The end of the world is a hot topic, especially since the internet came into existence and allowed the masses to voice concerns and theories surrounding the fate of the Earth. For decades the topic has been explored on the big screen to varying degrees of success.
In 2020 the animated short Logorama won anOscar with an animated story cleverly using famous brand logos to show the destruction of Los Angeles. More recently, Adam McKay's Netflix film Don't Look Up concluded with a similar story focusing on how the powers that be might use the end of the world to their advantage. There are actually quite a few acclaimed films that have similar world endings that have both impressed and terrified audiences over the years.
Updated on July 31st, 2023 by Valerie Parker: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
11 Knowing (2009)
Knowing is an end-of-world tale featuring a prophetic vision by a young girl, starring Nicolas Cage as the only man who believes the truth. When his son unearths a time capsule that's been buried for over 50 years, John Koelster (Cage) realizes that several of the predictions inside have already come true.
He also soon realizes that there are three more yet to come, including one that predicts global annihilation. When no one believes his tale, he enlists the descendants of the young girl who predicted the calamity to help him in his attempt to avert disaster.
10 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
It's the end of the world, as we know it... And guess what? Steve Carell feels fine. At least, that was the case in his 2012 rom-com Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which explored the ins and outs of Armageddon alongside co-star Keira Knightley.
Patton Oswalt, Rob Corddry, T.J. Miller, and Gillian Jacobs co-starred in this fun little indie effort that followed, with (some) grace, a search by one man for a meaningful connection amid the end of times.
9 This Is the End (2013)
Written, directed, and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, 2013’s apocalyptic comedy film This is the End stars some of Hollywood’s funniest stars — including Rogen himself. James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride co-star in the film, stealing every scene they're in.
This is the End focused on fictionalized versions of the cast in the wake of a global biblical apocalypse. It followed the group as they gathered together for an epic party only to have to seek refuge in Franco’s mansion while waiting out the catastrophe.
8 Don’t Look Up (2021)
Despite the criticism Adam McKay received, Don’t Look Up was a fun ride thanks to the countless celebs who pop up. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, McKay's darkly comedic tale sets its sights on the destruction of the Earth in line with the prophecies of many climate change activists.
However, it told the story through a different kind of apocalyptic lens; by way of a planet-destroying asteroid. Don't Look Up showed how the world’s most influential people could use the catastrophe to their advantage. Of course, that included taking a very big sideswipe at the media, among others.
7 The World's End (2013)
The final film in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy from Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg which also includes Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, The World's End is the team's take on disaster movies. After 20 years, Gary King (Pegg) reunites his boyhood group of friends for another stab at the epic pub crawl in their hometown.
Known as The Golden Mile, it features 12 pubs where the group must drink one pint of beer each. Unbeknownst to them, there's a secret lurking in the streets of Newton Haven, as the site has become the jumping-off point for an alien invasion. After years apart they must work together as the only ones standing between humanity and the alien apocalypse that would see them all potentially replaced.
6 Take Shelter (2011)
When Oscar-nominee Michael Shannon stars in a film by writer-director Jeff Nichols, it's usually a good sign. Their previous collaborations include films like Midnight Special and Loving. 2011's Take Shelter followed Curtis LaForche (Shannon), who lived in a small Ohio town with his wife (Jessica Chastain) and hearing-impaired daughter (Tova Stewart).
Though money is tight, he and his family were very happy. However, Curtis started having terrifying dreams about an apocalypse that threatened them all. Rather than confiding in his wife, he built a storm shelter in the backyard, and his strange behavior causes tension in their marriage and the surrounding community. Shea Whigham is also dynamite in a film whose ending implies that not all dreams should come true.
5 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok doesn't address the end of the Earth, but that of the fictional world of Asgard. Faced with the death of his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the God of Thunder also shockingly learned about his sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett). Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is in a fight against time to save his home and his people from destruction.
Thor seeks help on Earth from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) before fighting The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in a gladiatorial-style game on the other side of the galaxy. Thor must bring together a group that includes his ne'er do well brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the long-absent Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) to try and take down Hela. In the end, he is forced to acknowledge that Ragnarok is unavoidable, and helps to unleash the destruction of his home to stop Hela's evil from taking even more lives.
4 Melancholia (2011)
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Arguably the best movie about depression, 2011's Melancholia is an apocalyptic drama art film about a rogue planet colliding with Earth. It follows the story of two sisters (Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) anticipating the world’s end.
As a planet hurtles toward a collision course with Earth in Melancholia, the sisters cope with the approaching doomsday in strikingly different ways. Melancholia features a stellar supporting cast including Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård, and Brady Corbet. The film premiered in 2011 as the second entry in Lars von Trier's Depression Trilogy, which was preceded by Antichrist in 2009 and followed by Nymphomaniac in 2013.
3 The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Writer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard gave fans what is arguably one of the best end of the world/horror stories yet to grace the silver screen. Five college students embark on what they think is a fun weekend trip in 2012's The Cabin in the Woods.
Little do they know they're pawns in a bigger game of good and evil, where government employees use their unknowing choices against them to decide the horror they must face. It's all to make an offering to long-dormant gods who must be kept at peace, lest they escape and destroy the world. Unfortunately, these aren't the simple-minded stooges the pencil pushers were counting on, and their ability to see beyond the truth of the situation becomes the Earth's undoing.
2 Miracle Mile (1988)
Named after the stretch of Los Angeles where the film takes place in a single day, Miracle Mile stars Anthony Edwards as Harry Washello. He receives a mysterious wrong number call in which he is warned about a pending war. Shaken by the information, Washello tells the people in the diner he was visiting.
When one of them is able to confirm that her contacts in Washington D.C. are being evacuated to the Southern Hemisphere, the group of strangers flee for possible safety via a plane to Antarctica. Unwilling to leave without the woman he loves, Washello splits from the group in pursuit of her, hoping to eventually join the fleeing strangers. When chaos descends on Los Angeles, he initially fears he has created mass chaos for no reason, only to have his fears verified when a missile flies past.
1 Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Stanley Kubrick's black comedy classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a monochrome masterpiece. The film follows an "accidental" nuclear attack and the chaos leading up to it. Convinced that communists want to pollute America's "precious bodily fluids," a crazed general (Sterling Hayden) orders an air strike on the U.S.S.R.
Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers) scrambles to unlock a recall code to prevent the bombing, while the U.S. president (Sellers again) calls a drunken Soviet Premier on the hotline claiming the proposed attack is all a silly mistake. The president's advisor, Dr. Strangelove (also Sellers), verifies the existence of a dreaded retaliatory device designed by the Soviets to end the human race once and for all. Dr. Strangelove is one of Kubrick's finest achievements, especially due to its uniquely comedic tone.
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