Watch These 16 Social Distancing Movies to Make Quarantine Less Lonely

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If you’re reading this, then by now you know the growing global concerns over the coronavirus pandemic have now affected nearly every aspect of our lives. It’s increasingly important we collectively embrace good health habits, including (but not limited to) washing our hands, self-quarantining at home to prevent spreading or contracting the virus, and social-distancing if we must go out for necessary supplies. But, for the most part, incorporating a self-quarantine or social-distancing habit into your daily life right now can feel a bit harrowing, even if you’re with friends and loved ones at home.

As we go on this journey together — but also apart, in our own little bubbles — the need to find movies which either help us escape and find comfort or relate to thanks to fictional circumstances which echo our own is strong. The shutdown of movie theaters has led us to rely on finding good movies to rent or stream which fall into these to categories. To this end, we present a round-up of movies which fall into the latter category, focusing on stories which force protagonists into survivalist scenarios, separate them from the pack, test their mettle against otherworldly circumstances, and remind us that going it alone as you live in a self-quarantine or social-distancing scenario doesn’t have to be scary.

In addition to the movies listed below, check out our round-ups of the best movies available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video right now.

 

A Quiet Place

 

Image via Paramount Pictures

If you need some good parent figures in your life to help you figure all of (gestures widely) this out, look no further than John Krasinski and Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place. Krasinski’s directorial debut garnered lots of praise back in 2018 thanks to his depiction of one family’s fight to survive in a remote farmhouse after alien monsters who track their prey through sound have decimated the population. With the help of young star Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, A Quiet Place thrills thanks to some stylistic flourishes, chiefly the near-erasure of dialogue. It’s hard not to relate to a family sequestering themselves in a farmhouse a few miles away from the proverbial edge of town, attempting to keep some normalcy in their lives with family dinners and board games even when the big bad is lurking, always lurking.

You can watch A Quiet Place on Hulu.

 

The Lighthouse

 

Image via A24

Oh, The Lighthouse. This isn’t the first Robert Eggers joint you’re gonna see on this list but there is a reason it’s coming up early in this list. Starring Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson as hardy 19th-century lighthouse keepers who slowly devolve into madness, The Lighthouse is the latest and best example of a movie where the pain of social-distancing hits a compelling sweet spot. Defoe and Pattinson make an exciting onscreen duo as New England wickies whose individual antics begin to wear on one another, slowly eroding their sanity as their turmoil becomes amplified by the seemingly supernatural occurrences around them. This is definitely the movie to watch if self-quarantining and social-distancing are starting to nag you, if only because you’ll probably feel glad you’re not stuck in a drafty cabin next to a lighthouse as you shutter yourself away from the world right now.

You can rent The Lighthouse now on Amazon Prime Video (or watch it for free beginning April 1).

Bird Box

 

Image via Netflix

Netflix’s Bird Box is as meme-able as it is exciting to watch, with Sandra Bullock playing a woman fighting to survive after a monster attack fundamentally re-shapes the world. Bird Box brings big A Quiet Place vibes into its mix, with folks trying to stay away from monsters who feed on your senses in order to kill you. Bullock’s performance as a hardened survivor who has experienced deep personal loss helps root this creature feature in something real and emotional, making Bird Box‘s journey through the apocalypse all the more interesting.

You can watch Bird Box on Netflix.

 

The Happening

 

Image via Warner Bros.

If you’ve made it this far, you may have sensed a theme emerging early in this round-up: Movies about people removing themselves from the company of other people in order to stay safe from some unseen, unsettling forces. Perhaps the ultimate pick in this genre which is as schlocky as it is captivating in M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Happening. Now, look, I know this isn’t the most Oscar-winning pick (by Shyamalan’s own admission, this flick operates on the level of B-movie). And yet, I find it strangely comforting to watch people try to keep their distance from nature because the trees are sick and tired of this shit and almost always fail because, well, it’s nature. Also, if anyone is gonna get us through this, it’s Mark Wahlberg as a dorky science teacher.

You can watch The Happening on Starz for Hulu or Amazon Prime Video.

The Revenant

 

Image via 20th Century Studios

Do you feel emotionally ravaged by a, say, metaphorical bear? Are you lost in the wilderness… of these very uncertain times? Is the frozen landscape of, uh, unpopulated streets throwing you for a loop. Well, friend, you might have more in common with frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Revenant than you thought.

The movie that finally got DiCaprio his Best Actor Oscar is not the worst survival movie you’ll watch during your time in self-quarantine, but it’s certainly hindered by the fact that it doesn’t have enough Tom Hardy, playing the villain of this piece in addition to a hungry bear. Seeing Dicaprio’s Hugh be put through the physical and emotional wringer as he fights to survive in the frozen, wintry wilderness of the Dakotas circa 1823 might not immediately feel relatable as you swaddle yourself in a blanket and snack it out as you watch. But, shit get real and fast as you somehow find Hugh’s journey is your own (no? Just me?).

You can rent The Revenant on Amazon Prime Video.

 

Gravity

 

Image via Warner Bros.

Being lost or stranded in space, left to contemplate your own humanity while trying to keep a hold on your sanity, is a corner of the storytelling world Hollywood loves to mine. In the case of Alfonso Cuarón‘s Gravity, it plumbs these narrative depths with extremely powerful results. Gravity focuses its story on Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), an astronaut who finds herself stranded, aching for home, and overwhelmed by her circumstances as she tries to get back to some good terra firma. As is frequently the case when playing a woman fighting to survive, Bullock shines as Ryan Stone. If her performance can’t give you strength during this time, I’m not sure what will.

You can rent Gravity on Amazon Prime Video.

I Am Legend

 

Image via Warner Bros.

There are only a few actors I trust to pull me out of a self-quarantine funk, one of them being Will Smith. Lucky for me (and you), Smith has made a movie which explores what it means to feel like the last person on Earth after the fallout from a rapidly-spreading viral pandemic has taken a toll on the world: I Am Legend. I, for one, find I Am Legend to be deeply affecting, especially when doling out the big emotional beats culminating in the audience’s understanding of why Smith’s character, the last man on Earth (or so he thinks), is actually alone.

You can rent I Am Legend on Amazon Prime Video.

 

Cast Away

 

Image via 20th Century Studios

The movie which arguably defines why this article exists is the 2000 Robert Zemeckis-directed, Tom Hanks-starring survivalist epic, Cast Away. In the wake of a plane crash, FedEx exec Chuck Noland (Hanks) finds himself on a deserted island. With zero knowledge or skills on how to survive in the wilderness (even if that wilderness is a beautiful tropical island), Chuck spends years fending for himself and trying to find a way back home. If the story doesn’t tug at your heartstrings, watching Hanks give an Oscar-nominated performance will.

You can rent Cast Away on Amazon Prime Video or watch on Cinemax for Hulu.

Into the Wild

 

Image via Paramount Pictures

Seeking a life away from the madness of the world is both a deeply relatable feeling and the central dramatic thrust of Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as Chris McCandless. Based on the Jon Krakauer non-fiction book of the same name which tracked the real McCandless’ sojourn across the U.S. in the early ’90s, Penn’s Into the Wild partially works as a solid marketing campaign for embracing the magic of the great outdoors. Hirsch’s McCandless is seeking a Henry David Thoreau-like existence, where money doesn’t matter and the pressures to have the latest gadgets, get a job, raise a family, and all other signifiers of modern success just don’t factor into true personal happiness. McCandless’ plan to put everything he owns in a backpack and ride his thumb from Georgia to Alaska is a poetic, if not slightly misguided, ambition but through Penn’s lens and with the help of Eddie Vedder‘s musical contributions, Into the Wild is a pretty inviting watch.

You can rent Into the Wild on Amazon Prime Video.

 

The Village

 

Image via Disney/Buena Vista Pictures

You can laugh all you want but I am fully Team The Village, especially because it’s all about a commune that time forgot where (maybe) strange creatures come and eat you, like something out of Grimm’s Fairytales. This 2004 M. Night Shyamalan film features a deep bench of talent, including Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, and Cherry Jones. The premise of The Village thrusts these characters into very unusual circumstances: A remote community finds themselves encountering possibly supernatural events which has been spoken about at length before. As they villagers try to protect themselves, a terrible accident thrusts our heroine (Howard) into an unexpected journey to save the man she loves. The secret of the village, as revealed by Hurt’s town leader, is the definition of a #SelfQuarantineMood, so yes, for all of its silliness and oddness, you should watch The Village ASAP.

You can rent The Village on Amazon Prime Video.