Movies like The Space Insect (1988)
The best movies like The Space Insect (1988) are How to Eat Fried Worms (2006), The Little Prince (2015) and Despicable Me (2010). If The Space Insect hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPaprika (2006)7.8/10 from 3,057 votes
- NewestMickey 17 (2025)Released 2025
- In JapaneseAssassination Classroom (2015)Also in Japanese
How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Little Prince (2015)
Based on the best-seller book 'The Little Prince', the movie tells the story of a little girl that lives with resignation in a world where efficiency and work are the only dogmas. Everything will change when accidentally she discovers her neighbor that will tell her about the story of the Little Prince that he once met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDespicable Me (2010)
Determined to prove he's the world's greatest supervillain, Gru hatches an audacious plan to steal the Moon. To pull it off, he adopts three orphaned girls—Margo, Edith, and Agnes—intending to use them as pawns in his scheme. But the unexpected bond they form forces him to question the criminal life he's always known.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMickey 17 (2025)
Unlikely hero Mickey Barnes finds himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job… to die, for a living.
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 thisAssassination Classroom (2015)
A mysterious creature destroys part of the moon and then warns that, if it is not destroyed before March of the following year, Earth will be next. It also demands to become the homeroom teacher of Class E, a third-year class at Kunugigaoka High School.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Invasion (2007)
Washington, D.C. psychologist Carol Bennell and her colleague Dr. Ben Driscoll are the only two people on Earth who are aware of an epidemic running rampant through the city. They discover an alien virus aboard a crashed space shuttle that transforms anyone who comes into contact with it into unfeeling drones while they sleep. Carol realizes her son holds the key to stopping the spread of the plague and she races to find him before it is too late.
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 thisJonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)
Jonathan is sick and tired of the boring life in his seagull clan. He rather experiments with new, always more daring flying techniques. Since he doesn't fit in, the elders expel him from the clan. So he sets out to discover the world beyond the horizon in a quest for wisdom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Inventor Flint Lockwood creates a machine that makes clouds rain food, enabling the down-and-out citizens of Chewandswallow to feed themselves. But when the falling food reaches gargantuan proportions, Flint must scramble to avert disaster. Can he regain control of the machine and put an end to the wild weather before the town is destroyed?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMothra (1961)
Shipwreck survivors found on the presumably uninhabited Infant Island leads to a scientific expedition that discovers a surviving native population along with the Shobijin, tiny twin fairy priestesses of the island's mythical deity called Mothra. After the fairies are kidnapped by an exploitative businessman named Clark Nelson, Mothra sets out to rescue them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPaprika (2006)
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEnemy Mine (1985)
A soldier from Earth crashlands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGantz (2010)
After trying to rescue a man on the subway tracks, two teens wake up in a room dominated by a mysterious black sphere that sends them to hunt down and kill aliens hiding on Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOdd Thomas (2013)
In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisExplorers (1985)
Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.
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 thisChaos Walking (2021)
Two unlikely companions embark on a perilous adventure through the badlands of an unexplored planet as they try to escape a dangerous and disorienting reality, where all inner thoughts are seen and heard by everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Space Insect?
The closest matches to The Space Insect are How to Eat Fried Worms (2006), The Little Prince (2015) and Despicable Me (2010). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Space Insect?
Start with How to Eat Fried Worms (2006), the closest match to The Space Insect.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Space Insect?
Paprika (2006), rated 7.8/10 by 3,057 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Space Insect?
Mickey 17 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Space Insect?
Yes: Assassination Classroom (2015), Mothra (1961) and Paprika (2006).
How are movies similar to The Space Insect chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Space Insect, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.