Netflix And Lockdown: 15 Best Pandemic Movies To Kill Your Quarantine

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We’ve all got more time on our hands than usual as lockdowns, quarantine and self-isolation become the norm. For some not-quite escapism, fire up Netflix and check out this list of 15 pandemic-based movies.

1. The Host

From the director that brought us Parasite, The Host follows one family battling through a quarantined Seoul. With gross-out special effects and gripping family drama, The Host is a thrilling watch for a pandemic-struck world.

2. Children Of Men

“This brutally realistic depiction of a dystopian world in collapse follows Clive Owen going up against powerful forces,” says Ralph Rosario, an entertainment writer at Lia Help and Essayroo. “The background, a world with an absence of children, makes a bleak backdrop for this politically powerful thriller.”

3. The Girl With All The Gifts

This post-apocalypse world is built in compelling detail and follows a band of plucky Brits holding out against a virus that has taken hold of the country, turning its denizens into brain-dead zombies. With a thought-provoking subplot turning genre cliches on their head, this film makes for memorable viewing.

4. Rec

The film that changed the way I think about loft hatches forever. POV filming brings you closer to the action in this gripping Spanish zombie horror. All taking place over one evening in a modern-day Barcelona apartment complex, you’ll be on the edge of your seat.

5. Contagion

The film that feels “too real” in the face of our current pandemic, Contagion makes for uncomfortable watching. An all star cast featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon face up to touch choices in a world harrowed by a global pandemic.

6. Outbreak

When a mysterious virus takes over the population of a remote Californian town, the citizens are placed in quarantine. The film follows the military and healthcare professionals fighting the disease and it’s grim effects.

7. The Flu

“This South Korean film explores the consequences of a deadly flu breaking out in Bundang,” says Teresa Battaglia, a journalist at Boomessays and OXEssays. “With the virus killing its host within 36 hours, the film is a fast-paced race against time.”

8. Infection

A Japanese take on the consequences of a mysterious spreading illness, this one stretches belief as the victims disintegrate into green mush. However, it’s a gripping account of how medical mistakes can snowball into a full-blown crisis.

9. The Cassandra Crossing

A classic option from the ‘70s, The Cassandra Crossing follows a group trapped on a train after terrorists infect them with a deadly disease. Fighting for their lives, they learn the train is barrelling towards a weak bridge – the disasters are lining up!

10. Virus (2019)

Based on the true story of how a Keralan community worked together to overcome an outbreak in 2018, this movie foreshadows how well the Indian district subsequently managed COVID. There’s something we can all learn from in this film.

11. The Bay

The Bay’s gripping premise is that the film is assembled from found footage, giving it that shaky cam Blair Witch feel. The sense of claustrophobia mounts as the story of a killer virus that takes over its host’s minds unfolds.

12. Carriers

With the backdrop of a growing pandemic, Carriers follows a group of friends on the run from the deadly disease. It turns out that as the world is falling apart, other people begin to pose just as deadly a threat as any virus.

13. Pontypool

Told through the eyes of a Canadian radio DJ, Pontypool presents the by-familiar theme of a global pandemic from a new perspective. Barricaded in his basement studio, Grant Mazzy’s only insight into the pandemic is through sporadic phone-ins – a fascinating and claustrophobic tale unfolds.

14. The Killer That Stalked New York

For the neo-noir take on pandemic, the eponymous killer is a smallpox outbreak kicked off by a diamond smuggler. This ‘50s throwback is a quaint offering amongst the big budget thrillers we’re used to.

15. 28 Days Later

Danny Boyle’s dramatic take on the zombie movie! Rather than focusing on the days around the outbreak, Boyle takes a look at how the world has changed 28 days later, following survivors as they struggle to come to terms with the new landscape.

Killing Time

Lockdown may be boring, but these pandemic movies will make you glad you aren’t running for your life from a plague of zombies. Kill some time in quarantine with these all-time pandemic movies.