Movies like The Happening (2008)
The best movies like The Happening (2008) are 28 Weeks Later (2007), Die Alone (2024) and Significant Other (2022). If The Happening hooked you with its thriller and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTwelve Monkeys (1995)7.6/10 from 9,544 votes
- NewestForgive Us All (2025)Released 2025
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Twenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Alone (2024)
Lost in a world reclaimed by nature and overrun by mysterious creatures, Ethan, a young man with amnesia navigates the dangerous landscape in search of his lost love Emma. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he encounters Mae, a hardened and eccentric survivor. Together, Ethan and Mae face threats both human and otherwise before a fateful encounter with Kai unravels a secret that lies just beyond Ethan's fractured memory.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSignificant Other (2022)
Ruth and Harry decide to take a romantic backpacking trip through the Pacific Northwest, but amongst the beautiful scenery, Ruth makes an unexpected discovery that sets her off on a strange, frightening new path. The couple aren't alone in the woods, and they might not be the same when they come out...if they come out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bay (2012)
Chaos breaks out in a small Maryland town after an ecological disaster occurs.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisGreenland (2020)
John Garrity, his estranged wife and their young son embark on a perilous journey to find sanctuary as a planet-killing comet hurtles toward Earth. Amid terrifying accounts of cities getting levelled, the Garritys experience the best and worst in humanity. As the countdown to the global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwelve Monkeys (1995)
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Caller (1987)
One night, an unusual stranger in need asks a woman living alone in a house in the woods if he can use her phone. It soon becomes clear that they're playing a strange mind game and that there's something very wrong about the woods.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisWarning Sign (1985)
An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOpen Grave (2013)
A man awakes -- without memory -- in a pit full of bodies and must figure out if the people who rescued him are the killers, or if he is the murderer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHidden (2015)
A family takes refuge in a fallout shelter to avoid a dangerous outbreak.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForgive Us All (2025)
In a post-apocalyptic world, a virus has transformed humans into violently deranged cannibals. A bereaved mother has lost everything and takes refuge in an isolated mountain cabin, until a desperate wounded stranger arrives with a story of hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Crazies (1973)
The military attempts to contain a manmade virus causing death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaybreakers (2010)
In the year 2019, a plague has transformed almost every human into a vampire. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vampires on a way to save humankind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCargo (2017)
After being infected in the wake of a violent pandemic and with only 48 hours to live, a father struggles to find a new home for his baby daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNatural Born Killers (1994)
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKill List (2011)
Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunted (2021)
A woman flees two serial killers who are hot on her heels in a forest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Fish (2021)
A couple fights to hold their relationship together as a memory loss virus spreads and threatens to erase the history of their love and courtship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI See You (2019)
When a 12-year-old boy goes missing at a local park, a detective investigates the case to help the boy's family find answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOld (2021)
A group of families on a tropical holiday discover that the secluded beach where they are staying is somehow causing them to age rapidly – reducing their entire lives into a single day.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisContagion (2011)
As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil All the Time (2020)
In Knockemstiff, Ohio and its neighboring backwoods, sinister characters converge around young Arvin Russell as he fights the evil forces that threaten him and his family.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTales That Witness Madness (1973)
Enigmatic asylum owner Dr Tremayne houses four very special cases. Visited by his colleague Nicholas, Tremayne explains his amazing and controversial theories as to why each patient went mad, be they a ritualistic 'luau', a time-travelling bicycle, a toy tiger, and a tree stump.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Double Hour (2009)
A chambermaid and a former cop meet at a speed dating event and a romance develops. But during a romantic getaway things suddenly take a turn for the worse when her mysterious past is revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStarship Invasions (1977)
Captain Rameses and his Legion of the Winged Serpent brigade are out to claim Earth for their dying race. Out to save Earth is an alien guard patrol located in the Bermuda Triangle, the League of Races. LOR leaders warn Rameses that he's breaking galactic treaty rules. The alien villain responds by launching an invasion which telepathically drives Earthlings to suicide. The LOR implore UFO expert Professor Duncan to help them. Eventually, the two alien forces battle. Will the Earth be saved?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Manhattan Night (2016)
Porter Wren is a Manhattan tabloid writer with an appetite for scandal. On the beat he sells murder, tragedy, and anything that passes for the truth. At home, he is a dedicated husband and father. But when Caroline, a seductive stranger asks him to dig into the unsolved murder of her filmmaker husband Simon, he is drawn into a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail--one that threatens his job, his marriage, and his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisBehind the Scenes: I've Been Here Alone (2023)
Hasan (33), who works as a sales manager in a construction company, and his wife Farida (30) have not been able to have children for a long time. After a doctor's examination, Hasan learns that he is infertile. But Hasan, who is afraid of harming his masculinity, hides this information from his wife. At the insistence of Hasan's mother, who thinks that the problem is in Sevda, they go to a midwife who lives in a village for treatment.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
Nothing is as it seems when a woman experiencing misgivings about her new boyfriend joins him on a road trip to meet his parents at their remote farm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNightmare Detective (2007)
When a number of suicide victims slash themselves in their sleep, detective Keiko Kirishima is called to investigate.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWildlike (2015)
Fourteen-year-old Mackenzie is sent to live with her uncle in Juneau when her mother can’t care for her anymore. The living situation quickly takes a turn for the worse, and she runs away to rejoin her mother in Seattle. While on her dangerous journey of sleeping in cars and breaking into hotel rooms, she’s drawn to Rene, a lonesome backpacker looking for tranquility in the wilderness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Happening?
The closest matches to The Happening are 28 Weeks Later (2007), Die Alone (2024) and Significant Other (2022). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Happening?
Start with 28 Weeks Later (2007), the closest match to The Happening.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Happening?
Twelve Monkeys (1995), rated 7.6/10 by 9,544 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Happening?
Forgive Us All (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Happening?
Yes: 28 Weeks Later (2007), Die Alone (2024) and Significant Other (2022).
How are movies similar to The Happening chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Happening, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.