The first season of the hit Hulu show Paradise has wrapped up and got us thinking about several movies that share some elements and plot devices that made the show so popular. One of the things that make Paradise so enjoyable is its unique concept carried out by an ensemble of talented performers like Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden. The combination of an extinction-level event with a seemingly utopian underground city turned on its head by a series of murders and a coup d’état really worked nicely and set up a terrific segue into Season 2.

These movies are certainly not identical to Paradise, but they do have some aspects that mirror the Hulu show and should be enjoyable to watch if you liked the show. Some are closer in style, while others emphasize an underground city, a corrupt and oppressive government, and rebellion against tyranny. Here are 10 movies to watch to hold you over until Paradise returns for an encore batch of episodes.

10

‘The Truman Show’ (1998)

Directed by Peter Weir

Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) goes about his daily routine, unaware that he is the star of the biggest reality show in the world, orchestrated in a massive artificial city run by the mysterious Christof (Ed Harris). In The Truman Show, he has a nice job, a doting and watchful wife, Meryl (Laura Linney), and a best buddy from childhood named Marlon (Noah Emmerich). His ignorance is blissful as he knows nothing of the hidden cameras recording his idyllic life since birth. It is a marvelous concept written by Andrew Niccol and directed by Peter Weir that was nominated for a handful of Academy Awards, including a Best Screenplay nod for Niccol.

This is probably the most straightforward cinematic match to Paradise, given that it also takes place in a synthetic city and there is deception involved by a “man behind the curtain” type character. The big difference is that Truman is the only one unaware that nothing in his world is a carefully produced mirage, and he is being used for entertainment. This was a real coming-out party for Carrey, who got his first real opportunity to show he was more than a rubbery-faced funnyman and could carry a movie with his dramatic rigor.

9

‘Deep Impact’ (1998)

Directed by Mimi Leder

In 1998’s Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder, the world faces an extinction-level event as a comet hurtles toward Earth, threatening to cause a devastating tsunami like in Paradise. Tea Leoni, Morgan Freeman, and Robert Duvall head up another stellar ensemble as society attempts to destroy the comet while making plans to move a select group of people into a deep cave sanctuary to wait out a devastating holocaust. Leder does an admirable job of focusing on the dread and fear of humankind as the missions to save humanity come up short.

The parallels between Deep Impact and Paradise are also easily identified with identical apocalyptic devices and the relocation of several thousand humans underground to prevent extinction. Though we never get to see what this dwelling looks like, the elements surrounding the end of the world make Deep Impact a lot like the Hulu show. Freeman, Duvall, and Leoni are all solid in the lead roles, but the ensemble, including Elijah Wood, Ron Eldard, and James Cromwell, makes Deep Impact a sobering but engaging watch.

8

’10 Cloverfield Lane’ (2016)

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

As the world is invaded by a nefarious alien species decimating the surface of Earth, an unlikely trio (John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr.) move underground into a medium-sized bunker that is outfitted with enough food and water to stay out of sight for several years. Dan Trachtenberg directs the second installment of the J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield trilogy and captures the tension of three people trying to exist in a relatively small space while they each question each other’s motivations.

The standout in 10 Cloverfield Lane is John Goodman’s incredible turn as Howard Stambler, the man who built the bunker but may not be of sound mind while he attempts to control Michelle (Winstead) and Emmett (Gallagher Jr.). His domineering nature makes things difficult for his two guests, who are trying to find out what really happened on the surface and whether the air is breathable. Like Sinatra in Paradise, Howard will do everything he can to maintain order and control within his bunker.

7

‘Equilibrium’ (2002)

Directed by Kurt Wimmer

Equilibrium, directed by Kurt Wimmer in 2002, features an underrated performance from The Caped Crusader himself, Christian Bale, in one of his earliest roles. Wimmer delivers an eerie post-World War III dystopian society where the populace is forced to take medication to eliminate free thought and keep it under the oppressive thumb of a mysterious leader. Bale is steely as John Preston, a cleric (specially trained law enforcer), who begins to doubt his part in keeping the people in line without question.

A young Bale shoulders the entire load in Equilibrium, and it is arguably the most action-packed movie of his ever-evolving career. As Preston, he has serious Neo (Keanu Reeves) vibes from The Matrix, with form-fitting black wardrobes and several super-stylized, well-choreographed action sequences. It is a deft combination of high-octane action and a rewarding personal character arc.

6

‘Hidden’ (2015)

Directed by Max and Ross Duffer

Way before the Duffer brothers became an A-list creative duo with Stranger Things, they were experimenting with various genres and perfecting their developmental style. 2015’s Hidden stars Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough, and Emily Alyn Lind as a family forced underground into a makeshift bunker after an apocalyptic event devastates humanity.

This film not only resembles Paradise in the sense that they are both post-apocalyptic and subterranean, but it also resembles the masterpiece of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place. In Hidden, the characters must be as quiet as possible as a mysterious species lurks on the surface. Ultimately, the Duffer brothers pull off a cool twist you never saw coming.

5

‘Biosphere’ (2022)

Directed by Mel Eslyn

The fact that Sterling K. Brown stars in this quirky sci-fi dramedy and Paradise is just icing on the cake, as Mel Eslyn‘s 2022 movie Biosphere is worthy of its merits. The apparent similarity here is that the film revolves around two characters living in an artificial dome for several years after an apocalyptic event has wiped out most of humankind and having to become accustomed to a completely different lifestyle. The storyline of Biosphere is as bizarre you would expect from Mark Duplass, who co-wrote the film with Eslyn.

Brown stars opposite Duplass, who brings his usual eccentricities; together, the two talented performers have great chemistry. If there is such a thing as a funny end-of-the-world movie, this would be it, with both actors using their trademark affability and wit. Sometimes, you have to do things to keep yourself from going crazy, and the things that former POTUS Ray (Duplass) and scientist Billy (Brown) need to repopulate their fishpond after the last female fish dies.

4

‘The Signal’ (2014)

Directed by William Eubank

Here is an underrated YA sci-fi thriller that delves into an otherworldly alternate existence. William Eubank directs The Signal, which stars Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, and Laurence Fishburne. Nic Eastman (Thwaites) and Haley Peterson (Cooke) are abducted and awake in a mysterious, sterile underground lab where scientists perform strange human experiments. After an attempted escape, they discover that they have been operated on in ways they weren’t even aware of in a twisty conclusion.

Fishburne gives The Signal some stability in a wild story of advanced robotics and the human existential crisis that goes along with what is being done at what may or may not be Area 51 in Nevada. This is the kind of fun movie that is great to sit down with a bowl of popcorn, suspend disbelief for a couple of hours, and take a crazy ride with a solid cast that is well-directed by Eubank.

3

‘Pleasantville’ (1998)

Directed by Gary Ross

You would never know that 1998’s Pleasantville was Gary Ross’s directorial debut. Working with an extraordinary cast including Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, and William H. Macy, the story of a seemingly idyllic 1950s small town that has been deprived of color and existed in black and white is a brilliant conceit. When a rainbow of bright, new colors emerges throughout the hamlet, people who become colorized are treated as pariahs.

Ross’ plot device revolves heavily around the McCarthyism and fearmongering of the ’50s and applies it to a palate of color. The overabundance of talent really delivers in a wonderfully unique film that addresses a familiar issue in a brand-new way that has never been done before. This may be the most considerable reach on this list in that it is only similar to Paradise in that they are both outwardly happy places that are turned upside down, dividing the people.

2

‘The Village’ (2004)

Directed by M. Night Shyamlan

M. Night Shyamalan makes his way onto this list with perhaps one of his most misunderstood twisty horror dramas, The Village. It features multi-generational talent, including the most recent Oscar winner for Best Actor: Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Brendan Gleeson. The Village has a very Shyamalan type of storyline; when a group of disenfranchised people unhappy with the vicissitudes of everyday life in the city retreat into the forest and create their own safe harbor.

Bryce Dallas Howard broke out in this film as Ivy, the brave and bold visually impaired girl who ventures out of the village to find a cure to save her boyfriend. Her mesmerizing performance carries what is one of Shyamalan’s most underrated and harshly criticized films that tried something different and was penalized because it didn’t have the dramatic jaw-dropping twist of his previous films, like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. It is a worthy entry into the director’s oeuvre.

1

‘Snowpiercer’ (2013)

Directed by Bong Joon Ho

South Korean master Bong Joon Ho‘s deft tale of class separation aboard a train that traverses an icy post-apocalyptic society remains one of the finest movies of the 21st century. Snowpiercer also has a fantastic ensemble that includes Chris Evans, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, and Alison Pill. The film’s underlying themes are still just as relevant today as they were over a decade ago. With its commentary on social structure and class warfare, it could be seen as a precursor of sorts to his dazzling Oscar-winning film Parasite.

Snowpiercer was also a paradigm shift for Evans as a performer. He went from being seen mainly as an action hero in the MCU into a bona fide, well-rounded A-list dramatic star that he would follow up with a sterling turn in Knives Out. In Snowpiercer, he took it up a notch to more than hold his own in serious scenes alongside veterans Harris, Hurt, and Swinton. This Bong Joon Ho film is worth a watch anytime, but also if you enjoyed Paradise.

NEXT: The 10 Best Sterling K. Brown Movies, Ranked