The new Netflix movie Leave the World Behind is generating a ton of buzz online, mostly for its (lack of) ending. It quickly topped Netflix’s top 10 movies chart, despite earning a lukewarm 75% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an absolute drubbing from viewers with a 35% audience score.
If Leave the World Behind left you disappointed, you are far from alone. But you can slake your thirst for apocalyptic thrillers elsewhere. We’ve rounded up five of our favorite movies like Leave the World Behind that we can personally recommend. And all but one have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% or higher.
A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place is a pretty incredible premise — what if making a sound could kill you? Starring real-life husband and wife duo Emily Blunt and John Krasinski as Evelyn and Lee Abbott, A Quiet Place is a post-apocalyptic thriller set in a world ravaged by an alien invasion. These aliens won’t kill you if they see you, but if they hear you? That’s a different story. The movie also stars Millicent Simmonds as Regan, the couple’s deaf daughter, which adds a layer to an already clever premise. - MM
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream now on Paramount Plus
Us
Jordan Peele is a modern master of dread, particularly in the setting that should be a safe space: the home. All three of his movies — Get Out, Us and Nope — primarily take place in and around a home that slowly becomes a hellscape, just as it does in Leave the World Behind. In his second film, it’s a vacation house rented by Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids.
But soon, their idyllic getaway is invaded by a fearsome family of four who are their terrifying doppelgangers. The “Tethered” share a soul with their counterparts and their goal is to break the tie via murder. Adelaide discovers some shocking truths about how the Tethered came about and her connection to her mirror image, Red. - KW
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Stream now on Netflix
Take Shelter
Powerhouse performers Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain team up in this under-the-radar indie drama that ratchets up the tension to unbearable levels, not unlike Leave the World Behind. Curtis LaForche is an ordinary Ohio man whose inner mind is anything but. He experiences apocalyptic dreams and hallucinations of a coming storm, though he hides them from wife Samantha and their deaf daughter.
Worried he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, Curtis channels his frenetic energy into renovating a storm shelter in his backyard, which strains his relationships with Samantha and their neighbors. - KW
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Stream now on Max
10 Cloverfield Lane
While technically part of the Cloverfield, there isn’t much that connects 10 Cloverfield Lane to its 2008 predecessor. That’s okay though, because regardless it’s still an excellent sci-fi horror film. The movie stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Michelle, who awakes to find herself in the bunker of Howard Stambler (John Goodman) following a major car accident. When she tries to leave though, she’s told she can’t because of an apocalyptic event that has rendered the outside world unlivable.
The twists and turns of 10 Cloverfield Lane are brilliantly executed and the small ensemble cast is perfectly balanced. If you want a horror/thriller to watch, this should shoot towards the top of your list. - MM
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Stream now on Paramount Plus
Knock at the Cabin
Despite the story's global ramifications, Knock at the Cabin excels in close quarters thanks to a tight, well-cast ensemble led by Dave Bautista. It isn’t quite on the level of A Quiet Place or 10 Cloverfield Lane. If you overanalyze it or compare it strictly against its source material — the horror novel The Cabin at the End of the World — you may find yourself slightly disappointed. But if you just give in to director M. Night Shyamalan’s filmmaking you will find an enjoyable, gripping psychological thriller. - MM
Rotten Tomatoes score: 67%
Stream now on Prime Video
