Movies like Toxic Shock (1983)
The best movies like Toxic Shock (1983) are Let There Be Light (1946), Airplane! (1980) and Talk to Me (2023). If Toxic Shock hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedAirplane! (1980)7.3/10 from 5,360 votes
- NewestPlay Dead (2025)Released 2025
Let There Be Light (1946)
The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during their treatment. It deals with what would now be called PTSD, but at the time was categorised as psychoneurosis or shell-shock. Government officials deemed this 1946 film counterproductive to postwar efforts; it was not shown publicly until 1981.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAirplane! (1980)
An ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTalk to Me (2023)
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Small Back Room (1949)
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on 1943 Britain, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Andromeda Strain (1971)
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnna (2013)
A man with the ability to enter peoples' memories takes on the case of a brilliant, troubled sixteen-year-old girl to determine whether she is a sociopath or a victim of trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeau Is Afraid (2023)
Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic odyssey back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTruth or Dare (2018)
A harmless game of "Truth or Dare" among friends turns deadly when someone—or something—begins to punish those who tell a lie—or refuse the dare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisScanners (1981)
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called 'scanning' to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non-Scanners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Three scouts and lifelong friends join forces with one badass cocktail waitress to become the world’s most unlikely team of heroes. When their peaceful town is ravaged by a zombie invasion, they’ll fight for the badge of a lifetime and put their scouting skills to the test to save mankind from the undead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJoe Versus the Volcano (1990)
Hypochondriac Joe Banks finds out he has six months to live, quits his dead end job, musters the courage to ask his co-worker out on a date, and is then hired to jump into a volcano by a mysterious visitor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlood Games (1990)
When a women's softball team win a game against a group of rough talking and dirty playing men, they find themselves unwittingly involved in a new competition with much higher stakes: life and death. After being horribly attacked and assaulted by their male competitors, the women are forced to use both their wits and strength to escape their tormentors and avenge their teammates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisSeries 7 (2001)
A reality TV program selects six contestants to participate in a free-for-all, no holds barred deathmatch, where they must skillfully outwit and kill each other in order to be the last person alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Revenant (2009)
A horror movie/buddy comedy about Joey and his undead friend Bart who comes back from the dead as a revenant: an articulate zombie that needs to drink blood to arrest the decomposition of his body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dead (2025)
A woman wakes up injured in a basement surrounded by corpses. To survive, she pretends to be dead while a grotesque ritual unfolds in the house above.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlanet Terror (2007)
Two doctors find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by sores. Among the wounded is Cherry Darling, a dancer whose leg was ripped from her body. As the invalids quickly become enraged aggressors, Cherry and her ex-boyfriend El Wray lead a team of accidental warriors into the night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNovocaine (2025)
When the girl of his dreams is kidnapped, everyman Nate turns his inability to feel pain into an unexpected strength in his fight to get her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Doors (1991)
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Sea (2024)
Stranded in the open sea after a fatal accident, a young woman and her two friends are rescued by a fishing vessel's captain, unaware that the ship harbors a chilling secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlay Dirty (1969)
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Toxic Shock?
The closest matches to Toxic Shock are Let There Be Light (1946), Airplane! (1980) and Talk to Me (2023). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Toxic Shock?
Start with Let There Be Light (1946), the closest match to Toxic Shock.
What is the highest-rated movie like Toxic Shock?
Airplane! (1980), rated 7.3/10 by 5,360 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Toxic Shock?
Play Dead (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Toxic Shock?
Yes: Let There Be Light (1946), Airplane! (1980) and Talk to Me (2023).
How are movies similar to Toxic Shock chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Toxic Shock, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.