Films like The Martian
9 picks with a similar feel
What defines The Martian, going by its Boxlist taste profile: An otherworldly, serious sci-fi film: unhurried and fresh. Best if you like the extraordinary over the everyday. Its strongest markers on Boxlist are themes of underdogs and resilience and survival, plus tags such as deep space, struggle for survival and planet mars.
Here are 9 films with a similar feel, ranked by how closely they match that profile. Treat them as picks to try, not a definitive list.
Based on The Martian (2015).
- 1
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Film6.8Faster-paced
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and inventive, with themes of underdogs and resilience and survival. Common ground: stranded, spacecraft.
- 2
Interstellar (2014)
Film8.3Faster-paced
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and inventive, with themes of underdogs and resilience and survival. Common ground: nasa, astronaut, spacecraft.
- 3
The Platform (2019)
Film7.0
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and weighty, with themes of underdogs and resilience and survival. Common ground: struggle for survival, survival.
- 4
Gravity (2013)
Film7.2More intricate
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and weighty, with themes of resilience and survival. Common ground: astronaut, space.
- 5
Passengers (2016)
Film6.9Warmer in tone
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and slow-burning. Common ground: isolation, spacecraft, space.
- 6
Real Steel (2011)
Film6.9Faster-paced
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and weighty, with themes of resilience and survival.
- 7
Film7.4
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and weighty, with themes of underdogs and resilience and survival.
- 8
The Space Between Us (2017)
Film7.1Warmer in tone
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and inventive. Common ground: planet mars.
- 9
The Man from Earth (2007)
Film7.7More intricate
Why it's like The Martian: Also heightened and inventive, with themes of underdogs and resilience and survival. Common ground: survival.
Boxlist compares The Martian with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point. Ratings are TMDB audience scores out of 10.
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Take the taste testQuestions
- What should I watch if I like The Martian?
- Picks with a similar feel include Star Trek Beyond, Interstellar, The Platform and Gravity. Each shares part of The Martian's taste profile, themes or tags; the full list has 9 films.
- How are these films like The Martian chosen?
- Boxlist compares The Martian with every film in its catalogue on ten taste scores (pace, tone, weight, realism and more), story themes, genres and TMDB keywords, and ranks the closest. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 6.7 or more from at least 1,000 votes, new releases wait until their ratings settle, and only one title per franchise makes the list. It is an approximation of feel, so treat it as a starting point.