What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles first
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
Film
Ten years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, he fights to stop Skynet from triggering a nuclear apocalypse.
The sides of Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- A killer robot sent to protect a boy
- A mother preparing for the end
- A liquid metal enemy
Good for you if
- you like a truck chasing a boy's dirt bike down the Los Angeles river canals.
- you like a villain that can become anyone.
- you like a bond growing between a boy and the machine sent to protect him.
Bad for you if
- you need the science to hold up. A liquid metal man pulls himself back together from puddles.
- shootouts and a nightmare of fire are too much for you.
About: fate · family · humanity
The Terminator 1984
Film
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
The sides of The Terminator
- A killing machine sent from the future
- A waitress who doesn't know she matters
- A soldier sent to protect her
Good for you if
- you like being hunted by something that never stops.
- you like a lean, fast 80s thriller.
- you like a waitress who learns to fight back to stay alive.
Bad for you if
- effects from 1984 look dated to you.
- shootouts in a police station ruin it for you.
About: fate · survival · machines
Terminator: Dark Fate 2019
Film
Decades after Sarah Connor prevented Judgment Day, a lethal new Terminator is sent to eliminate the future leader of the resistance. In a fight to save mankind, battle-hardened Sarah Connor teams up with an unexpected ally and an enhanced super soldier to stop the deadliest Terminator yet.
The sides of Terminator: Dark Fate
- Sarah Connor back in the fight
- A new Terminator hunting a young woman in Mexico
- An enhanced soldier sent from the future
Good for you if
- you like nonstop chases on highways and in a falling plane.
- you like big set pieces with a machine that won't die.
- you like three women running from a killer that never stops.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand brutal fights and bodies piling up.
- you need time travel to follow rules that hold up.
About: fate · motherhood · survival
Revolution 2012
Series
One day, electricity just stopped working and the world was suddenly thrust back into the dark ages. Now, 15 years later, a young woman's life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives and kills her father, who mysteriously—and unbeknownst to her—had something to do with the blackout. An unlikely group sets out off on a daring journey to find answers about the past in the hopes of reclaiming the future.
The sides of Revolution
- A world where electricity stopped working
- A militia ruling what is left of America
- A sword-fighting uncle and his niece on the road
Good for you if
- you like Charlie and her uncle Miles on the road to find her kidnapped brother.
- you like sword fights and crossbows in the ruins of America.
- you want to know who switched the power off, and why.
Bad for you if
- you need a story with a real ending, and this one stops after two seasons.
- you need the science behind a global blackout to hold up.
About: family · survival · power
Raised by Wolves 2020
Series
After Earth is ravaged by a great religious war, an atheistic android architect sends two of his creations, Mother and Father, to start a peaceful, godless colony on the planet Kepler-22b. Their treacherous task is jeopardized by the arrival of the Mithraic, a deeply devout religious order of surviving humans.
The sides of Raised by Wolves
- Two androids raising human children on a far planet
- A religious war that ruined Earth
- An android mother with a deadly scream
Good for you if
- you like a strange planet full of bones and buried secrets.
- you like Ridley Scott's stark, empty landscapes.
- you can take a story where faith and atheism tear people apart.
Bad for you if
- you need answers, and the story stops after two seasons.
- you can't watch gory deaths on screen.
About: faith · parenthood · survival

Battlestar Galactica 2003
Series
A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.
The sides of Battlestar Galactica
- The Cylons wiping out humanity's twelve worlds
- An old warship about to be retired
- A few ships of survivors fleeing into space
Good for you if
- you like the last humans running with a fleet of civilian ships.
- you like a hunt where the enemy can look human.
- you can take the end of a civilisation in the first hour.
Bad for you if
- you need something warm and safe to watch.
- you want a story that stands alone, not one that opens a series.
About: survival · faith · what makes us human
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 2003
Film
It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic assassin ordered to finish what T-1000 started. Good thing Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised.
The sides of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- An adult John Connor hiding off the grid
- A female Terminator, the T-X
- A crane truck tearing through a city
Good for you if
- you like Arnold Schwarzenegger smashing through walls to protect John Connor.
- you want a huge chase with a crane truck wrecking a whole street.
- you can take a darker, heavier ending than the first two films gave you.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch machines killing people one after another.
- you need time travel that holds together from one film to the next.
About: fate · man against machine · the end of the world
The Peripheral 2022
Series
Stuck in a small Appalachian town, a young woman’s only escape from the daily grind is playing advanced video games. She is such a good player that a company sends her a new video game system to test…but it has a surprise in store. It unlocks all of her dreams of finding a purpose, romance, and glamour in what seems like a game…but it also puts her and her family in real danger.
The sides of The Peripheral
- A gamer in a small Appalachian town
- A headset that sends her into a future London
- Her brother, a war veteran
Good for you if
- you like piecing together two timelines and who is pulling the strings.
- you like Flynne and her brother Burton standing together to protect their sick mother.
- you like gunfights in a small town and robot bodies in a future city.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand bloody shootouts.
- you need a story that ends, and this one stops after one season.
About: technology · family · the future
Terminator Genisys 2015
Film
The year is 2029. John Connor, leader of the resistance continues the war against the machines. At the Los Angeles offensive, John's fears of the unknown future begin to emerge when TECOM spies reveal a new plot by SkyNet that will attack him from both fronts; past and future, and will ultimately change warfare forever.
The sides of Terminator Genisys
- A changed timeline
- An older Terminator as a guardian
- John Connor changed
Good for you if
- you just want more Terminator action.
- you like big set pieces, like a school bus flipping over on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bad for you if
- tangled timelines drive you mad.
- you'd rather a character study. This one is chases, time jumps and Arnold fighting a younger Arnold.
About: fate · family
Bird Box 2018
Film
Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a survivor and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety.
The sides of Bird Box
- A mother and two children blindfolded
- Something that makes you want to die if you see it
- A river trip
Good for you if
- you like survival with a strict rule.
- you like a threat you never see.
Bad for you if
- you want answers. What the creatures are and why they kill is never explained.
- mass suicide shown on screen is too much for you.
About: motherhood · survival · fear
Battlestar Galactica 2004
Series
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.
The sides of Battlestar Galactica
- The last humans fleeing in an old warship
- Machines that look like people
- A search for a planet called Earth
Good for you if
- you can take a story where humanity almost loses everything.
- you like never knowing who on board is a Cylon.
- you like a president and an admiral fighting over how to save the last humans.
Bad for you if
- you want a finale that explains everything plainly.
- you can't take suicide bombings, occupation and grief on screen.
About: survival · faith · what makes us human
The Passage 2019
Series
A post-apocalyptic story about a botched U.S. government experiment that turns a group of death row inmates into highly infectious vampires, and an orphan girl who might be the only person able to stop the ensuing crisis.
The sides of The Passage
- A federal agent protecting a young girl
- Death row inmates turned into vampires
- A secret government experiment
Good for you if
- you like a man on the run with the child he was sent to take.
- you like a bond between an agent and a girl that becomes father and daughter.
- you like a virus that could end the world.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand vampire attacks and bloodshed.
- you need a story that wraps up, and this one stops after one season.
About: parenthood · sacrifice · science gone wrong
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1995
Anime
At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.
The sides of Neon Genesis Evangelion
- A boy ordered by his father to pilot a giant robot
- Angels attacking Tokyo-3
- A final two episodes inside his head
Good for you if
- you like a series that leaves you with more questions than answers.
- you care more about the pilots' minds than the robot fights.
- you like an ending that goes somewhere no one expected.
Bad for you if
- you can't take depression and self-loathing on screen.
- you don't watch anime.
About: depression · fathers and sons · loneliness
Falling Skies 2011
Series
Falling Skies opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.
The sides of Falling Skies
- Survivors after an alien invasion
- A history professor leading a resistance
- A father searching for his son
Good for you if
- you like a ragged band of survivors fighting an occupying force.
- you like Tom Mason protecting his sons in the middle of a war.
- you like following a whole regiment, the 2nd Massachusetts, from fighters to doctors.
Bad for you if
- five seasons is too much for you.
- you roll your eyes at speeches about hope and humanity.
About: resistance · family · hope
Colony 2016
Series
In the near future a family must make difficult decisions as they balance staying together with trying to survive. They live in Los Angeles, which has been occupied by a force of outside intruders. While some people have chosen to collaborate with the authorities and benefit from the new order, others have rebelled — and suffer the consequences.
The sides of Colony
- Los Angeles behind walls, occupied by outsiders
- A father working for the new order
- A mother secretly in the resistance
Good for you if
- you like a couple keeping secrets from each other under occupation.
- you care about the Bowmans trying to stay together.
- you like the choice between collaborating and resisting.
Bad for you if
- you need closure. The series stops on a cliffhanger after three seasons.
- you need hope, and life under occupation stays grim.
About: collaboration · resistance · family
Pacific Rim: The Black 2021
Series
Two siblings - an idealistic teenage boy and his naive younger sister - are forced to pilot an abandoned Jaeger across a hostile landscape in a desperate attempt to find their missing parents.
The sides of Pacific Rim: The Black
- A brother and sister piloting a Jaeger
- An Australia overrun by kaiju
- A search for missing parents
Good for you if
- you like giant robots fighting giant monsters.
- you like the scale of a Jaeger crossing a ruined continent.
- you like two kids staying alive in hostile land.
Bad for you if
- you don't watch animated series.
- you can't stand monsters killing people on screen.
About: siblings · courage · abandonment
Interstellar 2014
Film
On a dying Earth, a former NASA pilot leaves his two children behind to travel through a wormhole and look for a planet humans can live on.
The sides of Interstellar
- The father and the daughter
- The science you can believe
- The organ and the silence
- The loneliness out there
Good for you if
- goodbyes hit you harder than explosions.
- you like wormholes, black holes and a planet where one hour costs years.
- you want to feel very small in your seat.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather not think about relativity and time stretching to follow a plot.
- big speeches about love make you roll your eyes.
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
About: time · sacrifice · home · the people left behind
Terminator Salvation 2009
Film
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
The sides of Terminator Salvation
- John Connor leading the resistance
- A death-row inmate waking up in 2018
- Machines hunting humans in the ruins
Good for you if
- you like chases with giant robots and motorbike machines.
- you like a burned-out future at full scale.
- you like humans holding out against the machines.
Bad for you if
- you need some warmth. This future is all ash, ruins and grey skies.
- you want the one-liners of the earlier Terminator films.
About: humanity · war · fate

Witchblade 2006
Anime
Masane Amaha and her daughter Rihoko are on the run from a government child welfare agency that wants to take Rihoko away from her mother. They are caught and Rihoko is taken away. Meanwhile, Masane is attacked by an advanced weapon that can disguise itself as a human being. When faced with the danger, a strange light emits from her wrist and she transforms into a powerful being. She becomes involved in a power struggle between powerful organizations, with her at the center of their attention because she holds the greatest power of them all, the legendary Witchblade.
The sides of Witchblade
- A mother bonded to a living weapon
- A fight to keep her daughter
- Rival companies hunting her
Good for you if
- you like transformation fights against disguised war machines.
- you like a mother who will do anything to keep her child.
Bad for you if
- you'd rather avoid fan service and suggestive scenes.
- you don't watch anime.
- you can't stand bloody battles.
About: motherhood · power · sacrifice
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 2024
Film
As the world falls, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the wasteland, they encounter the citadel presided over by Immortan Joe. The two tyrants wage war for dominance, and Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
The sides of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- A girl taken from a green land
- A warlord riding a chariot of motorbikes
- A war rig chase across the wasteland
Good for you if
- you like long chases across the desert with vehicles fighting at full speed.
- you want the scale of the Citadel, the war rigs and the sandstorms on a big screen.
- you like following a girl who grows up among warlords and waits years to go home.
Bad for you if
- you can't stand brutal killings and torture.
- two and a half hours in the wasteland is too much for you.
About: revenge · survival · tyranny · home