Movies and TV series about survival
The 60 best titles about survival, ranked by the iRank Score — our composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb. Every page includes cast, where to watch and similar recommendations.
The Pianist
2002 · Roman Polanski
MovieDramaWarThe true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café;
Attack on Titan
2013 · Manabu Otsuka
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & Fantasy100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress.
Solo Leveling
2024 · Asa Suehira
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyThey say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but that’s not the case for the world’s weakest hunter Sung Jinwoo. After being brutally slaughtered by monsters in a high-ranking dungeon, Jinwo
Mad Max: Fury Road
2015 · George Miller
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionAn apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this worl
Vinland Saga
2019
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationDramaFor a thousand years, the Vikings have made quite a name and reputation for themselves as the strongest families with a thirst for violence. Thorfinn, the son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors,
The Man from Earth
2007 · Richard Schenkman
MovieDramaScience FictionA departing professor gathers his closest colleagues for an intimate farewell, but the night takes an unexpected turn when he shares a stunning secret about his past. As the conversation unfolds, skep
Classroom of the Elite
2017
SeriesAnimationDramaMysteryKiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,
The Last of Us
2023 · Cecil O'Connor
SeriesDramaTwenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job so
Record of Ragnarok
2021
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyBefore eradicating humankind from the world, the gods give them one last chance to prove themselves worthy of survival. Let the Ragnarok battles begin.
Made in Abyss
2017 · Sho Tanaka
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationDramaLocated in the center of a remote island, the Abyss is the last unexplored region, a huge and treacherous fathomless hole inhabited by strange creatures where only the bravest adventurers descend in s
Children of Men
2006 · Alfonso Cuarón
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerIn 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 sc
The Promised Neverland
2019
SeriesAnimationDramaMysteryEmma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean c
All of Us Are Dead
2022
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasyA high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out — or turn into one of the rabid infected.
The Martian
2015 · Ridley Scott
MovieAdventureDramaScience FictionDuring a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile pl
Sweet Home
2020
SeriesAction & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyAs humans turn into savage monsters and the world plunges into terror, a handful of survivors fight for their lives — and to hold on to their humanity.
Love, Death & Robots
2019 · Jennifer Miller
SeriesAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyTerrifying creatures, wicked surprises and dark comedy converge in this NSFW anthology of animated stories presented by Tim Miller and David Fincher.
Tower of God
2020 · Haruhito Nakayoshi
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationMysteryReach the top, and everything will be yours. At the top of the tower exists everything in this world, and all of it can be yours. You can become a god. This is the story of the beginning and the end o
Sword Art Online
2012
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyIn the near future, a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a pi
High School of the Dead
2010 · Hiroyuki Omori
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationDramaA small group of students at Fujimi High are fighting for their lives after surviving a zombie outbreak. It is up to Takashi to unite the survivors and escape the horrors that surround them. In this n
Shaun of the Dead
2004 · Edgar Wright
MovieComedyHorrorShaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenu
Alice in Borderland
2020 · Kaata Sakamoto
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaMysteryWith his two friends, a video-game-obsessed young man finds himself in a strange version of Tokyo where they must compete in dangerous games to win.
The Walking Dead
2010
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasySheriff's deputy Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating zombies. He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way.
Life of Pi
2012 · Ang Lee
MovieAdventureDramaThe story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
Battle Royale
2000 · Kinji Fukasaku
MovieActionDramaThrillerIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2026 · Nia DaCosta
MovieHorrorScience FictionThrillerDr. Kelson finds himself in a shocking new relationship - with consequences that could change the world as they know it - and Spike's encounter with Jimmy Crystal becomes a nightmare he can't escape.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train
2020 · Haruo Sotozaki
MovieActionAnimationFantasyTanjiro Kamado, joined with Inosuke Hashibira, a boy raised by boars who wears a boar's head, and Zenitsu Agatsuma, a scared boy who reveals his true power when he sleeps, boards the Infinity Train on
The Walking Dead: Dead City
2023
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasyMaggie and Negan travel to post-apocalyptic Manhattan - long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made it a world full of anarchy, danger, be
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
2013 · Francis Lawrence
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionAfter surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta struggle with the consequences of their victory as unrest spreads across Panem. Forced back into the spotlight, they become symbols of hope and resi
Squid Game
2021 · Hwang Dong-hyuk
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaMysteryHundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits — with deadly high stakes.
The Revenant
2015 · Alejandro G. Iñárritu
MovieAdventureDramaWesternIn the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
The Warriors
1979 · Walter Hill
MovieActionThrillerProminent gang leader Cyrus calls a meeting of New York's gangs to set aside their turf wars and take over the city. At the meeting, a rival leader kills Cyrus, but a Coney Island gang called the Warr
Predator: Badlands
2025 · Dan Trachtenberg
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionCast out from his clan, a young Predator finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
Vikings: Valhalla
2022 · Steve Stark
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaWar-politicsIn this sequel to "Vikings," a hundred years have passed and a new generation of legendary heroes arises to forge its own destiny — and make history.
Fear the Walking Dead
2015 · Michael Satrazemis
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaWhat did the world look like as it was transforming into the horrifying apocalypse depicted in "The Walking Dead"? This spin-off set in Los Angeles, following new characters as they face the beginning
Lost in Space
2018 · Zack Estrin
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasyAfter crash-landing on an alien planet, the Robinson family fights against all odds to survive and escape. But they're surrounded by hidden dangers.
The Strain
2014
SeriesDramaMysterySci-Fi & FantasyA high concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a myste
Yellowjackets
2021 · Brad Van Arragon
SeriesDramaMysteryThis equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama tells the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a
28 Years Later
2025 · Danny Boyle
MovieHorrorScience FictionThrillerTwenty-eight years after the Rage virus outbreak, a heavily-defended island survives connected to the mainland by a single causeway. When one of the group leaves the island into the dark heart of the
Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale
2017 · Tomohiko Ito
MovieActionAdventureAnimationIn 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn't have a full-dive function like its
Stargate Universe
2009 · Brad Wright
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasyThe adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They evacuated there and are
The Long Walk
2025 · Francis Lawrence
MovieHorrorScience FictionThrillerIn a dystopian 1970s America, fifty teenage boys take part in a deadly annual walking contest, forced to maintain a minimum pace or be executed, until only one survivor remains.
The Platform
2019 · Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
MovieDramaScience FictionThrillerA slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond
2020 · Matthew Negrete
SeriesDramaSci-Fi & FantasyA heroic group of teens sheltered from the dangers of the post-apocalyptic world receive a message that inspires them to leave the safety of the only home they have ever known and embark on a cross-co
The Blair Witch Project
1999 · Daniel Myrick
MovieHorrorMysteryIn October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.
The Pursuit of Happyness
2006 · Gabriele Muccino
MovieDramaA struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources