Movies Like Arrival (Top Picks At A Glance)
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Arrival had everything you could ever possibly want in an alien invasion movie plus so much more! We think you’ll agree that the ending of the movie was totally unexpected. It left us with our jaws wide open. Everything tied together so beautifully in the end. It was an amazingly thought-provoking movie with so much uniqueness to it. This makes it, and other movies like Arrival, so entertaining to watch.
Alien invasion movies that make you think, that’s what has brought you here. You are in search of more great movies similar to Arrival. Movies that will keep you entertained and thinking for countless hours. To help you out, we have compiled a list of what we believe are the most entertaining and similar movies to Arrival. You’ll definitely enjoy all the movies on this list. So just keep on scrolling to see what amazing films we have in store for you today.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Starting off our list of movies like Arrival we have one which was ahead of its time! We need more movies like this one coming out nowadays. We highly recommend you give this one a watch if you haven’t seen it.
2001: A Space Odyssey Movie Description
A monolith has been discovered buried under the lunar surface. There is also a monolith just like it down on Earth. It isn’t long before they send a team to research the newly found artifact. Mankind then sets off to find the origins of these mysterious things and find the answers as to who put them there and why.
The supercomputer HAL is also brought onto this mission. However, HAL begins exhibiting strange behaviors which eventually lead to a final showdown between man and machine to see who can find the creators of these monoliths first.
2. District 9
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Here the aliens didn’t come to help or destroy the Earth, but instead, they came seeking a safe place to stay.
Humans end up being the bad ones here, in the sense that they don’t want to help and only want the aliens’ technology. It’s a different and interesting take on an alien invasion.
District 9 Movie Description
It has been 30 years since the aliens first arrived on Earth. It wasn’t to help or conquer humanity either. Instead, they were seeking refuge from their own dying planet. Now they live separately from humans in District 9, in South Africa. Multi-National United manages these aliens and keeps everything running.
However, they don’t have any interest in helping them, they simply want their advanced technologies for themselves. Things change when one of the company’s agents contracts a virus that changes the coding of his DNA. There’s only one place he can hide, inside of District 9.
3. Prometheus
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Here we have the roles reversed. Instead of the aliens coming to Earth. Humans end up going to the aliens. And as you’ll quickly find out in the movie, that wasn’t the best idea to act on.
Prometheus Movie Description
Scientists Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) have made discoveries on Earth which they believe will lead them to the origins of mankind. The discoveries take them on a trip to the darkest corners of the universe.
Shaw has hopes that they’ll meet benevolent godlike beings that will confirm her religious beliefs while Holloway wants to disprove any religious notions. But when they arrive, neither they nor their crew could have expected the horrors that await them.
4. Interstellar
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So this one, though technically not an alien invasion movie, deals with them indirectly, and it also messes with the time aspect like Arrival.
This is also one of the best space movies out there. Even if you have seen it, you can watch it again and enjoy it just as much as the first time around.
Interstellar Movie Description
The second Dust Bowl and a crop blight have consumed Earth and will soon render humanity extinct. NASA physicist Professor Brand (Michael Caine) has been working on a solution to save the human race by transporting some of mankind to a new planet through a wormhole.
However, with three planets that could possibly serve as a new home, Brand must first send Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) a former NASA pilot along with a crew into the wormhole to determine which planets suit human needs the best.
5. Annihilation
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This movie really took our minds for a ride. It was a stunning movie and one that could have possibly left you very confused at the end.
There are so many questions yet to be answered, but that’s also part of what makes this movie such an interesting and different alien invasion film.
Annihilation Movie Description
A large shimmering wall known as Area X expands across America, showing no sign of stopping. Lena (Natalie Portman) a biologist, as well as a former soldier, joins a mission that will lead her inside of Area X to discover what she can about this mysterious phenomenon.
She is also eager to find out what happened to her husband, who was on the previous team to go into the shimmer. Once they are inside, the team discovers mutations all over, from all the landscape to any living thing within the shimmer walls. Though it’s beautiful, it is incredibly sinister and dangerous. Being inside the walls not only threatens their sanity, but also threatens their lives.
6. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
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This alien right here is without a doubt one of the most famous and cutest alien visitors we have ever had in film history.
This is a movie that everyone should be forced to watch at some point, and we can never let it die. If you haven’t seen it for some weird reason go ahead and watch it now!
E.T. Movie Description
A friendly alien finds itself stranded on Earth. Elliott (Henry Thomas) a young boy finds and befriends the extraterrestrial. He invites him into his home and introduces E.T. to his brother and sister.
They all decide it would be best to keep his existence a secret from the outside world. But when E.T. ends up very sick, this results in the government intervening, which could prove to be a dire situation for both Elliott and the friendly alien.
7. Knowing
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To wrap up our list of movies like Arrival, we are ending with one that is honestly underrated. You could also consider this an end of the world movie.
You’ll understand all the similarities this movie shares with Arrival once everything ties in together at the end nicely!
Knowing Movie Description
A time capsule buried 50 years ago has recently been dug up. Within it was a cryptic letter written by a schoolgirl. Caleb Koestler, the son of Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) gets his hands on this letter.
It isn’t long before John decrypts the letter and realizes it contains all the major disasters which have occurred in the last 50 years as well as three that are set for future dates. One of these disasters is of world-ending proportions. John sets out to get the help of the letter’s author’s daughter and granddaughter, hoping to find a way to stop the coming disasters.
