Movies like When Monsters Were Real (2015)
The best movies like When Monsters Were Real (2015) are Tarzan (1999), The Soul Eater (2024) and Slither (2006). If When Monsters Were Real hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWolfwalkers (2020)8.2/10 from 1,490 votes
- NewestBeware Boiúna (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchThe Soul Eater (2024)Also in French
Tarzan (1999)
Tarzan was a small orphan who was raised by an ape named Kala since he was a child. He believed that this was his family, but on an expedition Jane Porter is rescued by Tarzan. He then finds out that he's human. Now Tarzan must make the decision as to which family he should belong to...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Soul Eater (2024)
When the disappearance of children and bloody murders multiply in a small mountain village, an old legend shrouded in sulphur reappears... Commander Guardiano and Captain of the Gendarmerie De Rolan are forced to join forces to uncover the truth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSlither (2006)
A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlease Don't Feed the Children (2025)
After a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Wild Things Are (2009)
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Legend of Ochi (2025)
In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Water Horse (2007)
A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Monster Calls (2016)
12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeware Boiúna (2026)
A medical mission deep in the Amazon becomes a desperate fight for survival when a colossal ancient predator awakens, turning the jungle into a deadly battleground where nature decides who lives and dies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTintin and the Temple of the Sun (1969)
When seven archaeologists find an ancient Inca temple, they become victims of an ancient curse. Back in Europe, one by one they fall into a deep sleep and only once a day, all at the same time, they wake up for a few minutes and experience hallucinations where the sinister living mummy of Rascar Capac appears.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWillow (1988)
The evil Queen Bavmorda hunts the newborn princess Elora Danan, a child prophesied to bring about her downfall. When the royal infant is found by Willow, a timid farmer and aspiring sorcerer, he's entrusted with delivering her from evil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Jungle Book (1967)
The boy Mowgli makes his way to the man-village with Bagheera, the wise panther. Along the way he meets jazzy King Louie, the hypnotic snake Kaa and the lovable, happy-go-lucky bear Baloo, who teaches Mowgli "The Bare Necessities" of life and the true meaning of friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
When their bus is crippled on the side of a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discover an opponent they cannot defeat – and may not survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlligator (1980)
A baby alligator is flushed down a toilet and survives by eating discarded lab animals that have been injected with growth hormones. The now gigantic animal escapes the city sewers and goes on a rampage, pursued by a cop and a big-game hunter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrouble at Timpetill (2008)
The children of a small European mountain village end up being its only residents, soon after the adults cannot take their behavior any longer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolfwalkers (2020)
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRampage (2018)
Primatologist Davis Okoye shares an unshakable bond with George, the extraordinarily intelligent, silverback gorilla who has been in his care since birth. But a rogue genetic experiment gone awry mutates this gentle ape into a raging creature of enormous size. To make matters worse, it’s soon discovered there are other similarly altered animals. As these newly created alpha predators tear across North America, destroying everything in their path, Okoye teams with a discredited genetic engineer to secure an antidote, fighting his way through an ever-changing battlefield, not only to halt a global catastrophe but to save the fearsome creature that was once his friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMighty Joe Young (1998)
As a child living in Africa, Jill Young saw her mother killed while protecting wild gorillas from poachers led by Andrei Strasser. Now an adult, Jill cares for an orphaned gorilla named Joe -- who, due to a genetic anomaly, is 15 feet tall. When Gregg O'Hara arrives from California and sees the animal, he convinces Jill that Joe would be safest at his wildlife refuge. But Strasser follows them to the U.S., intent on capturing Joe for himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
A teenager finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures intent on destroying them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
When a group of hunters genetically modify Graboid eggs, they face an all-out war against the larger, terrifyingly intelligent creatures, and swiftly multiplying Shriekers!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like When Monsters Were Real?
The closest matches to When Monsters Were Real are Tarzan (1999), The Soul Eater (2024) and Slither (2006). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after When Monsters Were Real?
Start with Tarzan (1999), the closest match to When Monsters Were Real.
What is the highest-rated movie like When Monsters Were Real?
Wolfwalkers (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 1,490 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like When Monsters Were Real?
Beware Boiúna (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like When Monsters Were Real?
Yes: The Soul Eater (2024), Tintin and the Temple of the Sun (1969) and Trouble at Timpetill (2008).
How are movies similar to When Monsters Were Real chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside When Monsters Were Real, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.