Even when times feel turbulent, real life has nothing on these apocalyptic, dystopian, world-ending films. Living through what may be the end times might not be fun, but there’s something oddly enjoyable about watching it happen on the screen. 

Some films will have you questioning what the cause of the disaster is (natural, man-made, or extraterrestrial), while others will have you on the edge of your seat, racing against the clock along with the characters. If there’s a way for the world to end, it’s almost guaranteed there's a film about it.

So, whether your streaming mood skews towards natural disasters, AI overlords planning a takeover, or an extraterrestrial battle for the planet, Netflix has an end-of-the-world movie for you.

#Alive

What do you do when the world is overrun with zombies, and you’re stuck in your apartment alone? Well, try to stay alive. This is the situation Oh Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in) finds himself in at the beginning of #Alive. As a loner whose skills mainly involve playing video games, he must find a way to survive while resources and connections to the outside world dwindle. This Korean action-horror film will have you holding your breath as the main character’s window to the world crumbles.

#Alive

1h 38m   TV-MA   2020

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Awake

When the world is ending, it’s hard enough to tackle one big threat, but in Awake, there are two: Everything electronic has stopped working, and no one can sleep. Jill (Gina Rodriguez) learns of these catastrophic events when her car loses power and crashes, sending her and her two children, Noah and Matilda, into a lake. Following the crash, when she briefly lost consciousness, Matilda seems to be the only person in the world who can sleep — even comatose patients are awake. As the threat of sleep deprivation and death looms, Jill races Matilda to a research facility that can potentially create a cure.

Awake

1h 37m   TV-MA   2021

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Bird Box

For unknown reasons, people on Earth are committing mass suicide. A pregnant Malorie (Sandra Bullock) watches as the mass hysteria overtakes the hospital where she’s receiving a prenatal checkup. Her sister (Sarah Paulson) attempts to rush her home before the contagion affects her, too. Malorie takes shelter with a few others in a nearby house, and eventually they realize the “entity” causing these deaths cannot be looked at — even through a camera lens. They must navigate this new, sightless world as the population is picked off one by one.

Bird Box

2h 4m   R   2018

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Bird Box Barcelona

This Spain-set thriller takes place parallel to the original Bird Box. Mario Casas and Alejandra Howard star as a father and daughter who must avoid setting their eyes on creatures that make people kill themselves. As they navigate the desolate streets of Barcelona, they team up with a group of blindfolded strangers. But the more pressing threat may be among their ranks.

Bird Box Barcelona

1h 51m   TV-MA   2023

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Don't Look Up

There’s a comet headed to Earth that will cause a near-certain extinction-level event. But in Don’t Look Up, no one seems to care. Kate (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy doctoral student, discovers the comet and her adviser, Dr. Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), confirms it will collide with the planet in six months. The problem is that they can't get the president (Meryl Streep) to care about it, and leaking it to the press doesn’t do much, either. The public is more concerned with making memes about Kate’s TV appearances. When the president’s sex scandal is about to leak, she finally acknowledges the threat — only for a billionaire (Mark Rylance) to realize the comet contains billions of rare-earth elements. We’re sure you can guess what comes next.

Don't Look Up

2h 23m   R   2021

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Extinction

In the near future, the planet is being invaded by an alien race — or that’s what Peter (Michael Peña) believes because of his dreams. In his recurring nightmare, Peter sees the world around him violently attacked. He’s so consumed with these night terrors that his wife, Alice (Lizzy Caplan), sends him to a psychiatric ward for help. However, when Peter meets a fellow patient with the same dreams, he thinks he must be seeing visions of the future. The truth is much more complicated.

Extinction

1h 35m   TV-MA   2018

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The Great Flood

This sci-fi disaster movie centers on a record-breaking flood that submerges the planet. Kim Da-mi leads the thriller as Anna, an artificial intelligence researcher trapped with her son Ja-in (Kwon Eun-seong) and a handful of other survivors in a sinking apartment building. Park Hae-soo (Squid Game) plays a mysterious security officer with a crucial mission that might ensure everyone’s escape, saving the future of humanity.

The Great Flood

1h 48m   TV-MA   2025

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How It Ends

Will (Theo James) and Sam (Kat Graham) are young, in love, and expecting a child. Will thinks all he has to worry about is flying to Chicago and asking Sam’s dad, Tom (Forest Whitaker), for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, Tom tells him no. But things get worse when Sam calls Will from Seattle; she tries to tell him something is wrong when he hears a loud noise on the line and it goes dead. With flights grounded and a “seismic event” on the West Coast causing disruptions in electricity and cell phones, Will and Tom team up to drive to Seattle and see if they can save Sam before this global disaster worsens. 

How It Ends

1h 53m   TV-MA   2018

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IO

In many end-of-the-world movies, we see the catastrophe happen onscreen. But as IO begins, Earth is already well on its way to becoming completely inhabitable. Margaret Qualley stars as Sam Walden, one of the few people still living on the planet. The air has become toxic to life, so the humans who stuck around live at higher elevations. Sam is attempting to breed a colony of bees that can sustain life on the dying earth. She’s visited by a man named Micah (Anthony Mackie), who wants her to leave on the last shuttle to Jupiter’s moon, Io, where humanity has settled. As time runs out, Sam races against the clock to find a way to save her home.

IO

1h 36m   TV-14   2019

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Leave the World Behind

A weekend getaway for a family of four turns to terror in this apocalyptic psychological thriller. Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) are witnessing odd events with their two children at their vacation rental when the owner, G.H. (Mahershala Ali), and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), show up to take shelter. Wi-Fi and phones are down, and the Emergency Alert System broadcast on the TV does little to explain what’s happening. The new housemates take turns venturing out, trying to learn what’s causing the blackout, but are only met with weirder and weirder occurrences, including airliners and oil tankers crashing around them.

Leave the World Behind

2h 21m   R   2023

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Outside

Zombies are, notoriously, a complex problem to solve. Whether fast (like World War Z) or slow (like The Walking Dead), they always seem to overrun the planet faster than humans can take them out. But in Outside, a Philippine horror drama, the Abel family does its best to outrun the zombies. They flee to the sugarcane plantation where the father, Francis (Sid Lucero), grew up and where his parents still live. Despite it being a less populated area, when they arrive, they find Francis’s father has died and his mother has turned into a zombie. Not only does he have to kill his mother and keep his family safe, but Francis begins to be tormented by his traumatic past while sheltering in his childhood home.

Outside

2h 22m   TV-MA   2024

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Rim of the World

A shy and socially awkward boy named Alex (Jack Gore) gets sent to a summer camp, titled “Rim of the World.” It's not long before he bands together with a group of misfits — as typically happens in these sorts of movies. When the group is wandering in the woods one day, they miss the call for evacuation and return to camp to find it empty. Alien ships were seen invading the valley. As luck would have it, a spacecraft returning from the International Space Station lands nearby. The dying astronaut gives a key to Alex and tells him he must save the world. Naturally.

Rim of the World

1h 39m   TV-14   2019

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The Silence

When a research team accidentally unearths a species of pterosaur-like creatures, the whole world is in danger. The creatures, referred to as “vesps,” are attracted to noise. The government warns people to stay quiet and stay inside. Along with her family, Ally (Kiernan Shipka), a Deaf teenager, leaves for the country, where it’s bound to be quieter. But with car crashes, dogs barking, and a grandma coughing all drawing the attention of the vesps, every step the family takes is dangerous.

The Silence

1h 30m   PG-13   2019

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