Best Post-Apocalyptic Movies on Netflix, Hulu, and Prime
Netflix, Prime, and Hulu are a paradise for movies of any genre, especially post-apocalyptic movies. Here we list our favorite hidden gems for streaming, from the post-apocalyptic genre.
Famine, disease, nuclear annihilation, a horde of zombies: no matter how the world ends in post-apocalyptic movies, watching its characters navigate the ashes guarantees a good time.
While these “new normal” movies are a dime a dozen nowadays, the standouts are endlessly rewatchable.
Here are the best post-apocalyptic movies now streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.
The Surface (2014)
Starring: Sean Astin, Mimi Rogers, Chris Mulkey
Available on: Amazon Prime
This short post-apocalyptic feature a world where mankind lives underground, and many humans live by the use of mechanical lungs. A woman is forced to venture to the surface, facing the unknown, in order to find her son’s lungs a new power source.
There are no A-list actors in this one, but it’s a great story and a powerful film lasting only 20 minutes. Absolutely worth the watch.
The Colony (2013)
Starring: Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton
Available on: Amazon Prime
A new ice age forces the last of humanity underground in the year 2045 in this cli-fi action movie, after warnings of climate change went unheeded.
Surviving in bunkers, mankind struggles to control disease in such close quarters, and food supplies run dangerously low.
When the leaders of a colony receive a distress signal from another group nearby, they venture out into the cold to provide aid.
However, they soon discover a threat even greater than the ice awaits them.
These Final Hours (2014)
Starring: Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Jessica De Gouw
Available on: Amazon Prime
En route to an “end of the world party,” to celebrate the coming apocalypse, a selfish man becomes an unlikely hero when he rescues a young girl from a predator.
After saving her, the two then travel in search of the girl’s father. This tale of redemption is a fresh take on the typical post-apocalyptic tropes that all too many movies run into the ground.
The Road (2009)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Available on: iTunes (rent or buy)
Based on the best-selling and Pulitzer-winning novel of the same name, this film chronicles the journey of a father and son traveling through a barren wasteland following humanity’s near-total destruction.
Roving gangs of cannibals make the trip even more perilous. More than a few heart wrenching scenes make you care so deeply about these protagonists, even when their names are never revealed.
The Midnight After (2014)
https://youtu.be/ACiCDm1waGk
Starring: Simon Yam, Janice Man, Kara Hui
Available on: Amazon Prime
In The Midnight After, a group of strangers goes through a tunnel on a bus. When they get through to the other side, they gradually realize they’re the only people left in the city…or, perhaps, in the entire world.
Everyone who leaves the bus becomes ill, melts, or spontaneously combusts. The survivors struggle to learn what paranormal or biological event is overtaking the earth—and how, exactly, they can avoid it.
This post-apocalyptic film isn’t a thriller, but rather a comedy or satirical horror, and provides a nice change of pace from so many serious movies in the genre.
While the plot verges on ridiculous, it’s definitely entertaining.
The Survivalist (2015)
Starring: Martin McCann, Mia Goth, Olwen Fouéré
Available on: Amazon Prime
Amidst worldwide famine, a man lives off a small, secret patch of land hidden in the woods.
After an older woman and her adult daughter discover his land, they beg the man to let them take some supplies. In exchange, the woman offers her daughter to the man to do as he pleases.
It seems no one is trustworthy in this new world. Even the audience, in fact, will have a hard time knowing which protagonists to root for, at any given moment.
A gritty film with more than a couple great twists, The Survivalist is a must-watch.
Z for Zachariah (2015)
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, Margot Robbie
Available on: Amazon Prime (rent or buy)
Following a natural disaster, the last three known survivors of humanity navigate a love triangle while struggling to survive on the woman’s farmland.
With a slower pace than most post-apocalyptic movies, Z for Zachariah delivers tension differently. It arises in the survivors’ relationships, rather than intense action sequences.
In fact, even the looming “Will they or won’t they survive?” question that drives most of this genre is understated.
While fans of traditional doomsday movies might find it dull as a result, most will enjoy this slower, more psychologically dramatic take on the genre.
The Rain (2018)
Starring: Alba August, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Available on: Netflix
This is actually a series, not a movie, but a fantastic post-apocalyptic show you don’t want to miss.
In Scandinavia, a deadly virus delivered via rainfall wipes out most of the population. Two siblings and their parents survive in a bunker that can even hold a zombie apocalypse, but the father leaves and doesn’t return.
Their mother then dies after saving her children from an infected intruder, and the children are left alone for six years.
When their supplies grow dangerously low, the siblings know they have to leave the bunker to survive…but have no idea what awaits them outside.
Filled with flashbacks and twists, The Rain is a gripping series you’ll want to binge straight through.
The Colony (2021)
Starring: Nora Arnezeder, Iain Glen, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina
Available on: Amazon Prime (rent or buy)
Climate Change, pandemics and wars led to the elites skipping over Earth and moving to a far-off planet. However, this planet is causing unintended long-term side effects. In order to survive, a change must be made so an expedition team is sent back to Earth but is never heard from again.
A second team is sent with a female astronaut (Arnezeder) crash-lands onto a windswept ocean floor while the tide is out.
However, they soon find out that they are not alone.
A lone astronaut must make a choice that will seal the fate of this wasteland’s remaining populace.
I Am Legend (2007)
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
Available on: Netflix
Robert Neville, played by Will Smith, is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made in this post-apocalyptic action thriller.
Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.
As possibly mankind’s last, and only, hope, Neville is driven by his only mission: finding a cure to reverse the effects of the virus.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Available on: Amazon Prime Video
A story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a barren desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost 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. There’s Max, played by Tom Hardy, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.
Sure, this isn’t the original Mad Max series the older movie goers may have been hoping to see, but it’s a great adaptation, nonetheless.
via GIPHY
Terrifying as the thought of the world actually ending might be, there’s nothing more entertaining than watching the world burn from the safety of your own couch.
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