Essential Survival Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

(Photo by © MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection. RESCUE DAWN)

What would you do if you were stranded on an island, lost in space, or alone and surrounded by wolves? Some might cry and accept death, but there are those who would push through, doing anything they could to stay alive and make it home. They’re the most resilient of us, and their fight for survival always makes for a great time at the movies. Don’t believe us? Well, we’re compiling a list of the most essential survival films of all time!

Who could forget Leonardo DiCaprio getting mauled by a bear and crawling through the freezing wilderness in The Revenant, or Tom Hanks befriending a volleyball to maintain his sanity in Cast Away, or Matt Damon growing potatoes by using his poop in The Martian. There’s nothing more rousing than seeing someone persevere through the harshest conditions.

For our list, we’re keeping it to grounded survival stories, where the majority of the film is about an individual or group trying to stay alive. This means leaving out monster movies like A Quiet Place and I Am Legend, as well as most horror films, since, come on, what horror film isn’t about staying alive? We’re also gonna avoid extreme “fantastical” disaster films, like Greenland and The Day After Tomorrow, but will allow disaster films that are based on or inspired by real events, like The Impossible and World Trade Center.

Recommended: 50 Disaster Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer

That still leaves us with plenty of films to get excited for that will coincidentally prepare us for when we’re marooned in the middle of nowhere and need a refresher on how to make a fire. Check out our list below!