Whether they're satirical, romantic, or grimly resigned, these apocalyptic movies don't pull any punches when it comes to the end of the world. The post-apocalyptic genre has been gaining popularity in both film and television in recent years, but the best movies about the end of the world are from all eras of cinema. Many narratives touch upon the search for solutions to the coming catastrophes and the search for new worlds. While it's nice to watch a film about the end of the world that ends on an uplifting note, some movies opt for a melancholic tone.

There are plenty of fun post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies, but just as many stories grapple with the lead-up to the final days, finding some way of avoiding the apocalypse. However, there's something satisfying about a movie that pushes its characters and the audience to face the reality that everything must eventually come to an end. Often, these narratives take their intense subject matter and use it as a comment on contemporary issues that humanity is facing, whether that be the threat of nuclear war or the climate crisis. However, there are also smaller human stories about the quieter moments of grief.

10 Don’t Look Up (2021)

Directed by Adam McKay

The star-studded Don't Look Up is a comedy on paper, but that doesn't mean the story doesn't have something deeper to say. While Don't Look Up is about the inevitable coming of a comet that will destroy Earth, it's really discussing how powerful people and organizations, like governments and media conglomerates, will spin the truth and take advantage of tragedy for the sake of making a profit. Don't Look Up doesn't see the movie's heroes win and live happily ever after, but it does see them proven right.

In direct conversation with the climate crisis and the reactionary 24-hour news cycle, Don't Look Up is a strong blend of social commentary that's unbiased enough to appeal to a wide array of audiences.

In direct conversation with the climate crisis and the reactionary 24-hour news cycle, Don't Look Up is a strong blend of social commentary that's unbiased enough to appeal to a wide array of audiences. It's one of Jennifer Lawrence's best comedy movie roles since it makes her character, Kate, look ridiculous while also letting her flex her dramatic muscles. The central cast's chemistry and commitment to their over-the-top characters make it easy to root for and despise the opposing sides of the conflict.

9 Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World (2012)

Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Keira Knightley and Steve Carell make an unexpected but sweet pair in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, a movie about two people looking for a real connection before all life ends. Their characters, Dodge and Penny, never knew each other well before the apocalypse became imminent, but they team up to find their lost loved ones before the asteroid hits amid a world dissolving into chaos. Though the central characters don't engage in much of the debauchery themselves, they find their own ways of coping with the nihilism of knowing there's no avoiding the end.

While the movie received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, there's no question that this understated drama easily brings a tear to the eye. Seeing the relationship between Dodge and Penny get built up over time, only to be cut short by the apocalypse, is heartbreaking. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is deeply concerned with timing and missed chances when it comes to relationships. In the end, the movie decides that fate has a plan for the people who come and go in our lives, and everything is meant to unfold as it does.

8 Melancholia (2011)

Directed by Lars von Trier

Kirsten Dunst is at her best in Melancholia, the film by Lars von Trier that uses the apocalypse as a metaphor for its character's struggles with depression and feelings of apathy. Dunst portrays Justine opposite Charlotte Gainsbourg, playing Justine's sister Claire. The characters have opposing views on the coming end of the world, as Justine's depression makes her tacitly accepting of the apocalypse, while Claire's desire to avoid her destiny only makes her final days filled with terror.

As Justine's emotional reality is suddenly played out before her as a reality of the end of the world, it's interesting to watch her come to understand her own interior self better.

Von Trier uses surrealist visuals, cinematography, and aesthetics to communicate the film's doom and despair. Though it's not at all an easy movie to watch, Melancholia toes the line of romanticizing depression at times. However, it makes a nuanced comment on these complex emotions instead. As Justine's emotional reality is suddenly played out before her as a reality of the end of the world, it's interesting to watch her come to understand her own interior self better.

7 Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

It's hard to believe that Dr. Strangelove came out in 1964, as the film is so relevant and holds up brilliantly today. However, simultaneously, it's tremendously rooted in its own time and the context of the growing paranoia of the Cold War. Widely regarded as the best movie about the Cold War, Dr. Strangelove is as dark as it is hilarious, demonstrating how ridiculous it is that the lives of billions of people and the fate of the world rests in the hands of a small group of largely incompetent individuals.

Peter Sellers embodies the tone of Dr. Strangelove in his three roles as the Group Captain, the President of the United States, and the titular Dr. Strangelove. The movie demonstrates what makes Stanley Kubrick such an enduring and beloved writer-director, as he balances cutting political satire with genuine entertainment throughout the movie's runtime. As the film hurtles towards its conclusion with the speed of the nuclear warheads on which the story revolves, the audience will laugh as much as they cringe, thinking about how little has changed since 1964.

6 This Is The End (2013)

Directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

This outlandish comedic film about the end of the world grapples with friendship, religion, and fame as the apocalypse hits Los Angeles and a group of selfish movie stars. Featuring a stacked cast of comedic and dramatic actors playing heightened fictionalized versions of themselves, This Is the End primarily focuses on the friendship between Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel. As they're trapped with James Franco and a large cast of recognizable actors, each of them realizes that the rapture has come.

While there's no avoiding the end of the world in This Is the End, it still provides a happier and more digestible conclusion than other films of the genre.

Arguably the least nuanced or interrogative story about the apocalypse, This Is the End isn't trying to make any points much larger than the importance of being kind and truthful to friends. In many ways, this is a refreshing take on the genre, and also the comedy veterans to have fun with each other on camera and take advantage of their great chemistry. While there's no avoiding the end of the world in This Is the End, it still provides a happier and more digestible conclusion than other films of the genre.

5 Threads (1984)

Directed by Mick Jackson

The critically acclaimed nuclear-war movie Threads was a revolutionary step forward in cinema, directly addressing the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. Dealing with the latter half of the Cold War and the tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Threads takes its expansive subject matter and zooms in on a small town in England and how the residents there try to survive. Threads slowly and painfully depict a vividly imagined series of events that could easily unfold as society is decimated and then attempts to rebuild.

Though Threads isn't as widely talked about as some of the best apocalyptic narratives, it's gained traction in the years since its release. This is largely thanks to its unflinching realism. Life marches on in Threads, even as lives are destroyed, and the world is essentially plunged back into the Middle Ages. It's a difficult and dark portrait of the cycle of life and is a clear warning to its viewers about what awaits humanity if they continue down a path of war and annihilation.

4 2012 (2009)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Similarly to the fears surrounding Y2K and the end of the world at the turn of the century, there were predictions and anxieties about 2012. The 2009 movie 2012 imagines a version of reality where the world ends in 2012 thanks to a series of geological disasters that are brought to life excitingly onscreen. Overall, 2012 was universally praised for its visual effects and how it created catastrophes while falling a bit flat in of its emotional appeal. However, 2012 was always meant to be a heightened action-disaster movie, not a contemplative take on the end of the world.

2012 is a great disaster movie for the spectacle and the far-reaching narrative it presents.

Featuring a large ensemble cast with iconic actors like John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Danny Glover, 2012 examines what the end of days would look like for a variety of people of different social classes and standings. From the President of the United States to everyday citizens who are left without tickets to the life-saving arcs the rich and powerful are building, 2012 attempts to make some class commentary about the end of the world. Ultimately, 2012 is a great disaster movie for the spectacle and the far-reaching narrative it presents.

3 These Final Hours (2013)

Directed by Zak Hilditch

These Final Hours grapples with the question of how best to spend one's final days on Earth. Showcasing a variety of approaches, from wild parties to violent outbursts, These Final Hours quickly concludes that it's always worth it to be with the one you love and let them know you love them, even if they'll only be alive for a few more moments to know it. Following James (Nathan Phillips), a young man who tries to avoid all feelings before the foretold end of the world but ends up finding himself weighed down with responsibility he doesn't want.

Audiences might recognize Angourie Rice as Rose from her recent role in the 2024 Mean Girls movie or her turn in Nice Guys in 2016. However, a few years before these projects, she gave an emotionally gripping performance opposite Phillips in These Final Hours, with Sarah Snook also making an appearance in the project. Subtly balancing action and violence with tender emotional moments, These Final Hours takes the audience on an intense but cathartic journey.

2 The Cabin In The Woods (2011)

Directed by Drew Goddard

In a delightful mix of genres, The Cabin in the Woods blends elements of horror, thriller, comedy, and the apocalypse into its tight runtime, never dragging or wasting a moment of screentime. It utilizes the classic tropes of scary movies and incorporates them through meta-textual commentary on both filmmakers and audiences who engage in these iconic but formulaic stories. The narrative turn in The Cabin in the Woods makes comedic commentary about the nihilism of the end of the world.

Like other additions to the genre, The Cabin in the Woods uses its story to wonder if humanity is worthy of averting the apocalypse because of the terrible way people treat each other.

Easily one of the best thriller movies of the 2010s, The Cabin in the Woods lets the audience in on the game of the story quickly, but that doesn't make it any less compelling. Like other additions to the genre, The Cabin in the Woods uses its story to wonder if humanity is worthy of averting the apocalypse because of the terrible way people treat each other. Though the film is a treat for film fans with an interest in cinematic structure, it appeals to all viewers thanks to its high entertainment value.

1 Miracle Mile (1988)

Directed by Steve De Jarnatt

The fast pace of Miracle Mile keeps the story moving forward at a propulsive speed, never allowing the viewer to catch their breath. As much about the futile yet beautiful discovery of love as it is about the end of the world, Miracle Mile follows Harry (Antony Edwards) and Julie (Mare Winningham) as they embark on a whirlwind romance just as nuclear armageddon hits. Primarily focusing on Harry as his accidental discovery of the news, Miracle Mile sees many different people come to with their fates.

Set in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, Miracle Mile uses the La Brea tar pits as a recurring location throughout the story, creating a parallel between the long-dead fossils that humans find in the pits and the inevitability of humanity's own extinction. It's difficult not to feel genuine fear throughout Miracle Mile, as the movie doesn't pull away from the mass hysteria and unavoidable anxiety that accompanies the certain end of the world.