5 survival thrillers like Netflix’s Leave the World Behind that’ll have your heart pumping
Everyone loves a good survival thriller and Netflix's latest apocalyptic movie – Leaving the world behind – is already a big hit. The film, which stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke, is quickly becoming one of the most popular new Netflix films on the service.
And there are plenty more stomach-churning, nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat experiences on the top streaming services where that one came from. Here are some of our favorite survival thrillers to stream on Netflix.
The Martian
Matt Damon is trapped on the Red Planet in this smart, highly suspenseful and sometimes very funny space survival film, directed by Aliens Ridley Scott. It's effective Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and that's not a bad thing: it's exactly what you want from these types of films, pulling the metaphorical rug from under Damon's feet and leaving him with nothing but his own ingenuity. Will he survive? Of course he will, but the fun here is in the journey.
Available to stream on truTV in the US and Disney Plus in the UK and Australia.
The day after tomorrow
If you liked it Leave the world behind post-apocalyptic setting, this should be up your survival thriller street. Located in the middle of an unprecedented environmental disaster, The day after tomorrow gives the end of the world the full Hollywood treatment with some truly breathtaking visuals. There was a big divide among critics – it gets a little weird in the second half – but it's a real popcorn movie with a serious message underneath all the effects.
Available to stream on Prime Video in the US and Disney Plus in the UK and Australia.
Captain Phillips
Based on a terrifying true story, Captain Phillips features Tom Hanks as the captain of a hijacked ship. But this isn't a gung-ho hijacking movie: Paul Greengrass's film takes care to humanize the Somali pirates and refuses to portray them as stereotypical bad guys. If The guard wrote, while it is primarily a thriller, it is also “on some level a film about globalization, about what happens when the paths of the poorest and the rich cross in the crossfire of the global economy.” Hanks is fantastic here, and the film delivers incredible tension, pulse-pounding action, and a story that will stay with you for a long time.
Available to stream on Netflix in the US and UK, and Foxtel in Australia.
Cast away
We can't talk about Tom Hanks and survival thrillers without talking about them Cast away, a moving rom-com about an odd couple: a human man and a basketball with a face drawn on it. Easy jokes aside, this is a beautiful and powerful film that falters a bit in the final act, but delivers an exceptional performance by Hanks, who has to carry the film solo for most of its running time. It's a fascinating character study of an exceptionally organized man who finds himself far removed from everything he knows and must learn the basics of survival.
Available to stream on Paramount Plus in the US and UK, and Netflix in Australia.
Prometheus
The entire Alien franchise is one long survival thriller, and this prequel to the original does a great job of ratcheting up the tension as a group of explorers become stranded on a planet that really doesn't want them there. It may not be quite the same as 1970s Alien, a film that still had us hiding behind the couch and jumping out of our skin, but it is an ambitious, often beautiful and undeniably thrilling sci-fi survival horror.
Available to stream on Netflix in the US and Disney Plus in the UK and Australia.