50 Movies Like Elysium (2013) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Elysium details →Neill Blomkamp's 2013 science-fiction thriller stages inequality on a literal orbital divide. By 2159, the wealthy live on Elysium, a pristine artificial space station, while everyone else struggles on a ruined, overcrowded Earth, where Secretary Rhodes brutally enforces anti-immigration laws to protect that privilege. When luckless factory worker Max is cornered, he takes on a perilous mission that could save his own life and, if it succeeds, bring equality to the planet. Blomkamp fuses hard-edged action, grimy world-building and pointed social allegory about class and access. It suits viewers who like dystopian sci-fi with something to say, muscular set pieces and a grounded, dirt-under-the-nails vision of the future.
If you loved Elysium (2013) by Neill Blomkamp, 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 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Running Man. 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 Elysium
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Elysium 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.
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: Action · 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: Action · Drama · Science Fiction
The Running Man
1987 · Paul Michael Glaser
By 2017, the global economy has collapsed and U.S. society has become a totalitarian police state, censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of gam
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Colony
2013 · Jeff Renfroe
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Doomsday
2008 · Neil Marshall
The lethal Reaper virus spreads throughout Britain—infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands. Authorities brutally and successfully quarantine the country but, three decades later, the viru
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Gamer
2009 · Brian Taylor
Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Death Race 2
2010 · Roel Reiné
In the world's most dangerous prison, a new game is born: Death Race. The rules of this adrenaline-fueled blood sport are simple, drive or die. When repentant convict Carl Lucas discovers there's a pr
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Mercy
2026 · Timur Bekmambetov
In the near future, a detective stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has ninety minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced AI Judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
In Time
2011 · Andrew Niccol
In the not-too-distant future, the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities. The rich can live foreve
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Insurgent
2015 · Robert Schwentke
Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Terminator Salvation
2009 · McG
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses th
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Island
2005 · Michael Bay
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The I
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Mad Max
1979 · George Miller
In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on st
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Total Recall
2012 · Len Wiseman
Factory worker Doug Quaid takes a virtual mind-trip vacation with the Rekall company, opting for implanted memories of being a spy. When the procedure goes wrong, Quaid becomes a wanted man by the pol
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Mad Max 2
1981 · George Miller
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
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
Snowpiercer
2013 · Bong Joon Ho
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engi
In common: Action · Drama · Science Fiction
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: Action · Drama · Science Fiction
The 6th Day
2000 · Roger Spottiswoode
A world of the very near future in which cattle, fish, and even the family pet can be cloned. But cloning humans is illegal - that is until family man Adam Gibson comes home from work one day to find
In common: Action · Drama
Surrogates
2009 · Jonathan Mostow
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of oth
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
2015 · Wes Ball
Thomas and his fellow Gladers face their greatest challenge yet: searching for clues about the mysterious and powerful organization known as WCKD. Their journey takes them to the Scorch, a desolate la
In common: Action · Science Fiction
The Hunger Games
2012 · Gary Ross
In a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage
In common: Action · Science Fiction
Starship Troopers
1997 · Paul Verhoeven
Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally t
In common: Action · Science Fiction
Battle Royale
2000 · Kinji Fukasaku
In 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.
In common: Action · Drama · Thriller
Riddick
2013 · David Twohy
Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Equilibrium
2002 · Kurt Wimmer
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overth
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Maze Runner
2014 · Wes Ball
A teenager with no memory of his past finds himself among a group of boys living in a walled enclosure surrounded by a massive, ever-changing maze. As he struggles to adapt to their rules and society,
In common: Action · Science Fiction
V for Vendetta
2006 · James McTeigue
In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When V rescues a young woman fr
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Book of Eli
2010 · Albert Hughes
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Death Race
2008 · Paul W. S. Anderson
Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
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
What Happened to Monday
2017 · Tommy Wirkola
In a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid being put to a long sleep by the government and dangerous infighting while investigat
In common: Action · Science Fiction
They Live
1988 · John Carpenter
A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Terminator
1984 · James Cameron
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgen
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
World War Z
2013 · Marc Forster
Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zo
In common: Action · Science Fiction
Minority Report
2002 · Steven Spielberg
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2003 · Jonathan Mostow
It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
RoboCop
1987 · Paul Verhoeven
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the com
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Children of Men
2006 · Alfonso Cuarón
In 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
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
2023 · Francis Lawrence
64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.
In common: Action · Science Fiction
Ghost in the Shell
2017 · Rupert Sanders
In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human saved from a terrible crash, then cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.
In common: Action · Drama · Science Fiction
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: Action · Drama
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: Action · Drama
Spectral
2016 · Nic Mathieu
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Left Behind
2014 · Vic Armstrong
A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish during the rapture and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Apex
2021 · Edward Drake
Ex-cop Thomas Malone is serving a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. He is offered a chance at freedom if he can survive a deadly game of Apex, in which six hunters pay for the pleasure of hu
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Outside the Wire
2021 · Mikael Håfström
In the near future, a drone pilot is sent into a deadly militarized zone and must work with an android officer to locate a doomsday device.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
The Giver
2014 · Phillip Noyce
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
In common: Drama · Science Fiction
Boss Level
2021 · Joe Carnahan
A former special forces agent is trapped in a time loop and relives his death over and over again. To escape the terrible situation, he must track down those responsible and stop them.
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
Universal Soldier
1992 · Roland Emmerich
An American soldier who had been killed during the Vietnam War is revived 25 years later by the military as a semi-android, UniSols, a high-tech soldier of the future. After the failure of the initiat
In common: Action · Science Fiction · Thriller
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