Movies like The Earthling (1980)
The best movies like The Earthling (1980) are Dark Age (1987), The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010). If The Earthling hooked you with its action and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
Dark Age (1987)
In the Australian outback, a park ranger and two local guides set out to track down a giant crocodile that has been killing and eating the local populace..
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)
Cumberland, 1348. The plague is spreading in medieval England. The remote village of little Griffin is also threatened. But the 9-year-old boy has a recurring dream that holds the key to a tiny hope of survival: a lake with a coffin floating on it. A white church with an iron cross. A falling glove. A falling silhouette. A torch tumble through a dark shaft into infinity. With his brother he recognizes in it a prophecy to escape the Black Death. So they embark with a few men on a journey to a distant cathedral, where they want to set up an iron cross as an offering to God. Her path leads them through a deep and dark mine shaft into an unknown land and completely outlandish time - into the present-day New Zealand of the 1980s.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTomorrow, When the War Began (2010)
Ellie Linton, a teen from an Australian coastal town, leads her friends on an excursion to a camp deep in the woods, dubbed "Hell." Upon their return, the youths find that their town has been overrun by an enemy army, and their friends and family have been imprisoned. When the hostile invaders become alerted to their presence, Ellie and her friends band together to escape -- and strike back against -- this mysterious enemy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOn Fire (2023)
Inspired by true and harrowing events, an ordinary man finds his world suddenly torn apart as devastating wildfires rip through the surrounding countryside. With precious moments ticking by, he must flee with his son and pregnant wife if they have any hope of surviving the rapid forces of mother nature.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFar from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995)
Teenager Angus adopts a stray dog and names him Yellow. Several days later, while travelling along the coast of British Columbia with Angus's father, John, the boy and dog become stranded when turbulent waters capsize their boat. Angus's parents relentlessly badger rescue teams. Angus, schooled by his father in wilderness survival skills, and assisted by the intelligent Yellow Dog, tries to attract rescuers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBaywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
Mitch Buchannon, believed to have died in a boating accident survived and only has amnesia, he has been recovering in a Los Angeles hospital. His new fiancée, Allison Ford, resembles his old lover, Lt. Stephanie Holden who died years ago.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am David (2003)
A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Gold (2011)
On the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, two warring leaders come face to face. The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika, lays down his peace terms to rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah. The two men agree that neither can lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt. In return, Nesib adopts Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee against invasion. Twelve years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men. Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge. One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American from Texas. He tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his wildest imagination. Nesib imagines a realm of infinite possibility, a kingdom with roads, schools and hospitals all paid for by the black gold beneath the barren sand. There is only one problem. The precious oil is located in the Yellow Belt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Season (2025)
When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeized (2020)
Hiding out with his son Taylor on the Mexican coast, Nero hopes to put his violent Special Forces career behind him. But after Nero’s home is attacked and Taylor is abducted, the mysterious Mzamo orders Nero to slaughter the members of three rival crime syndicates. If he fails, Taylor will die. Now, with bullets flying and bodies dropping as Nero completes his mission, he races to find Mzamo’s hideout and seek revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalkabout (1971)
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBest of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Hunter (2011)
Martin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by an anonymous biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInterceptor (2022)
A U.S. Army Captain uses her years of tactical training to save humanity from sixteen nuclear missiles launched at the U.S. as a violent attack threatens her remote missile interceptor station.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGold (2022)
In the not-too-distant future, two drifters traveling through the desert stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found and the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. They hatch a plan to excavate their bounty, with one man leaving to secure the necessary tools while the other remains with the gold. The man who remains must endure harsh desert elements, ravenous wild dogs, and mysterious intruders, while battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnd of Sentence (2019)
Newly widowed Frank Fogle embarks on a journey to Ireland to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His estranged son, Sean, recently released from prison, agrees to join only when his father promises that they’ll never see each other again following the trip. After revelations surface about an old flame of Frank’s wife and a charming hitchhiker with plans of her own intervenes, father and son find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrue Grit (1969)
The murder of her father sends a teenage tomboy on a mission of 'justice', which involves avenging her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal, 'Rooster' Cogburn because he has 'true grit', and a reputation of getting the job done.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (2020)
After freeing a young Bedouin girl from her unjust imprisonment in Jerusalem, an Australian adventuress, together with her devoted police detective friend, begins to unravel a decade-old mystery concerning priceless emeralds, an ancient curse and the disappearance of the girl's mother and massacre of her tribe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNight of the Twisters (1996)
A teenager boy bonds with his stepfather while battling a series of killer twisters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFly Away Home (1996)
Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life... until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when a local forest was torn down. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". When winter comes, Amy and her dad must find a way to lead the birds South.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Return (2003)
Two young brothers in contemporary Russia are reunited with a father they know only from an old photograph after his sudden return from a long absence. With their mother’s reluctant consent, they set out on a remote trip that quickly becomes an uneasy test of authority, trust, and masculinity. As the journey moves deeper into the wilderness, the fragile bonds between father and sons are pushed to their limits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHouse of Sand and Fog (2003)
Behrani, an Iranian immigrant buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send his son to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy. After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer and befriends a police officer. Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGallipoli (1981)
Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPerverted Adolescence (1974)
Professor Mirella Buzzati, recovering from a failed relationship that ended with a divorce from her husband, travels to Perugia where she has obtained a mathematics teaching position at a high school. Her hatred of men, evident during the train ride and in her interactions with male colleagues who quickly flock to her, quickly yields to the attractiveness of Alain, a student nicknamed "the dark and handsome" by the high school girls. He already has a relationship with Giorgina, a fellow student of the same age and a fanatical militant of "Lotta Continua." In an effort to win over her idol, Mirella becomes unscrupulous in her teaching, preaches political and sexual revolution; she earns the headmaster's rebukes, and heaps scathing criticism on her rival Giorgina. After a stint in Paris with a lesbian colleague, the professor resumes her attack and obtains Alain's physical performance, but not her love: the boy understands her well and deeply despises her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tenure (2025)
When a dedicated college professor is denied tenure, he turns to black magic in a moment of desperation but finds himself trapped in a private hell of his own making.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crime of the Decade (1984)
A young man in a depressed satellite city, meets a woman who offers him love and hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Earthling and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Earthling?
The closest matches to The Earthling are Dark Age (1987), The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Earthling?
People who watched The Earthling most often go on to Dark Age (1987) and The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Earthling?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Earthling?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Earthling?
Yes: Dark Age (1987), The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) and Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010).
How are movies similar to The Earthling chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Earthling, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.