12 Movies Like High Life You Need to Watch
Find 12 tense sci-fi and drama picks for fans of High Life, including Rubikon, Prospect, Passengers, Mira, and more space-set thrillers.
If you’re searching for movies like High Life, you probably want the same uneasy mix of space-bound suspense, emotional damage, and big sci-fi ideas. This list brings together bleak survival stories, strange planets, and tense character drama, including Rubikon, Prospect, Passengers, The First, Mira, Alien: Covenant, and Slingshot. Some lean harder into thriller territory, while others fold in adventure, romance, or quiet grief, but each one carries that lonely, high-stakes feeling. Whether you liked the isolated setting, the moral questions, or the way the story keeps you off balance, these picks should give you another sharp ride.
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01
Rubikon
drama · sci-fi · thriller
The company soldier Hannah and the scientists Gavin and Dimitri are researching an algae project on board the Rubikon space station, which is supposed to permanently supply humanity with oxygen and food. But suddenly the earth disappears below them in a brown, toxic fog and all contact is broken off - are they the last survivors of humanity? Should they initiate the safe station, dare the return flight and thereby risk their lives?
Directed by Magdalena LauritschCast Julia Franz Richter, George Blagden, Mark Ivanir, Nicholas Monu, Daniela KongAMC+ -
02
Prospect
adventure · drama · sci-fi · thriller
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive.
Directed by Christopher Caldwell, Zeek EarlCast Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, Pedro Pascal, Luke Pitzrick, Arthur DeranleauHulu -
03
The First
drama · sci-fi
Follow the first human mission to Mars, exploring the challenges of taking the first steps toward interplanetary colonization. The story focuses not only on the astronauts, but also on their families and loved ones, as well as the ground team on Earth.
Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Agnieszka Holland, Ariel Kleiman, Daniel SackheimCast Sean Penn, Natascha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Hannah Ware, Keiko AgenaHulu -
04
Mira
adventure · drama · sci-fi
Near future. Lera Arabova is a 15-year-old girl who lives with her family in Vladivostok. Lera's father has been working at the orbiting space station "Mira" for many years and has long lost contact with his daughter, turning only into a voice on the phone. After a meteor shower hits the city, Lera has only one chance to save her loved ones and the city from a new disaster. Her father helps her in this - through satellite surveillance systems and the telephone, he uses every opportunity to send a message to his daughter, watching from above from the station her every step.
Directed by Dmitriy KiselevCast Anatoliy Beliy, Veronika Ustimova, Yevgeniy Yegorov, Darya Moroz, Maksim LagashkinAmazon Prime Video -
05
Alien: Covenant
horror · sci-fi · thriller
The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise but is actually a dark, dangerous world.
Directed by Ridley ScottCast Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián BichirPeacock Premium -
06
Slingshot
mystery · sci-fi · thriller
An elite trio of astronauts aboard a years-long, possibly compromised mission to Saturn's moon Titan, gears up for a highly dangerous slingshot manoeuvre that will either catapult them to Titan or into deep space.
Directed by Mikael HåfströmCast Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham, Tomer Capone, David MorrisseyHulu -
07
Sputnik
drama · horror · mystery · sci-fi · thriller
At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission gone awry, leaving the commander as its only survivor. After a renowned Russian psychologist is brought in to evaluate the commander’s mental state, it becomes clear that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him…
Directed by Egor AbramenkoCast Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, Pyotr Fyodorov, Anton Vasilev, Aleksey DemidovAMC+ -
08
Bird Box
horror · mystery · sci-fi
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
Directed by Susanne BierCast Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Jacki WeaverNetflix -
09
The Cloverfield Paradox
horror · sci-fi · thriller
Orbiting above a planet on the brink of war, scientists test a device to solve an energy crisis and end up face-to-face with a dark alternate reality.
Directed by Julius OnahCast Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, John Ortiz, Chris O'DowdNetflix -
10
The Titan
drama · mystery · romance · sci-fi · thriller
On a bleak future Earth, a soldier endures a radical genetic transformation to save humanity. But his wife fears he's becoming more creature than man.
Directed by Lennart RuffCast Sam Worthington, Taylor Schilling, Tom Wilkinson, Agyness Deyn, Nathalie EmmanuelNetflix -
11
The Discovery
drama · romance · sci-fi · thriller
In the near future, due to a breakthrough scientific discovery by Dr. Thomas Harbor, there is now definitive proof of an afterlife. While countless people have chosen suicide to reset their existence, others try to decide what it all means. Among them is Dr. Harbor's son Will, who has arrived at his father's isolated compound with a mysterious young woman named Isla. There, they discover the strange acolytes who help Dr. Harbor with his experiments.
Directed by Charlie McDowellCast Robert Redford, Mary Steenburgen, Brian McCarthy, Jason Segel, Rooney MaraNetflix -
12
Alien: Romulus
horror · sci-fi · thriller
While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonists come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Directed by Fede AlvarezCast Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike FearnHulu
Wrapping Up
These titles share the same pull as High Life: isolation, danger, and characters who have to keep going when everything feels fragile. From hard-edged sci-fi to more emotional, human stories, this lineup gives you plenty of directions to explore next. If you want a place to keep coming back for similar recommendations, bookmark this page and check in again later. It’s updated regularly, so the selection stays fresh as new releases and hidden gems arrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes these movies similar to High Life?
These picks were matched by tone, themes, and story style using a similarity model trained on plot synopses, genres, and cast — not just shared genre tags — so the connection runs deeper than a simple category match.
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Last updated: September 9, 2026