LIST

10 Great Apocalyptic Movies on Prime Video to Make You Forget COVID-19 (For a Lil Bit)

By Matt Oakes · March 21, 2020

We’re in week two of the national lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and, assuming you’re like me, you’ve probably been scrolling endlessly through streaming services to find that next batch of must-watch flicks. Last week, we shared the 10 Perfect Isolation Movies to Stream on Netflix During Your Quarantine and it’s time for a little more #StreamAndQuarantine. This week, we’re shifting over to Amazon Prime and running through the list of coronavirus-appropriate movies that’ll make the catastrophe we’re in seem mild by comparison. The ten films serve as a reminder that things could always be even worse.

There are far worse places to get trapped than at home, on a chairlift for instance, as shown in this visceral survival thriller Frozen (not to be confused with the Disney animated movie of the same name.) There’s frostbite, hypothermia and even man-eating wolves in this teeth-chattering vision of isolation in extreme conditions that’ll make you thankful for the comforts of central heating.
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A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place actually makes the end of the world look rather peaceful. That’s probably because the slightest disruption to said peace will result in a sonic-speed monster tearing you limb from limb. Directed by and starring John Krasinski, this horror critical darling reminds us that even in our current situation, at least we can clang about, pump up the jams, and walk around with shoes on without fear of being instantly obliterated.
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Annihilation

Alex Garland’s heady and visually-arresting interpretation of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel sees a group of armed female scientists enter a quarantine zone where flora and fauna are subject to rapid mutation. This outstanding, chilling science-fiction film showcases humanity’s pull towards self-destruction as their response to a growing viral outbreak leaves a band of investigators shaken to the very core, their minds an absolute wreck.
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The Return of the Living Dead

Okay, so people aren’t out there turning into zombies and moaning for brains or anything and, as evidenced by The Return of the Living Dead, that’s a really good thing. This cult favorite (and my personal favorite zombie movie) is so popular with niche audiences for good reason. Its punk-rock style, fun-loving writing, and sopping wet practical effects make this a timeless classic about holing up against the dead that’ll make us appreciate the lack of a current zombie outbreak.
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Resolution

A junkie’s best friend forces him to go cold turkey in this genre-bending feature from writer-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead (Spring, The Endless). In Resolution, Chris finds himself chained to a wall and forced to ween off his poison of choice (the big H) but when strange events start to occur, it becomes obvious that there’s more going on than mere withdrawal symptoms. An unsettling and engaging cabin in the woods drama with a sci-fi twist.
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The Killing of a Sacred Deer

People fall ill and die. Are the doctors who treat them to blame? In Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the answer is decidedly ambiguous. This highly mannered mind-fuck is an impossible-to-define acquired taste but rings of true terror as we see a family suddenly stricken with debilitating sickness as a maybe-supernatural course of revenge. It’s certainly not for everyone, particularly as it basks in the horror of losing control of your body, one piece at a time.
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Bellflower

This ambitious hybrid is part doomsday prep drama, part failed romance saga and all stomach-churning madness. This Sundance debut was made on the slimmest of micro budgets, director Evan Glodell even making the cameras from scratch, but its story of surviving through a horrible relationship will leave a permanent mark. Talk about a social apocalypse.
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The Big Sick

Countless people across the nation and the globe are experiencing their own big sick right now thanks to the virus known as COVID-19. This romantic drama starring Kumail Nanjiani is your typical meet-cute love story that takes a hard pivot when their blossoming relationship comes to a halt when Emily falls into a coma. A funny and heartfelt portrayal of the enduring power of love through illness, The Big Sick contains a valuable lesson that’ll deliver the feels. A bit of counter programming to all the doom and gloom otherwise on this list.
[WATCH NOW]

Turbo Kid

This fairly blatant Mad Max rip-off sees an orphaned teenage wandering a water-deprived future wasteland, battling off a tyrant warlord to impress his crush, Apple, all to a roaring 80s synth soundtrack. The low-budg qualities and splatter-filled practical effects make Turbo Kid feel like an endearing blast from the past; a fun-filled, gore-peppered goofy twist on a familiar future that smacks like Richard Donner’s take on Fury Road.
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The Lighthouse

My apologies but The Lighthouse isn’t quite on Prime Video yet (edit: it is now!) but it’s impossible to exclude Robert Egger’s otherworldly vision of solitude on a rocky New England lighthouse in the 1890s from this list. Featuring masterful performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, this trippy arthouse tone poem will make you happy for your solitude, lest you have to spend it with an intolerable roommate and their incessant farts.
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