50 Movies Like Contagion (2011) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Contagion details →Steven Soderbergh's 2011 drama-thriller with science-fiction leanings charts the outbreak of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the epidemic spreads across the globe, the medical community races to identify the pathogen and develop a cure while trying to contain a panic that outpaces the disease itself. Soderbergh favors a cool, procedural, multi-strand approach, following the science, the logistics and the social breakdown with clinical precision rather than melodrama. That restraint makes it gripping for viewers who like grounded, research-minded storytelling and ensemble structure. Anyone wanting a single hero or conventional catharsis may find it detached, and some may find its subject uncomfortably close to real experience.
If you loved Contagion (2011) by Steven Soderbergh, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are The Platform, The Circle, Replicas. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to Contagion
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Contagion in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
The Platform
2019 · Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
A slab of food descends down a vertical facility. The residents above eat heartily, leaving those below starving and desperate. A rebellion is imminent.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Circle
2017 · James Ponsoldt
A young tech worker takes a job at a powerful Internet corporation, quickly rises up the company's ranks, and soon finds herself in a perilous situation concerning privacy, surveillance and freedom. S
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Replicas
2018 · Jeffrey Nachmanoff
A scientist becomes obsessed with returning his family to normalcy after a terrible accident.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Gravity
2013 · Alfonso Cuarón
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Outbreak
1995 · Wolfgang Petersen
A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col. Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined,
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Under the Skin
2014 · Jonathan Glazer
A seductive stranger prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Day the Earth Stood Still
2008 · Scott Derrickson
A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Transcendence
2014 · Wally Pfister
Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transce
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
WarGames
1983 · John Badham
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war co
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Glass
2019 · M. Night Shyamalan
In a series of escalating encounters, former security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Meanwhile, the s
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Chronicle
2012 · Josh Trank
Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
10 Cloverfield Lane
2016 · Dan Trachtenberg
After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist's underground bunker, where he claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
I Am Legend
2007 · Francis Lawrence
Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City a
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Sunshine
2007 · Danny Boyle
Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the Sun — but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team is
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
The Happening
2008 · M. Night Shyamalan
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
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
Brick
2025 · Philip Koch
When a mysterious brick wall encloses their apartment building overnight, Tim and Olivia must unite with their wary neighbors to get out alive.
In common: Science Fiction · Thriller
Emilia Pérez
2024 · Jacques Audiard
Rita, an underrated lawyer working for a large law firm more interested in getting criminals out of jail than bringing them to justice, is hired by the leader of a criminal organization.
In common: Drama · Thriller
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011 · Lynne Ramsay
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Machinist
2004 · Brad Anderson
Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Nowhere
2023 · Albert Pintó
A young pregnant woman named Mia escapes from a country at war by hiding in a maritime container aboard a cargo ship. After a violent storm, Mia gives birth to the child while lost at sea, where she m
In common: Drama · Thriller
Room
2015 · Lenny Abrahamson
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Margin Call
2011 · J.C. Chandor
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. An entry-le
In common: Drama · Thriller
Lady Vengeance
2005 · Park Chan-wook
Released after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 13 years, a woman begins executing her elaborate plan of retribution.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sliver
1993 · Phillip Noyce
A woman moves into a Manhattan apartment, where she learns that the previous tenant's life ended under mysterious circumstances.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Last Breath
2025 · Alex Parkinson
Seasoned deep-sea divers battle the raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Crush
1993 · Alan Shapiro
A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Night Hunter
2019 · David Raymond
A Minnesota police officer crosses paths with a committed and tireless vigilante as he follows the trail of a ruthless predator responsible for several abductions and murders.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Mothers' Instinct
2024 · Benoît Delhomme
Housewives Alice and Celine are best friends and neighbours who seem to have it all. However, when a tragic accident shatters the harmony of their lives, guilt, suspicion and paranoia begin to unravel
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sleeping with the Enemy
1991 · Joseph Ruben
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Fractured
2019 · Brad Anderson
Driving cross-country, Ray and his wife and daughter stop at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse,
In common: Drama · Thriller
Conclave
2024 · Edward Berger
After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerf
In common: Drama · Thriller
Eden
2025 · Ron Howard
A group of disillusioned outsiders abandon modern society in search of a new beginning. Settling on a remote, uninhabited island, their utopian dream quickly unravels as they discover that the greates
In common: Drama · Thriller
Sirāt
2025 · Oliver Laxe
A man and his son arrive at a rave lost in the mountains of Morocco. They are looking for Marina, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at another rave. Driven by fate, they decide to
In common: Drama · Thriller
Crash
1996 · David Cronenberg
A car crash victim suddenly finds himself turned on by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground sub-culture of like-minded souls.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Impossible
2012 · J. A. Bayona
In December 2004, close-knit family Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand. But the day after Christmas, the idyllic holiday turns into an incomprehensible nightmare
In common: Drama · Thriller
Escape from Alcatraz
1979 · Don Siegel
San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Lost Bus
2025 · Paul Greengrass
A determined father risks everything to rescue a dedicated teacher and her students from a raging wildfire.
In common: Drama · Thriller
Amores Perros
2000 · Alejandro G. Iñárritu
A fatalistic car crash in Mexico city sets off a chain of events in the lives of three people: a supermodel, a young man wanting to run off with his sister-in-law, and a homeless man.
In common: Drama · Thriller
JFK
1991 · Oliver Stone
Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.
In common: Drama · Thriller
The Man from Earth
2007 · Richard Schenkman
A 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
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Nocturnal Animals
2016 · Tom Ford
Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastin
In common: Drama · Thriller
Thirteen Lives
2022 · Ron Howard
Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world. Twelve boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team explore the Tham Luang cave when an unexpected rainstorm traps them in a chamber inside
In common: Drama · Thriller
Tetris
2023 · Jon S. Baird
In 1988, American video game salesman Henk Rogers discovers the video game Tetris. When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Cur
In common: Drama · Thriller
Gemini Man
2019 · Ang Lee
Henry Brogan is an elite 51-year-old assassin who's ready to call it quits after completing his 72nd job. His plans get turned upside down when he becomes the target of a mysterious operative who can
In common: Drama
Gattaca
1997 · Andrew Niccol
Vincent is an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. He is an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveli
In common: Drama · Science Fiction · Thriller
Elysium
2013 · Neill Blomkamp
In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Carriers
2009 · Àlex Pastor
A deadly virus has spread across the globe. Contagion is everywhere, no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. Four friends race through the back roads of the American West on their way to a secluded
In common: Drama
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2014 · Matt Reeves
A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011 · Rupert Wyatt
A highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Fire in the Sky
1993 · Rob Lieberman
After clearing brush for the government, a group of men return to town claiming their friend was abducted. Despite no apparent motive or evidence of foul play, no-one believes their story and his disa
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Popular Drama series
Breaking Bad
2008 · Michelle MacLaren
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · Kazutaka Yamanaka
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s m
The Chosen
2019 · Tyler Thompson
The life of Christ through the eyes of those who encountered him.
When Life Gives You Tangerines
2025 · Park Sang-hyun
In Jeju, a spirited girl and a steadfast boy's island story blossoms into a lifelong tale of setbacks and triumphs — proving love endures across time.
