (2018)
A scientist becomes obsessed with returning his family to normalcy after a terrible accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
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 · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Fare (2018)
Harris and Penny, a cab driver and his fare, engage in flirtatious banter during their brief ride on a desolate road…until Penny abruptly vanishes from the back seat, leaving Harris mystified.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeostorm (2017)
After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSelf/less (2015)
An extremely wealthy elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body's origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnother End (2024)
In a future where consciousness can be transferred, Sal is urged by his sister to try a breakthrough technology that implants the memories and personality of the dead into the living. After the passing of his wife, Sal must decide how far he's willing to go to reconnect with the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKnowing (2009)
A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDistant Early Warning (1975)
Aliens infiltrate an Arctic research station, and perform experiments on the unsuspecting crew by mind control which makes them think they are seeing dead members of their families.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Johan är död (1982)
Johan runs across a road to get his ball when a car appears out of nowhere and strikes him dead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Special (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: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Friday (1940)
University professor George Kingsley is struck by gangsters while crossing the street, leaving him with brain damage and one of the gangsters, Cannon, paralyzed. Kingsley's friend Dr. Sovac attends to both men, and when Cannon offers him a reward for aiding his recovery, Kovac transplants part of Cannon's brain into the dying Kingsley's skull, creating a dual personality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDemonwarp (1988)
A man and his daughter are attacked in the woods by what they believe is a Bigfoot-type creature. However, they soon begin to suspect that they may have stumbled onto a nest of aliens in a hidden spacecraft.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
The Illustrated Man (1969)
A man who has a body almost completely covered in tattoos is searching for the woman who cursed him with the "skin illustrations". Each tattoo reveals a bizarre story, which is experienced by staring at the scene depicted. When the illustrated man meets a fellow tramp on the road a strange voyage begins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisPokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007)
Ash and friends (this time accompanied by newcomer Dawn) arrive at an idyllic village on their way to their next Pokemon contest, where chaos will soon erupt with the prophecy of two Pokemon Gods (Dialga and Palkia) and the arrival of a mysterious, seemingly deadly Pokemon named Darkrai, which has the power to distort space and time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrain Damage (1988)
Brian comes under the addictive spell of a parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in its hosts.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTiny House of Terror (2017)
After the tragic disappearance and presumed death of her tech mogul husband, Samantha Hastings decides to escape from her fancy hi-tech house in Silicon Valley and move to a rustic and cozy tiny house, completely isolated from the prying eyes of the public. As she begins to adapt to her new lifestyle, Samantha's serenity is interrupted when she can't shake the feeling that she is being watched... exactly what her husband felt before his disappearance. Strange and unexplained terrors begin to happen in the tiny house until eventually Samantha's sanctuary becomes her prison with no way out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Black Sugar (2013)
When a group of bored suburban teens experiment with a mysterious new drug, they are thrust into a nightmare world where hallucinations kill.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Like Virtual Nightmare and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Virtual Nightmare?
The closest matches to Virtual Nightmare are Signal One (2026), 12:01 (1993) and Frequency (2000). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Virtual Nightmare?
Start with Signal One (2026), the closest match to Virtual Nightmare.
What is the highest-rated movie like Virtual Nightmare?
Arrival (2016), rated 7.6/10 by 20,147 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Virtual Nightmare?
Signal One (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Virtual Nightmare?
Yes: Signal One (2026), 12:01 (1993) and Frequency (2000).
How are movies similar to Virtual Nightmare chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Virtual Nightmare, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.