HBO’s latest hit series Last of Us has taken the world in style. From nervous fans who’re worried about the adaptation being yet another terrible attempt by big studios to just casual viewers who only respond to high quality zombie flicks due to many previous failed attempts. The good news is the Last of Us live-action adaptation is great. It’s so good. And if you’re a new viewer or a big fan of the game and the show, then perhaps it is time for you to delve into these movies that share the same genre: post-apocalyptic.
Post apocalyptic refers to a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth’s civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The cause usually takes in the form of extreme weather phenomena, aliens from outer space or underground, but the most popular of these is the exotic zombie outbreak.
On this list, we’ll be covering movies that focuses on the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, ending any resemblance of a normal life that we know of. If you’re looking for apocalypse movies, check this article here.
Snowpiercer (2013)
If the famous Stanford prison experiment got a sequel, Snowpiercer would definitely be the perfect set up. The movie takes place on a train that houses the last survivors of a global catastrophe. The planet goes through an early ice age, leaving the environment outside the train as hostile. And just like a regular train, you have passengers divided into different classes of comfort. And when you put the last remnants of the human species into the train, the social divide is apparent and much brutal. Snowpiercer is a take on the class war, and how at the end of the day, we always needed each other, because if we end up killing each other, nobody wins. Well, except mother nature of course. No more pesky polluting humans around.
The Road (2009)
In 2009, director John Hillcoat brought Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic thriller “The Road” to life. The film follows a father and son duo as they navigate through the desolate remnants of what was once the United States. After a mysterious disaster wiped out much of humanity, the few survivors are driven to acts of cannibalism, heightening the danger and desperation of the father and son’s journey towards the coast in search of warmer weather. The movie portrays the worst of humanity when put in an extinction-level event, to which our father-son duo finds themselves barely surviving to keep away from rowing cannibalistic gangs. This movie can get disturbing and real, considering that there are no zombies or aliens. The monsters are humans.
Children of Men (2006)
Humanity finds itself on the brink of extinction, after 18 years of infertility which threatens the existence of the human species. This threw the few existing governments operating as police states, as well as growing rebellion amongst the population.
The movie follows Theo, a government civil servant who gets entangled with a secret; the existence of the only pregnant woman in the entire world. And thus begins his journey trying to bring her to a secretive scientific group in the Azores dedicated to curing humanity’s infertility. The movie brings us an interesting premise, and
I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is wiped out by a zombie virus outbreak. However, the main protagonist is immune to the zombie virus and is a virologist. After years of solitude living with his dog, believing everyone is dead, he bumps into a woman and a child who claim that they are immune too. Several encounters with the zombie species known as the Darkseekers escalated throughout the movie, giving new insight into the space which baffled the survivors, and their survival now is at stake with angry, roided-up night zombies.
28 Days Later (2002)
Imagine waking up from a coma, just to find the hospital you’re in is empty. In fact, it looks abandoned, and everywhere you go outside, there was no one around. And lo and behold, a zombie appears and tries to eat you for an afternoon snack. 28 Days Later brings us right in the midst of a zombie outbreak after 28 days. Horde of zombies are in every corner, and people start being horrible to each other. 28 Days Later shows us the desperate attempt of our main character trying to make sense of the new world he finds himself in.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane, a spiritual successor of the 2008 film, Cloverfield and not a direct sequel. The film zooms into the experiences of the few main characters, in a claustrophobic setting of increasing paranoia. The tension and anxiety permeates out of the screen, making it feel that we’re trapped in that bunker with the characters. The movie is set primarily in a single location: a bunker, where the main characters take refuge after a supposed catastrophic event. The bunker’s owner, at first seems as the savior, but slowly reveals his unsettling nature. The movie has an intriguing mystery at its core, with the audience constantly questioning the motives of the characters and the truth of the situation. The ambiguity of the story is one of the most compelling aspects of the film.
Army of the Dead (2021)
So, the formula for making interesting zombie movies is after the fact of the initial outbreak. Army of the Dead is about a group of mercenaries that are tasked to rob a casino vault that’s located in Las Vegas. The city is quarantined due to the zombie outbreak that is contained in that city. The team has less than a day to complete the mission before the entire city is nuked out of existence. Zombies are quarantined in a city and the humans are planning to go into their territory, which is a total opposite of a typical zombie movie trope. Army of the Dead is a highly stylized movie, a signature from director Zack Snyder, and it is an entertaining fresh take on the whole zombie apocalypse genre.
A Quiet Place (2018)
It’s aliens again! But, we’re not going to win against them. A Quiet Place is all about survival. A family survives the initial onslaught of aliens that massacred most of the population. We don’t get any information about how the post-apocalypse world took shape, but the movie leaves breadcrumbs for you to put together and figure out that this vicious and virtually indestructible creatures hunt by using their acute sound. The Abbot family survived by using sign language and removing any possible sounds from their daily life in order to survive. Ultimately, it’s about family, survival and what one would do to keep their family safe. A Quiet Place is equally a great movie to watch if you’re interested in finding out the first day of the attack, as well as the fate of the survivors of the first movie.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Some would categorize this movie to be a prophetic vision of Australia in the future. Mad Max: Fury Road is a revisiting of the original insane Mad Max, starring the equally insane Mel Gibson. The movie features a desolate landscape of desert and barren lands covered with ruins and sand. Road warriors, diesel punk genre and made-up language have taken over. If you’re looking for a post-apocalyptic with rich details in every frame and not heavily relying on CGI, and non-stop action, then Mad Max: Fury Road is the movie for you.
Zombieland (2007)
We don’t often get the zombie and comedy genre mixed and made into a show. But hey, when done right, you get a fun zombie movie like Zombieland. And what’s more, we have a star-studded cast to bring us on this entertaining journey. It’s like any other zombie movies, except it’s more about different characters who survived the apocalypse meeting up and going on a journey of self-discovery together. In the midst of a zombie apocalypse. It’s funny and witty, looking at life through the lenses of people desensitized from a violent world of killing zombies.
