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Movies that feel like Brightburn (2019)

If you loved Brightburn, the closest films we have are Pet Sematary (2019), The Host (2006) and The New Mutants (2020). All three share Brightburn's dread and unsettling feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus Premium and others, checked against today's data.

What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?

πŸ… 57% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. David Yaroveskydreadunsettlingcerebralcontemplative

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If Brightburn hit the spot, these will too

Pet Sematary poster
Pet Sematary
2019 Β· dir. Dennis Widmyer
πŸ… 58%β˜… 5.7horror

Both are working the same pair: husband wife relationship, countryside

The difference: Missing the ideas of Brightburn

Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, move from Boston to Ludlow, in rural Maine, with their two young children. Hidden in the woods near the new family home, Ellie, their eldest daughter, discovers a mysterious cemetery where the pets of community members are buried.

Feels alike?
The Host poster
The Host
2006 Β· dir. Bong Joon Ho
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.1horror Β· drama Β· science fiction

Dread-soaked where it counts, unsettling underneath

The difference: Reviewed even better

A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.

Feels alike?
The New Mutants poster
The New Mutants
2020 Β· dir. Josh Boone
πŸ… 36%β˜… 5.3science fiction Β· horror

Cerebral horror, and it commits to that

Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.

Feels alike?
M3GAN poster
M3GAN
2022 Β· dir. Gerard Johnstone
πŸ… 93%β˜… 6.3science fiction Β· horror

Science fiction with a pulse of dread, in both cases

A brilliant toy company roboticist uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to emotionally bond with her newly orphaned niece. But when the doll's programming works too well, she becomes overprotective of her new friend with terrifying results.

Feels alike?
Spring poster
Spring
2014 Β· dir. Aaron Moorhead
πŸ… 85%β˜… 6.7horror Β· romance Β· science fiction

Both lean on unease more than on drama

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Brightburn does

A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a woman harboring a dark, primordial secret.

Feels alike?
Speak No Evil poster
Speak No Evil
2022 Β· dir. Christian Tafdrup
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.6horror Β· thriller Β· drama

One thread runs through both: husband wife relationship

A Danish family visits a Dutch family they met on a holiday. What was supposed to be an idyllic weekend slowly starts unraveling as the Danes try to stay polite in the face of unpleasantness.

Feels alike?
Frankenstein poster
Frankenstein
2025 Β· dir. Guillermo del Toro
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.4drama Β· fantasy Β· horror

Common ground in both: fathers and sons and mother son relationship

Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Feels alike?
#Alive poster
#Alive
2020 Β· dir. Cho Il
β˜… 6.3action Β· horror Β· science fiction

Cerebral horror in both cases

As a grisly virus rampages a city, a lone man stays locked inside his apartment, digitally cut off from seeking help and desperate to find a way out.

Feels alike?
Sputnik poster
Sputnik
2020 Β· dir. Egor Abramenko
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· drama Β· horror

Science fiction built on stillness, twice over

At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission gone awry, leaving the commander as its only survivor. After a renowned Russian psychologist is brought in to evaluate the commander’s mental state, it becomes clear that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him…

Feels alike?
Annihilation poster
Annihilation
2018 Β· dir. Alex Garland
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.8science fiction Β· horror

Both lean on dread more than on drama

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

Feels alike?
Little Joe poster
Little Joe
2019 Β· dir. Jessica Hausner
πŸ… 66%β˜… 5.8drama Β· science fiction

The same preoccupation in both: mother son relationship

Alice, a single mother who is more dedicated to her work as a genetic engineer than to her teenage son Joe, develops a new variety of flower that is supposed to have the ability to make its owner happy thanks to its special chemical properties.

Feels alike?
A Quiet Place: Day One poster
A Quiet Place: Day One
2024 Β· dir. Michael Sarnoski
πŸ… 86%β˜… 6.2horror Β· science fiction Β· thriller

Unsettling horror in both cases

As New York City is invaded by alien creatures who hunt by sound, a woman named Sam fights to survive with her cat.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more dread?

all dread movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Brightburn’s defining feeling.