The end of the world – it certainly feels like that nowadays, what with everything going on. But long before pandemics and giant bees were the norm, we were already looking at how the world would be if our worst fears came true. If someone popped the nukes, or global warming just did the job for us. The post apocalyptic world is one we’ve seen many movies and shows about, such as these.
1. Snowpiercer
After the foibles of humanity causes the Earth to freeze over, the uber rich live on a 1001-car train that circles the globe endlessly. The poor eke out an existence on the back of th train, living off primal behavior. A subversive and genre-defying film, this one has Bong Joon Ho written all over it. The show is absolute cable TV trash, so don’t even bother watching that.
2. The Mad Max Movies
From the 70s, when the first Mad Max released, it’s been one hellride through the unforgiving wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia. In this world, every resource is currency worth taking lives for, and only the strong survive. Water, fuel, and bone density are the best things you can have here.
3. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
There are some shows that look and sound like they’re for kids, but then you watch them and it’s a revelation. This obviously is one of those shows. It follows a young girl fighting for survival in the extremely distant future, where animals have mutated into sentient beings capable of speech and other marvels, and humans live underground. The show is emotive, hilarious, constantly surprising, and has the best music. Just watch it, goddammit.
4. Love Death + Robots
This Netflix show, a collection of animated shorts that doesn’t shy away from the disturbing, doesn’t get enough attention. Several of the storylines take place in post apocalyptic worlds, from farming communities fighting off planet-eating monsters to a world where cats have taken over, this anthology series is truly a creative masterpiece.
5. The Walking Dead
A zombie apocalypse has left the few human stragglers still alive in the US running for cover – that’s the premise of this long running show. However, as things progress, it’s not just the brain-eating monsters that humans have to worry about, but other factions of people as well.
6. Escape from New York
There’s one thing you can’t deny – Kurt Russell’s got charisma for days. This film, released in 1981, takes place in a post apocalyptic USA where entire cities have been turned into maximum security prisons. Snake Plissken, an ex-soldier and criminal, is sent in to rescue the president. Cheesy? Yes. Balls to the wall fun? Also yes.
7. The Last Man on Earth
This post-apocalyptic comedy stars Will Forte as the bumbling and criminally lonely Phil, in a world where pretty much everyone has died due to some kind of unknown virus. He travels the lands in search of companionship, and finds survivors who become family along the way. The first season isn’t too great, but after that it becomes amazing.
8. The 100
A century after nuclear war has all but destroyed the human population, the lone survivors live on a spaceship that’s running out of resources. In a bid to check if the earth is habitable again, they send 100 juvenile delinquents back down to see if they can restart everything.
9. The Rain
This Danish show takes place in a world where a virus carried by the rain has wiped out pretty much everyone in Scandinavia. 2 sibling who were living out the apocalypse in an underground bunker emerge to find the world changed, and start to make something of their lives by joining a group of other survivors.
10. 10 Cloverfield Lane
This movie is a masterpiece, with brilliant acting by all the leads and an astonishingly layered storyline. A woman suffers a car accident, and then wakes up in an underground bunker with a man telling her she can’t leave because there’s an alien invasion happening overground. You can never be quite sure of the truth in this film that defies genres.
A very possible ‘what if’ scenario depicted in most of these.