Movies like Shells
The best movies like Shells are Alien: Containment (2019), I'm Here (2010) and Frequencies (2013). If Shells hooked you with its science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRegular Show: The Movie (2015)7.9/10 from 454 votes
- NewestWoven (2025)Released 2025
- In GermanF for Freaks (2019)Also in German
Alien: Containment (2019)
Aboard a small escape pod, four survivors try to discover what caused the destruction of their spaceship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI'm Here (2010)
A library assistant plods through an ordinary life in LA until a chance meeting opens his eyes to the power of creativity and ultimately, love. When this new life and love begin to fall apart, he discovers he has a lot to give. This short film proves that ordinary is no place to be.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrequencies (2013)
The story of the forbidden relationship between a 'low born' boy and a 'high born' girl in an alternate reality where every person's relationships and life worth are determined by their innate 'frequencies'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014)
In this epic two-part finale, the Doctor comes face to face with the mysterious Missy, and an impossible choice is looming. With Cybermen on the streets of London, old friends unite against old enemies, and the Doctor takes to the air in a startling new role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAlien: Specimen (2019)
During the night shift in a colony greenhouse, a botanist does her best to contain suspicious soil samples that have alarmed her sensitive lab dog.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Night of the Doctor (2013)
The Doctor struggles to help the only remaining crewmember of a crashing gunship. The people of the planet below offer to save his life, but at a dear cost to the life he's lived for hundreds of years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBURN·E (2008)
What lengths will a robot undergo to do his job? BURN·E is a dedicated hard working robot who finds himself locked out of his ship. BURN·E quickly learns that completing a simple task can often be a very difficult endeavor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Congress (2013)
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Runaway Bride (2006)
A young bride in the midst of her wedding finds herself mysteriously transported to the TARDIS. The Doctor must discover what her connection is with the Empress of the Racnoss's plan to destroy the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuperintelligence (2020)
When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study the most average person on Earth, Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisAlien: Alone (2019)
An abandoned crew member aboard a derelict chemical hauler is trying to keep her ship and herself alive. After discovering hidden cargo, she risks it all to power up the broken ship in search of human life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisElectric Dreams (1984)
Miles Harding buys a state-of-the-art computer that starts expressing conscious thought and emotion after an interaction with spilled champagne. Things begin getting out of hand when both Miles and Edgar, the computer, fall in love with beautiful neighbor Madeline Robistat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRegular Show: The Movie (2015)
After a high school lab experiment goes horribly wrong, Mordecai and Rigby must go back in time to battle an evil volleyball coach in order to save the universe — and their friendship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBeyond (2003)
While looking for her cat, a young woman and some kids find an abandoned building where strange things happen and the rules of physics don't always apply. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeavy Metal 2000 (2000)
Upon discovery of a shard of what could be the Loc-Nar, a miner named Tyler becomes possessed with an insatiable hunger for power and a thirst for immortality. On his way to the planet of youth, Tyler wipes out most of a space colony and kidnaps a beautiful young woman. His only mistake is that he doesn't kill her sister, Julie, who then sets out on a mission of rescue and revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInvader Zim: Enter the Florpus (2019)
ZIM discovers his almighty leaders never had any intention of coming to Earth and he loses confidence in himself for the first time in his life, which is the big break his human nemesis, Dib has been waiting for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWifelike (2022)
A grieving detective in the near-future hunts down criminals who trade artificial humans on the black market. In the fight to end AI exploitation, an underground resistance attempts to infiltrate him by sabotaging the programming of the artificial human assigned as his companion to behave like his late wife. She begins to question her reality as memories of a past life begin to surface in a world where nothing is as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (2013)
Agent Peggy Carter is relegated to a desk job and frustrated at her male boss and comrades' sexist dismissal of her place in the SSR. Ordered to work late one night, Carter gets an alert that the villain Zodiac has been spotted and decides to take care of it herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUpside Down (2012)
In an alternate universe where twinned worlds have opposite gravities, a young man battles interplanetary prejudice and the laws of physics in his quest to reunite with the long-lost girl of his dreams in this visually stunning romantic adventure that poses the question: what if love was stronger than gravity?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisParadox Mary (2008)
Mary has a problem. And it’s right in front of her. It’s in front of everyone else too, only they haven’t recognized it yet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Frankenstein Punk (1986)
The story of Frank, a different creature, born to the song "Singing in the rain", that goes in search of happiness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Umbrella (2023)
With divorce on the horizon, a couple find out that a lunch meeting with the wife’s attorney is about to get very gruesome. Based on the story "Lunch at the Gotham Café" by Stephen King.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
F for Freaks (2019)
An empty, undefined world. Gabriela (70) is seriously ill. By all means she tries to keep alive, to escape from her own death. In her suppressed and rising fear of death she refuses any moral argument. Gabriela becomes an animal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Narcose (2014)
Deep water freediving exposes its practitioners to a form of narcosis, which induces several symptoms, among which a feeling of euphoria and levity that earned this phenomenon its nickname of "raptures of the deep". The short film relates the interior journey of Guillaume Néry, the apnea world champion, during one of his deep water dives. It draws its inspiration from his physical experience and the narrative of his hallucinations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Ultraman Connection Presents: Tamashii Nations Special Streaming featuring Ultraman Trigger (2022)
Ultraman Connection Presents: Tamashii Nations Special Streaming featuring Ultraman Trigger is a special filmed stage show based on various Ultraman characters and released on YouTube as a part of the eponymous stream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Demain la veille (2006)
Bob is a normal guy who lives in a world where everything moves in reverse: Death is birth, people grow young, knowledge is erased from your mind as the clock ticks backward. It's just business as usual... until the day Bob suddenly finds himself moving FORWARD in time! Mercenaries from another reality arrive on the scene to remove him from the "forward" world, but they're too late: Bob now understands that the life he had was very, very wrong. He fights back, mounting an action-packed escape through insane, topsy-turvy corridors of time and counter-clockwise dimension. Will Bob save himself and humanity? Or is he destined for a life of lies and control, forced on the world from a power beyond the future?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
I Decided to Leave (2015)
A man decides to leave. He knows he wants to do something with his life. He just hasn't figured out what yet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Next Time (2020)
On the way back from a road trip, a woman tries to save her doomed relationship by stopping at a roadside attraction that promises time travel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Woven (2025)
Miša, a young man with powerful telekinetic abilities, finds himself trapped in a dark experiment where he is subjected to manipulation and abuse. Though he is offered various comforts and pleasures once he is freed from his confinement, Miša rejects these temptations. Driven by a quest for truth and freedom, he embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets behind his powers and reclaim his autonomy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Like Shells and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Shells?
The closest matches to Shells are Alien: Containment (2019), I'm Here (2010) and Frequencies (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Shells?
Start with Alien: Containment (2019), the closest match to Shells.
What is the highest-rated movie like Shells?
Regular Show: The Movie (2015), rated 7.9/10 by 454 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Shells?
Woven (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there German movies like Shells?
Yes: F for Freaks (2019).
How are movies similar to Shells chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Shells, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.