It’s official, Netflix’s Bird Box is a smash hit. The Sandra Bullock-lead post-apocalyptic thriller earned tons of views and positive reviews, and has naturally gotten people interested in similar movies. The only problem is, searching for similar movies usually turns up one particular result. To be fair, last year’s A Quiet Place is similar in a lot of ways. It’s set after the apocalypse. Its villains are inhuman beasts. It focuses on a family’s survival.
While both films have merit and deserve a watch, we’ve gotten a little sick of one being the obvious follow-up to watching the other. With that in mind, we dug a little deeper into the recommendations pile to come up with some other options. So, If You Liked Netflix’s Bird Box, Here Are 10 Movie Recommendations That Aren’t A Quiet Place. Check ’em out.
10. War of the Worlds
Movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Trek: Beyond have given recent moviegoers a very safe, human idea of what aliens are like. In most cases, these aliens are even friendly, going so far as to help or even be the main heroes in a film. That’s not the case with Tom Cruise’s underrated 2005 invasion thriller. Like Bird Box, War of the Worlds pits a family unit against wholly inhuman, terrifying beasts. Its tone is grim and post-apocalyptic, and our heroes’ courage comes from the love they have for their family. Plus, it’s an adaptation of another terrifying book, but admittedly takes a lot more liberties. H.G. Wells probably couldn’t have foreseen Maverick Mitchell as one of his main characters.
9. It Comes at Night
It Comes at Night twists the idea of the post-apocalyptic family story. In it, two families reluctantly live together to survive a world ravaged by a mysterious plague. But where Bird Box’s courage comes from family trust, this film uses it to sow discord in the group. The characters are loyal to their own clan but not the others, and a deadly sense of distrust begins to bloom in what could have been a working survival team. It’s kind of like joint Thanksgiving with your parents and your in-laws, except there’s an extinction plague right outside the door, just waiting to drag you and the rest of humanity into oblivion.
So slightly better than joint Thanksgiving with your parents and your in-laws.
8. The Others
Bird Box is, at its core, a monster movie. It’s a unique take on one, but it definitely fits that genre more than any other. The Others is also a movie about a world submerged in darkness, also about a mother protecting her family, but it is not a monster movie. No, this is a haunted house flick, through-and-through. If you liked Bird Box but wished there was more of a supernatural element to it, The Others is a great movie to look into. Plus, if there’s another celebrity that can match Sandra Bullock’s ability to play a badass female protagonist, it’s Nicole Kidman.
7. Cargo
Martin Freeman is one of the most watchable celebrities in Hollywood. From The Hobbit to Fargo to Black Panther, he approaches all of his roles with charm and sensibility, making him an easy, relatable protagonist. This is definitely the case in Cargo, in which Martin Freeman’s character must protect his infant child from a zombie apocalypse. Far from the gore and violence of a Zombieland or Dawn of the Dead, Cargo is all about heart. The metaphorical kind, anyway. If you just want to check out a badass hero slaughtering zombies, maybe pass on Cargo, but if you want a truly human tale about overcoming fear, Cargo is one of the best horror movies in recent memory.
6. Wait Until Dark
Audrey Hepburn is in this film. If you’re not immediately sold, maybe you should reconsider your movie tastes, whether you liked Bird Box or not. If you are already sold (as you should be), you’re in for a suspenseful, classic horror film that does a lot of similar things to the recent Netflix hit. Audrey Hepburn plays a blind woman who is the victim of home invasion, and just like Hush, the terror comes from knowing what she doesn’t. This movie is perfect for fans of classic Hollywood thrillers, like the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Watch it not only because you have good taste in leading ladies, but because it proves something very important about horror filmmaking: Just because a film is a classic doesn’t mean it can’t scare modern moviegoers.
5. Don’t Breathe
Don’t Breathe is a criminally underrated movie that flips the idea of sensory horror on its head. It’s about a group of ne’er-do-well teens who break into a blind man’s house, but the protagonist isn’t the blind man. No, this man knows his house so well, and is so well-trained as a former soldier, that we actually feel fear for the young invaders. This movie is as suspenseful as any big-budget thriller, but sports just a four-person cast and basically just one filming location. Watch this movie right after watching Wait Until Dark, and you’ll realize another important thing about horror filmmaking: Fear is all about perspective.
4. Gravity
Watching Sandra Bullock do just about anything is a good enough reason to like a movie. But watching Sandra Bullock go against insurmountable odds to survive an impossible situation is an excellent reason to watch a movie. Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity casts Sandra as an especially unlucky astronaut, who must return to earth when something terrible happens to her spaceship. This movie is breathtaking, showcasing an orbit around the earth as beautiful as it is deadly. As one of the only actors in this film (the other is George Clooney, so we know you’re watching this), Sandra Bullock gives a performance that is just as thrilling as her struggle to survive. Just don’t watch this movie if you have dreams of being an astronaut someday. It might not help those.
3. The Road
Cormac McCarthy’s grim, minimalist story about a father and son traversing a future American wasteland is one of the best post-apocalyptic stories you will probably ever read. And true to its source material, The Road film is a masterpiece of suspense and a testament to the power of parenthood. Viggo Mortensen carries this movie with aplomb, portraying an average person who must do the extraordinary to protect his family. Just don’t expect any nightmare creatures to show up in this movie. On The Road, other people are bad enough.
2. It Follows
It Follows isn’t like a lot of other entries on its list. It’s not a sensory horror movie. It’s not a post-apocalyptic film. Heck, it’s not ever about family. But it is a wholly original take on a monster movie. Like Bird Box’s creatures, the monster in It Follows doesn’t have a definitive shape. It just takes a bunch of different ones, whether that’s a stranger or your best friend. The only thing you know is that it’s following you, and if it catches up… Well, watch the movie to find out more. If originality is what you liked most about Bird Box, It Follows is definitely for you.
1. Hush
Bird Box is, primarily, a sensory horror film. It drops the main characters into an already horrifying world and adds an even more horrifying stipulation. You can’t see what you’re doing. We feel the fear in this movie because it is so relatable, so basely human. That’s the same type of fear we feel in Hush. The film centers around a deaf protagonist, whose home is invaded by an expert at staying unseen. Master of horror Mike Flanagan does a great job of trapping us in the house with his protagonist. We’re constantly screaming for our hero to just look behind her. Check out this movie whether you liked Bird Box or not, and then watch Mike Flanagan’s recent Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House. You won’t regret either.
What did you think of Bird Box? What movies would you recommend to watch after it? Let us know in the comments section below!
