Movies Like The Reef

If you liked The Reef (1979), a movie directed by John Heyer, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Chasing Coral (2017)
★ 7.7/10
Coral reefs are the nursery for all life in the oceans, a remarkable ecosystem that sustains us. Yet with carbon emissions warming the seas, a phenomenon called "coral bleaching" -- a sign of mass coral death -- has…
2
Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet (2021)
★ 7.5/10
David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockström examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.
3
Puff: Wonders of the Reef (2021)
★ 7.7/10
A baby pufferfish travels through a wondrous microworld full of fantastical creatures as he searches for a home on the Great Barrier Reef.
4
Age of Consent (1969)
★ 6/10
An elderly artist thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an offshore island to try once more. On the island he re-discovers his muse in the form of a young…
5
The Shallows (2016)
★ 6.4/10
While surfing on a secluded beach, Nancy finds herself in the feeding grounds of a great white shark. Though stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of her…
6
The Meg (2018)
★ 6.2/10
A deep sea submersible pilot revisits his past fears in the Mariana Trench, and accidentally unleashes the seventy foot ancestor of the Great White Shark believed to be extinct.
7
Richard Jewell (2019)
★ 7.4/10
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime…
8
Papillon (1973)
★ 7.8/10
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
9
Beast of War (2025)
★ 6.2/10
When their boat sinks while crossing the Timor Sea during World War II, a troop of young Australian soldiers must find a way to survive the harsh seas on a quickly shrinking raft. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, they…
10
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018)
★ 7/10
Documentary on psychedelic potash mines, expansive concrete seawalls, mammoth industrial machines, and other examples of humanity’s massive, destructive reengineering of the planet.
11
The Deep (1977)
★ 6.1/10
A pair of young vacationers are involved in a dangerous conflict with treasure hunters when they discover a way into a deadly wreck in Bermuda waters.
12
The Last Breath (2024)
★ 6/10
A group of old college friends reunite on a Caribbean scuba diving trip exploring the wreckage of a WWII battleship and find themselves trapped inside the underwater labyrinth of rusted metal surrounded by great white…
13
Black Beauty (1994)
★ 6.7/10
The fates of horses, and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life.
14
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
★ 6.8/10
After being shipwrecked, the Robinson family is marooned on an island inhabited only by an impressive array of wildlife. In true pioneer spirit, they quickly make themselves at home but soon face a danger even greater…
15
Papillon (2017)
★ 7.3/10
Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis…
16
The Book of Love (2017)
★ 6.4/10
After tragedy strikes Henry and Penny, he befriends a tenacious young girl and discovers she is constructing a raft to sail across the Atlantic to find her lost father. Together, along with some unlikely friends, they…
17
The Core (2003)
★ 5.8/10
Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes discovers that an unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating. With the planet's magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, our atmosphere literally starts to come apart at…
18
Jaws (1975)
★ 7.7/10
When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the…
19
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
★ 7.7/10
What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorious trials in history.
20
Under the Sea 3D (2009)
★ 7/10
Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of life dancing and weaving, floating and darting in an…