Five Netflix movies to watch if you loved ‘War Machine’
If you have watched War Machine, tell us that it didn’t happen to you, where you went in expecting a straight military story and within minutes you realised that the plot was something else. And that’s the hook of the film. It’s been a while since Netflix brought us a war drama with such an unexpected twist, and this might be the reason why the film did so well.
It starts with a unit planning to go on a mission that looks simple and clear. But that final training mission they’re sent on? It is not a drill. Initially, they are made to believe that it is a crashed aircraft, but it turns out to be something else entirely. Apparently, an alien machine starts hunting them down, and they never get a warning or any backup. Sounds scary, right? It is, and thus begins the story of survival.
Thereafter, everything becomes about staying alive and figuring out what they are up against. You see, Netflix viewers have always loved a good war drama, but the one mixed with aliens is definitely a game-changer, as War Machine proved to be.
People like watching missions and survival thrillers. And aliens… It’s very rare that they don’t work. By the time War Machine reaches its climax, it becomes clear that this was never just about one mission. It’s setting up something bigger. And if that worked for you because of that change, from military setup to full survival mode, here are five Netflix films you should check out next.
Five Netflix movies to watch if you loved War Machine
Outside the Wire (Mikael Håfström, 2021)
If War Machine worked for you because of how it brings a military setup face-to-face with something unfamiliar entering the field, Outside the Wire is a perfect next watch. The film is set in the near future and follows a drone pilot who gets sent into a real conflict zone after a strike he was part of leads to civilian deaths. Up until that point, he had been making decisions from a distance. Now, he has to be physically present in the same environment where those decisions play out in real time.
That’s when the twist comes in. He is assigned to an officer played by Anthony Mackie, and you find out early on that he’s an android built for combat. From there, the film focuses on how they work together on missions, with very different approaches to risk and control. If War Machine kept you interested with how it handled unfamiliar threats within a military setup, Outside the Wire explores a similar idea through technology and decision-making.
Edge of Tomorrow (Doug Liman, 2014)
Now, if you liked watching someone deal with a threat they couldn’t predict in War Machine, Edge of Tomorrow takes works on the same thing but in a smarter way. The film follows a soldier who gets thrown into a war against alien forces with zero preparation. He dies within minutes. And then, he wakes up and has to do it all over again. So basically a time-loop film. And the soldier is played by Tom Cruise, so there has to be zero convincing you to watch it.
Coming to the film, that loop becomes the entire story because each time he resets, he learns something new, and you are watching him figure out how this enemy works. Eventually, you and he both realise that it’s not about strength but understanding what you are up against. And once Emily Blunt steps in as this battle-hardened fighter, the film sharpens even more. The pressure in War Machine was a highly appreciated aspect of it, and Edge of Tomorrow works on the same principle, just makes it better with the twist of a time loop.
Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013)
Yay, another Cruise watch! Let’s say what stayed with you from War Machine wasn’t just the action but that feeling that something wasn’t adding up. Oblivion explores that part of the film. It follows a technician stationed on Earth long after a war with alien forces has supposedly ended. His job sounds simple: maintain drones, clean up what’s left, stick to protocol. That’s all our man Jack Harper has to do, played, of course, by Mr Cruise.
And that feeling of something being wrong, spoken about earlier, comes into play here. He begins having memories he shouldn’t have and finds a crashed spacecraft with human survivors. Suddenly, the story he has been told doesn’t add up anymore. That’s the hook of the film, people: not action, but discovery. You are watching him question everything around him, piece by piece. And that’s where the real story begins.
Atlas (Brad Peyton, 2024)
Atlas follows a data analyst named Atlas who has spent her career tracking a rogue AI responsible for mass destruction. She doesn’t trust machines and doesn’t rely on them, and then she is forced into a situation where she has no choice. And our agent is none other than Jennifer Lopez, who ends up inside a combat suit powered by AI, and that’s where the tension sits.
Atlas has to work with something she doesn’t believe in while chasing something even more dangerous. You can see the hesitation in every decision she makes, and that push and pull is the real anchor of the film. It’s less about a group and more about one person trying to stay in control of something that keeps slipping. If the idea of facing something smarter and more advanced stayed with you after War Machine, Atlas has to be your next pick.
Beasts of No Nation (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2015)
Ahh, this one needs no introduction and is still considered one of the early classics of Netflix. Not in terms of scale or concept, but in what it shows you. With Idris Alba being one of the leads, Beasts of No Nation follows a young boy, Agu, who is pulled into a civil war and forced into becoming a child soldier. This young man loses his family and village in war, and Beasts of No Nation is his journey of becoming a cold-blooded soldier.
Just like our troop in War Machine is unaware of the situation they are getting into, that same focus is on Agu. He isn’t fully aware of what he’s getting into. You are watching this child try to survive, trying to make sense of what’s happening around him, and the film doesn’t soften it for you. With some of the most incredible performances, especially from Abraham Attah, who plays Agu, and Idris Elba. If you have missed it somehow, take it as a sign to binge it.