20 Best End-Of-The-World Movies for When You're Feeling a Wild Ride
Don't be surprised if "It's the end of the world as we know it ..." pops into your head.
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End-of-the-world movies have their own brand of power. They combine the adrenaline rush of disaster movies with the creeping dread of horror movies, so you'll definitely feel a pulse-quickening suspense. Sometimes, the movies take place as the world is about to end, so you have to sit there and mentally create your own end-of-the-world to-do list along with the characters. Sometimes, there’s already an extinction event, and you wonder if you’d be able to hack it with the other survivors. And sometimes, the movie takes place sort-of in-between, so you can panic as you watch society unravel in real time.
World-ending movies also are a mirror that reflects society’s biggest paranoias back at us. For the movies of the '50s, there was unease about the dawn of the Atomic Age. In the '80s, the disaster was almost always caused by an impending nuclear war between the United States and Russia. And there are always lingering doubts about what exists in outer space, and whether unconquered forces of nature can end us at any moment — be it via comets set to collide with Earth, a sun ready to expand its borders in our solar system (or stop working entirely), or, you know, aliens. These impending disaster movies span decades, so you can take in the various neuroses we’ve had over time.
The Wandering Earth (2019)
One of the biggest, highest-grossing movies of 2019 is actually this end-of-the-world movie that few people have heard of. That's because it's huge in China, where it was made — but U.S. movie-watchers can see it now thanks to Netflix. It follows the disaster-movie mold, chronicling a group of scientists who seek to physically move the Earth to get it away from the ever-expanding sun, while avoiding collision with Jupiter.
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These Final Hours (2015)
In this one, a comet does succeed in colliding with Earth, as it's threatened to do so many times before (see also: Armageddon and Deep Impact). The film takes place 10 minutes after impact, when Australia has about 12 hours before the firestorm reaches the country. It follows James, who wants to spend his remaining time at the "party to end all parties," but finds himself being pulled in other directions.
This Is the End (2013)
Is it possible to make a comedy about the apocalypse? Seth Rogen tries, in a movie where people like James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel play exaggerated versions of themselves amidst the looming disaster.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
An asteroid is headed towards Earth, and Dodge (Steve Carrell) and Penny (Keira Knightly) decide to try and reunite Dodge with a lost love before it hits. Along the way, they meet others who are dealing with impending doom in their own unique ways.
Melancholia (2011)
Kirsten Dunst plays a bride whose wedding reception is interrupted by the discovery of a planet named Melancholia — one that's on a collision course with Earth. What follows is a movie that's ostensibly about the end of the world, but is also a rumination on chronic depression.
Take Shelter (2011)
What if the end of the world is on its way, and you were the only one who knew? In Take Shelter Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has a premonition of what's to come, and runs into trouble when he becomes obsessed with building a storm shelter to prepare.
Retreat (2011)
A married couple looking to reconnect decides to go away for a vacation on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. Their holiday is interrupted by a soldier who shows up at their doorstep and says that the outside world has been decimated by an outbreak of an airborne disease, and they must hide out together until it's safe to go into the outside world again. But is he telling the truth?
Legion (2010)
This one is about the end of the world in more Biblical terms. In it, Paul Bettany plays the Archangel Michael, who seeks to stop evil forces from bringing about the apocalypse.
The Road (2009)
Based on the book by Cormac McCarthy, this film follows a man and his son who try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. They avoid violent scavengers and other evils as they make their way down "the road," trying to head toward the coast where it might be warmer.
Daybreakers (2009)
In this movie, a plague transforms humans into blood-thirsty vampires — and it's so widespread that there are few humans left to feed off of. A cure might be out there, if anyone can stay alive long enough to spread it.
Knowing (2009)
A professor (played by Nic Cage!) retrieves a code that was buried in an elementary school time capsule, and he believes he's cracked it — and it's a message about the end of the world. He has to figure out if he's right, and if the impending disasters can be stopped.
Sunshine (2007)
This is another one where the sun is the main culprit, causing the end of the world. This time, the sun is dying, and a group of scientists go on a space mission to try and re-ignite it with a bomb. (What could go wrong?)
Children of Men (2006)
In this movie, civilization is on its last gasp as a pandemic somehow caused a global infertility crisis. But when a woman is discovered to be pregnant, she must be safely transported to a team of scientists working on a cure without her secret getting out.
Right At Your Door (2006)
A man sits at home when he hears over the radio that it's possible that dirty bombs have been detonated in Los Angeles. Everyone's advised to seal up their doors and windows and quarantine themselves. The man listens — and then his wife returns from work. Should he risk contamination to let her in?
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
In a movie that embodies the term "climate crisis," extreme weather breaks out across the country — from tornadoes to deep freezes. In New York, a group of survivors huddles in the New York Public Library and start to work toward their rescue.
Last Night (1998)
It's never explained why the world is ending in this Canadian film, but what's clear is that there's only one day left. All of the characters have to figure out what they want to do on their last night (celebrate Christmas, perhaps), and who they want to share their last moments with.
12 Monkeys (1996)
The Rapture (1991)
David Duchovny and Mimi Rogers star in a movie about a woman who abandons her swinger lifestyle and turns towards religion when she starts to see signs that the Rapture is on its way. Could she be right?
Miracle Mile (1988)
Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham star as Harry and Julie, a who suffer a missed connection at the worst possible time — right before the breakout of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film follows Harry as he tries to find Julie before the world ends.
The Quiet Earth (1985)
For fans of The Leftovers, this is a movie about a scientist (Bruno Lawrence) who wakes up and realizes the people of Earth are all gone — and thinks the energy project he was working on may have been to blame. He then goes in search of other survivors.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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