You'd think the hunger for end-of-civilization stories would fade in the course of an actual global pandemic. But while many Netflix subscribers tried to forget about the outside world from the start by immersing themselves in the silliness of Tiger King, others doubled down on all the sadness by sending Outbreak and Contagion to the top of the most-watched list. And the streaming giant has continued to deal with these gluttons in order to punish them in 2021: Awake, Sweet Tooth, and a second season of Black Summer are set to drop in the next month. If pure exhaust isn't your thing, take a look at ten of the best post-apocalyptic originals on the service.
Bird box
(Image credit: Netflix) By all accounts, XNUMX million Netflix viewers celebrated Christmas XNUMX by watching a haunting horror about an enigmatic entity that drives anyone who sees it to suicide. Consequently, Bird Box can seem downright unfestive. But with one of Hollywood's friendliest stars as her blindfolded heroine and a plot that mirrors one of the biggest surprise hits of the year, you can understand why she's become a dinner party darling. after the turkey The adaptation of Josh Malerman's novel of the same name doesn't quite reach the same heights as the very same theme from A Quiet Place. Nonetheless, supported by Sandra Bullock's brilliant and gritty performance, it remains a tense and tense survival story that will keep you glued to it.
At night
(Image credit: Netflix) A hijacked airplane must outrun the sun, once its rays have wiped out the earth's population. Into the Night sounds like one of the many wonders of a superior season that have come about because of Lost. But Netflix's first Belgian original has already been renewed for a second series, thanks to surprisingly strong character development, an engaging and diverse cast, and the ability to hold you on the edge of your seat throughout its 6 episodes. Best of all, its short runtime means you can binge on everything in an afternoon. Don't read too much about the science behind the disaster.
What happened to the first day of the week?
(Image credit: Netflix) Giving Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany a run for her money, Noomi Rapace stars as 7 identical twins with 7 different personalities in this dystopian sci-fi that defies logic but continues to be entertaining. What happened to the first day of the week? It is in the near future, where a one-child policy has been incorporated to combat overpopulation. But after spending thirty years posing as the same person, it's only now that Rapace's Karens ensemble must overcome multiple threats, including Glenn Close in a more clearly heartless form than Cruella from Despicable Me, to stay alive. Sure, it's full of glaring plot holes, but director Tommy Wirkola (the man behind the Nazi zombie-killing horror Dead Snow) emotionally patched them up in the B-movies.
The society
(Image credit: Seacia Pavao / Netflix) A cast of all-American teens (played by actors who are obviously in their late XNUMXs, naturally) return home from a hike to find that all of humanity has mysteriously vanished. At first glance, The Society seems like your average brilliant teen drama. But in the midst of every high school cliché, there are also debates about the power of democracy, privilege, and religion, aligning them with the existential mystery of HBO's The Leftovers as much as the dazzling chaos of Riverdale. Unfortunately, the events of the real world end a second series, but the first still contains a resolution that is good enough to be worth the investment.
Army of the dead
(Image credit: Clay Enos / Netflix) After nearly a decade of increasingly inflated antics in DC's Extended Cosmos, Zack Snyder has returned to the roots of his genre this year with arguably his most entertaining film since Dawn of the Dead. Despite its title, this largely OTT mash-up is not affiliated with its XNUMX remake of the traditional Romero. Instead, it's a separate franchise spawner (a prequel and an animated TV spin-off to follow soon) where a motley crew of stuntmen plans to rob a casino, which like the rest of their Las Vegas zombie ensemble. , is about to get a nuclear government. Sure, it's absolutely absurd, but unlike most of Snyder's comics, it doesn't forget to be entertaining.
Tribes of Europe
(Image credit: Gordon Timpen) Supposedly conceived in response to Brexit, Tribes of Europa follows 3 enthusiastic brothers as they seek to reunite the continent after a disastrous event called Black December split it into multiple warring factions. And an enigmatic cube found in the wreckage of a plane crash seems to hold the key. Set in 6, forty-five years after said disaster, this dystopian sci-fi is not for the faint of heart. There is practically as much bestiality and bloodshed in its XNUMX chapters as in the entirety of Game of Thrones. But as it's produced by the team behind the German Netflix hit Dark, such hyper-violence is counterbalanced by beautiful filmmaking and a rich mythology well worth exploring further.
Midnight sky
(Image credit: Netflix) George Clooney plays dual roles in this decidedly icy doomsday drama that suggests he was taking notes while filming Steven Soderbergh's Solaris. Returning to screens for the first time since XNUMX, the director plays a terminally ill Arctic Circle scientist who must warn a space team returning from Jupiter that a radiation-struck Earth is no longer hospitable. Steeped in melancholy, The Midnight Sky is considerably more interested in thinking about human connection, redemption, and the future of civilization than delivering high-octane action. While the sets, including a perilous space journey, ensure there is still something to feast the eyes on, while Alexandre Desplat's evocative score ensures it sounds equally awe-inspiring.
The rain
(Image credit: Netflix) If The Rain had come in the middle of the dystopian young adult boom, instead of at the end, there would be just more attention. In this Danish original, toxic rain is the contender, having wiped out virtually the entire Scandinavian population, with siblings Rasmus and Simone, fresh out of an underground bunker after 6 years, the reluctant heroes. As they search for the father who left them and a cure, the couple joins many other endearing young survivors, most of whom have their own compelling stories. If you thought Northern TV was all about crime noir and wool sweaters, think again.
Charge
(Image credit: Netflix) Based on a short of the same name released 4 years earlier, XNUMX's Underrated and Underrated Cargo brings something a little different to the crowded stable of zombies. First, there's the burned-out setting of the Australian outback, which lets directors Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke explore the whole drama of the undead from an indigenous perspective. Then there's the fact that it takes forty-eight hours for anyone who gets bitten to become a full-fledged meat eater, a delay that gives Martin Freeman's newly infected father a chance to locate a babysitter for his daughter before he can. . . Few zombie movies have touched the heart with such efficiency.
Alba
(Image credit: Netflix) Don't let Netflix canceling this bizarre tragic comedy after just one season discourage you. Laughing with Gen Z and Gen Z alike, Daybreak is a gleefully lawless adaptation of Brian Ralph's comic series of the same name that blends the postmodernism of Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick still appears) with the post-apocalyptic tribalism of Mad. Max. Colin Ford takes center stage when the transfer student is determined to track down his missing girlfriend after a nuclear explosion has turned every adult into bloodthirsty mutants. But it's his incendiary tweens and his friends turned samurai that steal the show in a refreshing alternative to all of YA's serious fare.