20 Best Movies About Viruses and Pandemics
From World War Z to Birdbox, get our list of the best virus and pandemic movies.
Movies are, for many people, a beloved outlet. A treasured respite. A cherished (and much-needed) escape. But sometimes life is stranger than fiction. Scratch that: Sometimes life parallels fiction and right now proves that point. The COVID-19 outbreak mirrored some of our favorite pandemic movies. And while most of the films below are doomsday pieces— humanity- and world-ending sort of stories, watching these flicks can still be entertaining.
Here are 20 of the best movies about pandemics, viruses and outbreaks.
1. Outbreak (1995)
One of the most well-known pandemic movies and arguably the most popular is Outbreak, a mid-90s action thriller about a deadly, Ebola-like virus that is spreading through parts of California and the United States.
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman
Rotten Tomato“Tomatometer” rating: 59%
2. Contagion (2011)
Made in 2011, Contagion is an exceptionally smart (and scary) disaster movie. Why? Because Contagion is something of a sociological study into what people would do (and how they would behave) if they were faced with a real-life pandemic. Trust us, this one hits close to home. And it has a star-studded cast too.
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet
Rotten Tomato“Tomatometer” rating: 85%
3. World War Z (2013)
Part pandemic, part zombie apocalypse movie, World War Z is a more imaginative take on what could happen if a virus spreads through society... and turns us all into monsters.
Starring: Brad Pitt
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 66%
4. 28 Days Later (2002)
Set in the city of London (and much like World War Z), 28 Days Later is a post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic zombie movie. In fact, the entire film transpires about one month after the “rage” virus spread throughout the UK.
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Christopher Eccleston
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 87%
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5. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Based on a 1969 novel by Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain follows a group of scientists who are working to figure out what unknown virus killed all the citizens of a small town.
Starring: James Olson, Arthur Hill and David Wayne
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 67%
6. Quarantine (2008)
Fans of The Blair Witch Project will love Quarantine. Why? Because this action-adventure film is a “found footage” movie, i.e. it follows a TV reporter and her cameraman who get trapped in a building that’s being quarantined by the Center for Disease Control.
Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris and Columbus Short
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 56%
7. I Am Legend (2007)
Set several years after a mutated pathogen kills most of humanity (and turns the rest into monsters), I Am Legend follows U.S. Army virologist Robert Neville on his quest to find a cure—and to find fellow survivors.
Starring: Will Smith
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 68%
8. The Last Man On Earth (1964)
Made in 1964 and starring the one and only Vincent Price, The Last Man on Earth follows Dr. Robert Morgan’s journey to battle the living dead after an unnamed disease kills half of humanity and turns the remaining half into zombie-like creatures. The original adaption of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.
Starring: Vincent Price
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 80%
9. 12 Monkeys (1995)
Part pandemic movie, part time travel feature, 12 Monkeys follows James Cole’s (Bruce Willis’) journey from 2030 back to the 1990s, where he is supposed to gather information about a man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 88%
10. Death In Venice (1971)
In Death In Venice, composer Gustave Aschenbach travels to a Venice resort to escape personal and artistic stress. The last thing he expects is to encounter trouble, but his life is threatened when there is a sudden outbreak of cholera.
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli and Mark Burns
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 71%
Related: 21 Inspiring, Uplifting Movies
11. Black Death (2010)
Set in 14th-century England during the time of the bubonic plague, Black Death follows a young monk recruited by the knight Ulric (Sean Bean) to lead a group of soldiers through the marshes into a mysterious village, where rumors are spreading that a necromancer is raising plague victims from the dead.
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean and Carice van Houten
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 71%
12. The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Also starring Vincent Price, The Masque of the Red Death is a horrific adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s short story of the same name.
Starring: Vincent Price
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 65%
13. Flu (2013)
Set in South Korea, Flu highlights the panic and chaos that ensues when a lethal, airborne virus infects individuals in a city less than 20 kilometers from Seoul.
Starring: Jang Hyuk, Soo Ae and Min-ah Park
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 61%
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
14. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
Arguably the least well-received film on our list but a pandemic movie none-the-less, The Cassandra Crossing is a movie about love, terrorism and an unnamed virus. Yes, really.
Starring: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris and Martin Sheen
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 30%
15. Infection (2019)
A man races against time to save his son when a new rabies virus turns people into rampaging zombies in Infection.
Starring: Rubén Guevara, Leonidas Urbina, and Magdiel González
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: n/a
16. The Happening (2008)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, The Happening is an apocalyptic drama about the rapid spread of an unknown virus that causes individuals to commit suicide.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 24%
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17. Blindness (2008)
Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo star in this movie, in which the world has been upended by an epidemic that causes blindness.
Starring: Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 44%
18. Bird Box (2018)
A Netflix original feature, Bird Box follows the journey of a mother and her two children after a widespread, mysterious pathogen drives most of society to suicide.
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes and John Malkovich
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 64%
19. Carriers (2009)
When a virus threatens to wipe out humanity in Carriers, four friends set out across the desert, trying to elude the pandemic. However, as the minutes, hours and days unfold, the friends learn that the darkness within themselves may be deadlier than any external threat or disease.
Starring: Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, and Lou Taylor Pucci
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 66%
20. Zombieland (2009)
While Zombieland isn’t your traditional post-apocalyptic pandemic feature, with the “mad zombie disease" spreading across the United States, it is a (funny) film about viruses.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson
Rotten Tomato “Tomatometer” rating: 89%
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