Movies like The Matrix (1999)
The best movies like The Matrix (1999) are Terminator Genisys (2015), The Electric State (2025) and Next (2007). If The Matrix hooked you with its action and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDune (2021)7.8/10 from 15,916 votes
- NewestThe Electric State (2025)Released 2025
Terminator Genisys (2015)
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Electric State (2025)
An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
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 · both action & 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 action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Creator (2023)
Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and mankind itself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTRON: Legacy (2010)
Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy and daring son of Kevin Flynn, investigates his father's disappearance and is pulled into The Grid. With the help of a mysterious program named Quorra, Sam quests to stop evil dictator Clu from crossing into the real world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDivergent (2014)
In a world divided into factions based on personality types, Tris learns that she's been classified as Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & 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 action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEternals (2021)
The Eternals are a team of ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. When an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows, they are forced to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dark Tower (2017)
A boy haunted by visions of a parallel world aids its disillusioned guardian in preventing the destruction of the nexus of universes known as the Dark Tower.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Time Machine (2002)
Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th-century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds mankind divided into two warring races.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hunger Games (2012)
In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage for a struggle of survival and defiance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisReady Player One (2018)
When the creator of a popular video game system dies, a virtual contest is created to compete for his fortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWarGames (1983)
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAutomata (2014)
Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisColossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
The U.S. has handed over control of its nuclear defense system to the Colossus supercomputer designed by scientist Dr. Charles Forbin. It soon becomes clear, that the now-sentient Colossus is far more intelligent than its creator realized—with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDune (2021)
Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence - a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential - only those who can conquer their fear will survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJustice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)
A heroic version of Lex Luthor from an alternate universe appears to recruit the Justice League to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, an evil version of the League. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a devious plan launched by Batman's counterpart Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like this9 (2009)
When 9 first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world. All humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunnm 3D Special (2000)
A 3 minute 3D-CGI rendered movie clip included with volume 6 of the Gunnm: Complete Edition manga reprint. It showcases Alita in a Third League motorball race with players from two of her races such as "Armor" Togo, Degchalev, and Valdicci, and depicts events from both of those races.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisFortress (1992)
In the future, the inmates of a private underground prison are computer-controlled with cameras, dream readers, and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife Karen are locked inside "The Fortress" but are determined to escape before the birth of their baby.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGhost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
Cyborg detective Batou is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by gynoids—doll-like cyborgs, which all malfunctioned, killed, then self-destructed afterwards. The brains of the gynoids initialize in order to protect their manufacturer's software, but in one gynoid, which Batou himself neutralized, one file remains: a voice speaking the phrase "Help me."
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
Returning home with his father after a shopping expedition, Wong Fei-hung is unwittingly caught up in the battle between foreigners who wish to export ancient Chinese artifacts and loyalists who don't want the pieces to leave the country. Fei-hung must fight against the foreigners using his Drunken Boxing style, and overcome his father's antagonism as well.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHighlander: Endgame (2000)
Immortals Connor and Duncan Macleod join forces against a man from Connor's distant past in the highlands of Scotland, Kell, an immensely powerful immortal who leads an army of equally powerful and deadly immortal swordsmen and assassins. No immortal alive has been able to defeat Kell yet, and neither Connor nor Duncan are skilled enough themselves to take him on and live. The two of them eventually come to one inevitable conclusion; one of them must die so that the combined power of both the Highlanders can bring down Kell for good. There can be only one... the question is, who will it be?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisSoylent Green (1973)
In the year 2022, overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion have reduced society’s leaders to finding food for the teeming masses. The answer is Soylent Green.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Cliff (2008)
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMissing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Matrix?
The closest matches to The Matrix are Terminator Genisys (2015), The Electric State (2025) and Next (2007). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Matrix?
Start with Terminator Genisys (2015), the closest match to The Matrix.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Matrix?
Dune (2021), rated 7.8/10 by 15,916 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Matrix?
The Electric State (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Matrix?
Yes: Terminator Genisys (2015), The Electric State (2025) and Next (2007).
How are movies similar to The Matrix chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Matrix, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.