Post-Apocalyptic Films & Shows You Haven't Heard Of
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Whether you're someone who has seen all seasons of The Walking Dead several times or don't like considering the fall of humanity in any sense, it's hard to deny that a post-apocalyptic setting will naturally set up plenty of drama and stakes without much effort. Movies like The Road, shows like The Last of Us or Station Eleven, and franchises like Mad Max are absolutely mainstream, but tons more stories following survivors of global catastrophes are out there.
Testament (1983)
Testament is a great drama that doesn't rely on special effects or wild action to show the effects of societal collapse. It shows the decline of order in a San Francisco Bay Area suburb after civilization is wiped out by nuclear war, focusing on the Wetherly family.
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Tank Girl (1995)
A goofier take on the Mad Max-style desert wasteland apocalypse setting, Tank Girl is adapted from an excellent British comic series and captures its unique art and charm well. Pretty much the definition of a "cult classic" Tank Girl stars Lori Petty, Naomi Watts, and (that's right) Malcolm McDowell as the corporate overlord villain.
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Six-String Samurai (1998)
This is a wild movie from the minds of Jeffrey Falcon and Lance Mungia, directed by Mungia and starring Falcon as Buddy, a sword-wielding and guitar-strumming wanderer in war-ravaged America. Buddy takes on cannibals and meets other wasteland characters while trying to make his way to the last American haven, Lost Vegas.
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Reign of Fire (2002)
This is probably one of the coolest imagined apocalypses ever, set in London in the year 2020 (oh god...) where humanity has been replaced at the top of the food chain by none other than fire-breathing dragons. Reign of Fire is a campy and exciting good time and gets fun performances out of its stars Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey.
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Undead (2003)
A zombie flick from down under, Undead follows the residents of a fishing village, which is suddenly beset by a meteorite strike that somehow starts turning people into angry flesh-eaters. With hints of comedy and a bonkers concept, you'll have a fun time with this low-budget thriller.
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City of Ember (2008)
Above all, this is a beautifully-realized adaptation of the hit young adult novel of the same name by Jeanne DuPrau, which imagines an underground city named Ember, shielding humanity from a global catastrophe. Saoirse Ronan plays our hero Lina, who discovers secret instructions on how to exit the city.
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The Book of Eli (2010)
A stylish and moody action film, Denzel Washington has an underappreciated starring performance as Eli, a lone wanderer delivering a mysterious book across the United States, ravaged by nuclear fallout. Gary Oldman also stars as a ruthless warlord who seeks Eli's book.
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Falling Skies (2011-2015)
Don't start this unless you really want to dive into a science fiction mystery, that follows human soldiers and civilians who form a group called the 2nd Continental Army working to flee Boston and fight back against an alien invasion.
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Dredd (2012)
One of the most underrated action films of the 2010s, Dredd deserved way more fanfare than it got upon its 2012 premiere. Based on a character from the comic strip 2000 AD, Karl Urban disappears behind the helmet and truly becomes Dredd, who administers violent justice in a brutal Mega-City within a dystopian nuclear wasteland
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Into the Badlands (2015-2019)
Blending martial arts with a post-apocalyptic setting, the "Badlands" are controlled by warring feudal Barons who control land and resources with armies of warriors called clippers. If you want some high-octane action and intrigue, you can do way worse than Into the Badlands.
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Snowpiercer (2020-present)
Bong Joon-ho's 2013 film of the same name provided the basis for this dystopian TV series, which first aired on TNT, and has now moved to AMC for its fourth and final season set to premiere in 2025. We see the remnants of humanity surviving on a frozen earth in a perpetually moving train that has installed a rigid hierarchy. Even if you've seen the original movie, the show takes the setting in a unique direction with great new characters.
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BONUS - Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut (1986/2019)
Since the end of civilization happens at the end of the director's cut of this classic movie musical, it's not a true take on the genre. If you've only seen the theatrical ending, you'll be delightfully shocked by the director's cut. Instead of being defeated by Seymour, Audrey II takes over the world after customers around the world buy her clippings and more huge carnivorous plants crop up.
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