20 Best Movies To Watch if You Liked ‘Snowpiercer’
Snowpiercer is one of the best series when it comes to an authoritarian system that’s governed by people who are at the top of the societal food chain. Of course, this series has become quite famous to the point that a lot of people have binged through it. So, for those who are scratching their Snowpiercer itch and are looking for movies that are quite similar to it, the good news here is that we have a list of the best movies to watch if you love Snowpiercer.
20. Die Hard (1988)
Yes, we know you are wondering why we have Die Hard on this list, but please bear with us. Die Hard doesn’t have the deeper dystopian and authoritarian themes that Snowpiercer has, but, in a way, it is very similar to it because of the fact it’s a vertical version of Snowpiercer. In this movie, we see the protagonist finding his way to the top of the building instead of traveling to the front of the car, and that is where it becomes similar to Snowpiercer (of course, there’s a lot of action in this movie as well).
Die Hard is often considered the movie that launched Bruce Willis’ action career in movies. This movie follows the story of a cop who was forced to go out of his element when he had to stop a villain who crashed a party in a high-rise office building. It’s a fun movie that’s full of action and common action movie tropes but is still thrilling and full of excitement.
19. The Purge Movies
There are plenty of Purge movies, and we don’t have the time to discuss all of those different movies. However, what you should know is that the Purge movies all follow the same theme and are not too different from one another because of the fact that they simply follow similar formulas but have different stories and different central characters. Nevertheless, they are all similar to Snowpiercer in the sense that it involves oppression.
The Purge movies are set at a time when crime is almost nonexistent because of the Purge, which is a once-a-year event that allows all of the citizens of America to commit any crime for a limited time. This allows you to see how the people who are privileged are able to keep themselves safe from the people who are willing to do whatever it takes to commit whatever crime they can possibly do. Of course, some of the more privileged members of society also use the Purge to their advantage by actually using impoverished members of society as their victims.
18. Captive State (2019)
Captive State is a movie that is similar to Snowpiercer because it follows the same themes of different people (or entities) living on different sides of society. While it does have a different plot because of how it is more on the extraterrestrial side of the sci-fi genre, it still is similar to Snowpiercer in some aspects. And this movie is actually quite underrated.
The story of Captive State happens in a Chicago neighborhood that had been occupied by an extraterrestrial force for almost a decade. This movie explores the different stories involving the people who are oppressed under the rule of the aliens and the people who are actually collaborating with the extraterrestrials to oppress their own people.
17. Battle Royale (2000)
Battle Royale is a Japanese film that is often regarded as the inspiration for the Hunger Games books and movies (more on those later). That’s because it is actually the original version of the Hunger Games in the sense that people are forced to kill one another for survival while appeasing people who are in the upper portion of society. In a manner of speaking, it’s a movie that will allow you to see the different sides of society and how the oppressed are willing to do whatever it takes to survive.
The story of Battle Royale follows 42 9th-grade Japanese students who are forcefully sent to a deserted island where they are given only a few resources and weapons. There is an explosive collar around their neck, and the collars are what keep them in line because breaking the rules will allow the ones controlling the game to kill them on the spot. The rules of the game state that they should all battle one another to death until only one of them remains standing.
16. The Matrix Series (1999 – 2021)
There is a total of four different Matrix movies that all follow the same timeline and more or less the same story. The first three movies were released in a short span of time from one another, while the latest movie was released 18 years later. Going to our point, the Matrix series is similar to Snowpiercer in that it follows a story in a dystopian world where humans are oppressed.
The story of the Matrix movies starts off with a character named Neo, who was believed to be the prophesized savior of humans and was trained to be able to defeat their oppressive rulers as a member of the resistance. It’s basically a weird sci-fi movie that has a lot of philosophical themes you need to follow to understand the entire series. Nevertheless, it’s a great set of four films that are full of exciting action.
15. In Time (2011)
The entire concept of In Time is one that people should understand so that they could have a better appreciation of the limited time that we have in this world and so that they would see that there is a correlation between time and money. Of course, those who are at the top of the societal food chain tend to be the ones who have more time in a movie that allows you to see that a regular person’s 24 hours differ from a rich person’s 24 hours.
In Time takes place in a futuristic society where people stop aging once they are 25 years old. However, clocks on their wrists will appear as soon as they hit 25, and that clock represents the time they have left to live. Their remaining time also serves as currency, and that means that those who have more “money” get to live longer than the poor people who don’t have enough time.
14. The Platform (2019)
The Platform can be quite disturbing, but this is a movie that perfectly reflects what it means to be in a society where those who are at the top are able to enjoy whatever they have in life while leaving the scraps to those who are at the lower levels of society. That is where it becomes similar to Snowpiercer, which is a series that tells the story of how the poor and oppressed are forced to live on scraps left by the rich.
This movie tells the story of a vertical prison where there is only one cell per level and two people per cell. The food platform starts off from the top, as the ones at the bottom only get to feed on whatever remains from what those at the top ate. This means that those at the lowest level of the prison are forced to eat scraps in a movie that reflects the societal ladder we see in today’s real world.
13. The Maze Runner Series (2014 – 2018)
The Maze Runner series features multiple films that were adapted from a young adult novel of the same name. The first movie starts off as something of a survival story where young people are forced to keep themselves alive in a small settlement, as they are left not knowing why they are there or who they were before they got there.
However, as the movies progress, you will begin to understand that they are actually part of some sort of an experiment involving a group of powerful people. In a sense, the entire movie series takes place in a dystopian world where a powerful organization is at the forefront of controlling society, all while certain people are left with no choice but to submit to an authoritarian rule.
12. Gattaca (1997)
Gattaca is one of the oldest movies we have on this list, considering that the sci-fi genre only became more prominent during the 2000s. Nevertheless, this is a film that is able to capture what it means to live in a society that may seem utopian but may not seem as perfect as it might seem to be. The fact that there is an oppressed sector means that this is quite similar to Snowpiercer.
The story of Gattaca takes place in a society where those who are deemed perfect are given all of the privileges in the world, while those who aren’t perfect are given less. However, we get to see the differences in how the people live in this society as the protagonist attempts to trade lives with one of the people deemed perfect.
11. The Raid (2011)
The Raid, in all honesty, doesn’t have the same kind of complex themes that Snowpiercer has in the sense that it doesn’t talk about a dystopian society where people are divided into separate caste systems depending on how much they could offer to society in a capitalistic manner. Nevertheless, we all know that Snowpiercer is still an action series that talks about the oppressed fighting their way through the train’s numerous carts until they gain control over it.
In that sense, The Raid is similar to Snowpiercer because you are talking about an elite group of cops who have to fight their way through the different levels of a building against different bad guys that have taken over it. There are similarities between it and Die Hard, but we are talking about elite police officers instead of one super cop. It’s a heart-pounding movie that’s full of action and excitement.
10. V For Vendetta (2006)
V For Vendetta has become one of the most polarizing films of the 21st century because of how there are plenty of different philosophical themes covered in this movie. In a sense, it follows the story of a vigilante during a time when an oppressive government is ruling London under fascist rule after the World War. As such, you get to see what V is forced to do just so he can help strike fear into the hearts of the oppressors while also giving hope to those who are oppressed.
The fact that V For Vendetta is a movie that explores a battle between the oppressed and the oppressors is what makes it similar to Snowpiercer. It’s a movie that is both brutal and fun because of the action scenes. However, there are a lot of philosophical themes that you need to be able to understand in this deep yet very eye-opening movie.
9. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)
This is probably the only movie we have on this list that isn’t all about humans getting oppressed. Instead, we are looking at apes who are on the side of the oppressed in this movie. So, while humans may not be on the oppressed side of this film, we get to understand how humans can also be oppressive when it comes to creatures that they deem lower than them. But this movie explores what happens when “less intelligent” animals suddenly become just as intelligent.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes talks about a group of apes that, through an experiment, were able to become smarter than their regular ape counterparts. Of course, some of the apes were kept under oppressive living conditions, and that was what forced them to try to liberate themselves from human oppression so that they could be free.
8. Children Of Men (2006)
Children of Men is what Snowpiercer would look like had it been translated into a movie with a smaller budget and a less-than-creative director. Nevertheless, the similarities between it and the Snowpiercer series are spot on because of the fact that this movie explores the story of people who are living in a dystopian society.
In a basic sense, Children of Men allows us to see a dystopian society where people have become infertile, and the human race is in the middle of extinction. However, when the freedom fighters of an oppressive society see that a young girl has become pregnant, they stop at nothing to keep her protected from the oppressors.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the greatest movies of the 2010s and is a film that blends high-quality effects with a great plot that focuses a lot on the fast-paced action of the movie. And while it might be the opposite of Snowpiercer in the sense that this movie takes place in a dry and waterless environment, the fact that it takes place in a dystopian world ruled by powerful people is what allows it to be similar to Snowpiercer.
This movie follows the story of Max, who somehow finds himself entangled with a tyrant who controls a fortress where he oppresses and enslaves different people, all while he lives lavishly. Max is forced to be on the other side of the conflict when he gets himself in the middle of a mess that involves one of the tyrant’s most trusted people, who betrayed him so that she and the wives that she helped free could find a way out of the oppressed conditions they were living under.
6. The Hunger Games Series (2012 – 2015)
The Hunger Games movies are generally similar to Battle Royale, which is a movie that we talked about earlier. Basically, the film is also similar to Snowpiercer because of the fact that we are talking about people who live in a secluded portion of society and are forced to appease the ones who live in the more affluent part of society. And the series spans multiple movies that allow us to see the sides of the oppressed and the ones who are oppressing them.
Hunger Games starts off with an event called the Hunger Games, which forces people from the poorer districts to send representatives that are going to take part in a battle royale-like environment where only one person should be left standing. And the purpose of doing so is to keep the districts from rebelling and to please the ones who are living in the better and more affluent part of society.
5. District 9 (2009)
Another movie that involves a plot between a group of oppressed taking on their oppressors is District 9. But the thing about this movie is that it is actually a film that explores how humans could end up oppressing aliens for their own selfish desires. In that sense, it is quite similar to Snowpiercer because of the fact that we have one group of people oppressing another group for selfish and greedy purposes.
District 9 focuses on a plot where aliens have made contact with humans on Earth so that they can take refuge on the planet. However, the aliens were segregated in an area called District 9, where they were oppressed and used by the different leaders of humanity so that they could get their hands on the advanced technology that the aliens have. In a sense, this movie allows you to see how humans can be the ones oppressing other creatures, even if we are talking about entities that are more advanced.
4. Parasite (2019)
You can never have a list that talks about different levels of socio-economic capabilities without talking about Parasite, which is an award-winning Korean film that perfectly reflects the kind of society we live in. And while it doesn’t have the same sci-fi elements that the other movies on this list have, it is still very similar to the themes that are covered by Snowpiercer.
The story of Parasite revolves around a family that has a symbiotic relationship with a poor family. This means that they both benefit from one another to some extent. However, the relationship gets put to the test due to class discrimination, and that’s where the plot of the entire movie focuses. It’s an award-winning film that is difficult to describe in words and is better off experienced.
3. Elysium (2013)
Elysium hits all of the right spots when it comes to the similarities it has with Snowpiercer. That’s because this is a futuristic sci-fi movie where the rich are allowed to live in a lavish colony outside Earth while the poor people are left on the ruins of the planet with little to no resources available to them. And this is where the plot revolves around.
The focus of the movie is on the main character taking a dangerous mission so that he can make it possible for the people of Earth to live a life that is equally good as the ones enjoyed by those who are on Elysium. Nevertheless, the secretary of Elysium is on a mission to try her best to make sure that only those who are living in the colony get to enjoy the kind of life they enjoy. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that those on Earth don’t get to live on Elysium.
2. Train To Busan (2016)
Train to Busan may not have the same kind of class oppression that you can find in Snowpiercer, but almost all of the different elements are there. Basically speaking, this movie talks about survival on a train, where all of the action takes place. And that means that it covers all of the basic elements that you can find on Snowpiercer.
Honestly speaking, Train to Busan is actually a zombie movie that tells the story of a group of survivors who were forced to board a train to Busan in the hopes of finding a spot that is safe from the outbreak. However, they are forced to fight for their lives when the outbreak makes it to the train, and that’s where the action and the drama unfold in this award-winning movie Korean movie.
1. Snowpiercer (2013)
Of course, the only movie that is most similar to the Snowpiercer series is the Snowpiercer movie, which came out back in 2013 and is actually one of the works that the series is based on. This movie stars Chris Evans, who is the one leading the rebellion against their oppressors on the train.
Considering that this is a movie, it is much more fast-paced compared to its series counterpart. The Snowpiercer movie allows you to see a lot of different fights on the train, as the citizens of the rear cars are forced to fight their way through the different carts in front of them so that they can make it all the way to the front where they could take control of the train. And this movie promises to have just as many twists and turns as the series.
