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The Happening poster

Movies that feel likeThe Happening (2008)

When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated cities into the countryside in a fight to discover the truth. Is it terrorism, the accidental release of some toxic military bio weapon -- or something even more sinister?

If you loved The Happening, the closest films we have are Contagion (2011), Signs (2002) and Fracture (2007). All three share The Happening's tense and melancholy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Paradise (2023).

πŸ… 17% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. M. Night Shyamalantensecerebralmelancholy
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Hulu

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If The Happening hit the spot, these will too

Contagion poster
Contagion
2011 Β· dir. Steven Soderbergh
πŸ… 85%β˜… 6.8drama Β· thriller Β· science fictionMax

Tense and cerebral in the same breath

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.

Signs poster
Signs
2002 Β· dir. M. Night Shyamalan
πŸ… 76%β˜… 6.8thriller Β· science fiction Β· horrorHulu

M. Night Shyamalan directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Leans harder into horror than The Happening does

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

Fracture poster
Fracture
2007 Β· dir. Gregory Hoblit
πŸ… 72%β˜… 7.2thriller

Both are built on the same subject: suicide

The difference: Takes it somewhere less cerebral than The Happening does

A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse is played out, each must manipulate and outwit the other.

Fall poster
Fall
2022 Β· dir. Scott Mann
πŸ… 80%β˜… 6.4thrillerRent or buy

Melancholy thriller in both cases

For best friends Becky and Hunter, life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now Becky and Hunter's expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights.

Disclosure Day poster
Disclosure Day
2026 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 79%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· thrillerRent or buy

Science fiction built on tension, twice over

A cybersecurity expert becomes a whistleblower after uncovering secrets about aliens, putting him on the run from a corporation. Meanwhile, a meteorologist experiencing strange phenomena joins forces with him to prove there's life beyond our understanding.

Paradise poster
Paradise
2023 Β· dir. Boris Kunz
πŸ… 100%β˜… 6.3science fiction Β· thrillerNetflix

Cerebral thriller, and it commits to that

A man sees the dark side of the time-manipulating biotech company he works for when a crushing debt forces his wife to give up 40 years of her own life.

Knowing poster
Knowing
2009 Β· dir. Alex Proyas
πŸ… 35%β˜… 6.2science fiction Β· thriller

Science fiction with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases

A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Self/less poster
Self/less
2015 Β· dir. Tarsem Singh
πŸ… 18%β˜… 6.5science fiction Β· action Β· thriller

Both lean on tension more than on thriller

The difference: Sits closer to action than The Happening does

An extremely wealthy elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body's origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets.

Looper poster
Looper
2012 Β· dir. Rian Johnson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4action Β· thriller Β· science fictionStarz

Both keep coming back to the same thing: suicide

In the year 2044, time travel has not yet been invented but in 30 years it will have been. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.

Predestination poster
Predestination
2014 Β· dir. Michael Spierig
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.4science fiction Β· thriller

Both lean on ideas more than on science fiction

Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.

Brainstorm poster
Brainstorm
1983 Β· dir. Douglas Trumbull
πŸ… 57%β˜… 6.4science fiction Β· thriller

Cut from the same thriller cloth

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

Two brilliant research scientists have invented a device capable of recording and playing back sensory experiences only to have devastating results when one of them records their own death.

Under the Skin poster
Under the Skin
2014 Β· dir. Jonathan Glazer
πŸ… 83%β˜… 6.3thriller Β· science fiction Β· dramaNetflix

Science fiction of the same temperament

A seductive stranger prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.

In the mood for more tense?

all tense movies β†’

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