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THX 1138 poster

Movies that feel likeTHX 1138 (1971)

People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.

If you loved THX 1138, the closest films we have are Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and Advantageous (2015). All three share THX 1138's cerebral and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Testament (1983).

🍅 72% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. George Lucascerebralcontemplativebleak
6 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · MUBI · Kino Film Collection

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If THX 1138 hit the spot, these will too

Fahrenheit 451 poster
Fahrenheit 451
1966 · dir. François Truffaut
🍅 82%★ 7.2drama · science fiction

Both are working the same pair: dystopia, totalitarian regime

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

Slaughterhouse-Five poster
Slaughterhouse-Five
1972 · dir. George Roy Hill
🍅 82%★ 6.8drama · science fiction · warPrime Video

Both land ideas and stillness at once

The difference: Leans harder into war than THX 1138 does

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, passing through his bitter experience as a prisoner of war in the German city of Dresden, over which looms the inevitable shadow of an unspeakable tragedy.

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

Both are built on the same subject: dystopia

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

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.

The Quiet Earth poster
The Quiet Earth
1985 · dir. Geoff Murphy
🍅 75%★ 6.7drama · science fiction · thriller

Science fiction built on bleakness, twice over

After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.

Testament poster
Testament
1983 · dir. Lynne Littman
🍅 90%★ 6.9drama · science fiction

Both lean on ideas more than on drama

It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.

The Omega Man poster
The Omega Man
1971 · dir. Boris Sagal
🍅 65%★ 6.4science fiction · action · drama

Science fiction with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.

Rollerball poster
Rollerball
1975 · dir. Norman Jewison
🍅 55%★ 6.5science fiction · drama

Common ground: the future

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

Code 46 poster
Code 46
2003 · dir. Michael Winterbottom
🍅 52%★ 6.1drama · science fiction · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: the future

In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for "papelles", futuristic passports that record people's identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez's customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.

Logan's Run poster
Logan's Run
1976 · dir. Michael Anderson
🍅 58%★ 6.8action · science fiction

Bleak drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than THX 1138 does

In the 23rd century, inhabitants of a domed city freely experience all of life's pleasures — but no one is allowed to live past 30. Citizens can try for a chance at being "renewed" in a civic ceremony on their 30th birthday. Escape is the only other option.

Metropolis poster
Metropolis
1927 · dir. Fritz Lang
🍅 97%★ 8.2drama · science fiction

Cerebral science fiction in both cases

The difference: Reviewed even better

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

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

Contemplative drama in both cases

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.

Silent Running poster
Silent Running
1972 · dir. Douglas Trumbull
🍅 71%★ 6.6science fiction · adventure · drama

A streak of bleakness through both

After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.

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The best-reviewed films that share THX 1138’s defining feeling.