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District 9 poster

Movies that feel likeDistrict 9 (2009)

Thirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth. Not to conquer or give aid, but to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are managed by Multi-National United, which is unconcerned with the aliens' welfare but will do anything to master their advanced technology. When a company field agent contracts a mysterious virus that begins to alter his DNA, there is only one place he can hide: District 9.

If you loved District 9, the closest films we have are Chappie (2015), Starship Troopers (1997) and Cloud Atlas (2012). All three share District 9's cerebral and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Advantageous (2015).

🍅 90% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Neill Blomkampcerebraldarkly funnybleak
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Apple TV

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If District 9 hit the spot, these will too

Chappie poster
Chappie
2015 · dir. Neill Blomkamp
🍅 32%★ 6.8crime · action · science fiction

Blomkamp's Johannesburg again — scrap-metal sci-fi with a heart in the machine

The difference: Softer and messier — the satire gives way to sentiment

Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings—some good, some bad—and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there's one thing that makes Chappie different from any one else: he is a robot.

Starship Troopers poster
Starship Troopers
1997 · dir. Paul Verhoeven
🍅 72%★ 7.3adventure · action · thrillerNetflix

Satire wearing a blockbuster's uniform — the joke is the propaganda itself

The difference: Plays it big and glossy — no street-level documentary texture

Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs."

Cloud Atlas poster
Cloud Atlas
2012 · dir. Lilly Wachowski
🍅 65%★ 7.3drama · science fiction

Systems that treat whole classes of beings as disposable, across centuries

The difference: Sprawling and earnest — three hours where District 9 sprints

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Elysium poster
Elysium
2013 · dir. Neill Blomkamp
🍅 64%★ 6.6science fiction · action · dramaNetflix

Blomkamp again splits a world into the caged and the comfortable

The difference: Trades the satire for a blunter, more conventional action arc

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that, if successful, will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

Brazil poster
Brazil
1985 · dir. Terry Gilliam
🍅 98%★ 7.8comedy · science fiction

Bureaucracy as the monster — paperwork and policy grinding people down

The difference: Surreal retro-future fantasy, not documentary grit

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

Edge of Tomorrow poster
Edge of Tomorrow
2014 · dir. Doug Liman
🍅 91%★ 7.9action · science fictionParamount+

An alien war from a grunt's-eye view with a wry streak under the armor

The difference: A slick time-loop actioner — the politics are set dressing

Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.

Advantageous poster
Advantageous
2015 · dir. Jennifer Phang
🍅 87%★ 6science fiction · drama

One thread runs through both: dystopia

The difference: Takes it somewhere less darkly funny than District 9 does

In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world.

Dredd poster
Dredd
2012 · dir. Pete Travis
🍅 80%★ 7.1action · science fiction

Both are built on the same subject: dystopia

The difference: Easier on the dark humor than District 9

In the future, America is a dystopian wasteland. The latest scourge is Ma-Ma, a prostitute-turned-drug pusher with a dangerous new drug and aims to take over the city. The only possibility of stopping her is an elite group of urban police called Judges, who combine the duties of judge, jury and executioner to deliver a brutal brand of swift justice. But even the top-ranking Judge, Dredd, discovers that taking down Ma-Ma isn’t as easy as it seems in this explosive adaptation of the hugely popular comic series.

Children of Men poster
Children of Men
2006 · dir. Alfonso Cuarón
🍅 92%★ 7.9science fiction · thriller · action

Handheld immersion in a collapsing state that scapegoats the powerless

The difference: No aliens and no jokes — the despair is played dead straight

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

I, Robot poster
I, Robot
2004 · dir. Alex Proyas
★ 7.1action · science fictionApple TV+

Cerebral where it counts, bleak underneath

The difference: Sits closer to action than District 9 does

In 2035, where robots are commonplace and abide by the three laws of robotics, a technophobic cop investigates an apparent suicide. Suspecting that a robot may be responsible for the death, his investigation leads him to believe that humanity may be in danger.

District B13 poster
District B13
2004 · dir. Pierre Morel
🍅 81%★ 7.1action · thriller · science fictionPrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: street gang

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Snowpiercer poster
Snowpiercer
2013 · dir. Bong Joon Ho
🍅 94%★ 7.1action · science fiction · drama

Science fiction with a pulse of ideas, in both cases

In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.

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The best-reviewed films that share District 9’s defining feeling.