Movies like When
The best movies like When (2011) are The Omega Man (1971), Mexicali (2026) and Welcome to Sudden Death (2020). If When 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 ratedLa Jetée (1962)7.8/10 from 1,068 votes
- NewestMexicali (2026)Released 2026
The Omega Man (1971)
Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
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 thisWelcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap the team's owner and Jesse's daughter during opening night. Facing a ticking clock and impossible odds, it's up to Jesse to not only save them but also a full house of fans in this highly charged action thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)
After a failed bank robbery, two heavily armed men hold the Los Angeles Police Department at bay for 44 minutes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisHalo: Landfall (2007)
Director Neill Blomkamp explores the lives of Marines and ODSTs on a last, desperate mission in a post-invasion Earth – a mission that may secure the salvation, or usher the destruction of the entire galaxy. Edited together as a standalone piece for the first time, these three shorts are the first glimpse at what a live-action Halo could and should look like and a must-see for Halo fans of every stripe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad Max: Fury Road (2015)
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCargo (2013)
Stranded in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, a man sets in motion an unlikely plan to protect the precious cargo he carries: his infant daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoomsday (2008)
The lethal Reaper virus spreads throughout Britain—infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. Authorities brutally and successfully quarantine the country but, three decades later, the virus resurfaces in a major city. An elite group of specialists is urgently dispatched into the still-quarantined country to retrieve a cure by any means necessary. Shut off from the rest of the world, the unit must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles. Teaming up with resistance fighters, the Gladers take on WCKD’s vastly superior forces and uncover its shocking plans for them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPoint Blank (2019)
A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThese Final Hours (2014)
With the end of the world only hours away, self-absorbed James heads to the ultimate party-to-end-all-parties. On his way there, he saves the life of a young girl named Rose who is searching desperately for her missing father. This simple act sets James on a path to redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounds of War (2024)
After a mission goes wrong, only one of a group of mercenaries is left alive to avenge his fallen brothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGladiator Underground (2025)
Two brothers compete in the world's deadliest underground fighting tournament, where they must decide whether to play by the rules or to cast their honor aside and team up to bring down the dark syndicate running the tournament.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like this2012 (2009)
Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth's core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world's population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world's leaders race to build "arks" to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisWar for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Survivors (2014)
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep a well open.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeus ex Machina (2016)
An earnest boy must fight for his life after oppression confronts him and his friends on their way to school.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Trapped (2025)
Short drama film made in 5 days on the BFI Film Academy at Film Oxford 2024. Two uni students go to their accommodation for the first time, but is all as it seems?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
23 (2015)
The film is about the National Hero of Azerbaijan, Salatin Askerova.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Poster Boy (2018)
When the victim of a violent hate attack joins a gay gun club, he finds himself caught between two rival gay rights activists seeking to manipulate his story for their own agendas - one the club's charismatic leader, the other his domineering partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Suga Water (2015)
In her personal memoir, Kai dedicates a chapter to her late Grandmother 'Peach' as she recalls both bitter and sweet memories of her childhood, while also revealing the most monumental times of her life. By sharing lessons within tragedy, Kai reminds us to take our grandmother's nuggets of wisdom and use them to cultivate the culture of strong families, unconditional love, and genuine happiness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Terima Kost Putra (2020)
An electrical engineering student and a photography student lives in a dorm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Desire on a Fall Afternoon (2006)
An unexpected encounter, an uncertain ending...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
La Jetée (1962)
A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll the World (2024)
A young dancer from a small town in rural Oregon becomes infatuated with an older western writer — she confuses this reflection of her own greatness, as love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Tomorrow is a Long Time (2021)
Inside a block of flats, a young woman decides to act about something concerning her for a long time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like When and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like When?
The closest matches to When are The Omega Man (1971), Mexicali (2026) and Welcome to Sudden Death (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after When?
Start with The Omega Man (1971), the closest match to When.
What is the highest-rated movie like When?
La Jetée (1962), rated 7.8/10 by 1,068 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like When?
Mexicali (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like When?
Yes: The Omega Man (1971), Mexicali (2026) and Welcome to Sudden Death (2020).
How are movies similar to When chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside When, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.