5 movies To Watch If You Enjoyed Paradise

Season 1 of 2025's best new show in Hulu's Paradise just ended. Created by Dan Fogelman who also created one of my must see TV shows when it aired This Is Us, and starring Sterling K. Brown who starred in that series. Paradise is a post apocalyptic political murder mystery that hit the gas at the end of episode 1 and didn't let up. I, like many am already anticipating season 2 and hope the wait is not too long. The show obviously has many influences, so I decided to pick five films that I think fan's may enjoy if they liked the show. Now I can't say for sure these films were influences, but I saw similarities watching the show, so here are we.  

Warning if you haven't finished, let alone watched the show. You probably don't want to read much further.

Truman show

As episode 1 ended and it was revealed the characters were living inside of a dome with a focus on the artificial sun. I couldn't help but think about 1998's the Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, in which he lived inside of a dome. While in Paradise the dome was built to save humanity, the Truman Show it's purpose was a large TV set to fabricate this world around Truman Burbank as millions watched his life 24/7. Truman and his "cast" lived in a false reality much like the inhabitants of Paradise.

Snowpiercer

Released in the U.S. in 2014 and starring Chris Evans, Snowpiercer followed the remaining population of civilization living abroad a train. The train continually travels around the globe with society broken up into classes onboard. The wealthy live in luxurious spacious cars in the front of the train, and the poor are crammed together in the back scraping for seconds. Led by Curtis (Chris Evans) the inhabitants of the back stage a revolution making their way to the front of the train.

Besides the post apocalyptic aspect, Snowpiecer and Paradise both involve different methods of housing humanity. In addition the class aspect, as in Paradise many of those chosen to live in the dome were wealthy, were needed for the project, or had connections.

Vantage Point

This 2008 film may seem like a bit of a stretch but hear me out. In Vantage Point an assassination attempt occurs on the U.S. President while in Spain. The film is then told from multiple perspectives of bystanders who may have seen possible clues to who did it. What happens in Paradise once President Bradford is confirmed dead? Between video footage, interviews, and episodes devoted to certain characters different vantage point's are displayed. On where folks were that night, to backstory relationships with the president, and how the community would move past that.

Deep impact 

1998's Deep Impact was one of two released that summer alongside Armageddon, focusing on humanity trying to prepare and stop an asteroid from colliding with earth. There's debate about which is a better film, but it's mostly agreed upon that Deep Impact is the more scientifically accurate. Much like Paradise, Deep Impact plot point's included the government making efforts to prepare for a Extinction level event (ELE), while also waiting too long to share with the general public. And last but not least having an underground shelter ready to go with certain citizens already confirmed to be have a slot in the shelter. In addition showing the immediate impact and aftermath of those events. 

Thirteen Days

In true Dan Fogelman fashion, episode 7 of Paradise opened with a prologue that on the surface seemed to have nothing to do with the series. What many have deemed one of the best written and acted TV episodes in history, opened with a nameless Colonel back in 1962 talking to his wife about how a catastrophic event was averted. That event was the Cuban missile crisis, it factors into the episode later in true Fogelman fashion.

It makes sense that 2000's Thirteen Days was likely an inspiration.  Starring Bruce Greenwood and Kevin Costner, the film dramatizes President Kennedy's and the military efforts to avoid a war with Russia over missiles that are stationed in Cuba. The film highlights the stakes and the pressure world leaders go through during times like that. You felt all of that tension and pressure in James Marsden's and the rest of the casts acting in episode 7 of Paradise.