8 Movies Like Hunger Games to Watch Ahead of the Prequel Premiere

1. The Platform (2019)

A Spanish philosophical thriller whose protagonist, Goreng, agrees to take part in a mysterious experiment. He wakes up in a concrete cell on the 48th level of a bizarre vertical structure. He learns from his cellmate that no one knows the exact number of levels but that they are connected by a vertical shaft along which a platform with food descends daily. The lower the level, the lower the chance of survival.

2. Escape Room (2019)

Six strangers find themselves competing in a quest with a cash prize. However, the characters soon realise that the tasks they must complete are far from harmless, and any mistake could cost them their lives.

3. Animal World (2018)

A Chinese thriller about a hapless kid named Zheng Kaisi who has a huge debt. He agrees to participate in a game to have all his debts forgiven. Kaisi finds himself on a giant ship with people from all over the world playing an unusual version of Rock, Paper Scissors, in which the loser may die.

4. The Belko Experiment (2017)

Office worker Mike Milch and eighty other employees are trapped in a building. Then a mysterious voice orders them to kill a certain number of participants; refusal will result in more casualties. Some of the people try to beat the system, while others don't hesitate to fight for their lives using any means at their disposal.

5. As The Gods Will (2014)

A Japanese sci-fi horror movie whose main characters are ordinary high school students locked in a deadly game. One day, the school is visited by a Daruma doll, who promises the kids all sorts of benefits for participating in a series of games, but soon the characters realise that the stakes are too high, as each subsequent game can cost lives.

6. Gamer (2009)

A dystopia starring Gerard Butler: in the future, technology has advanced to the point where video games and reality TV converge. Criminals sentenced to life in prison can go free if they participate in the show and survive. John Tillman, serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, challenges the monstrous system that forces people to kill each other for the entertainment of the rich and powerful.

7. Battle Royale (2000)

An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Japanese author Koshun Takami, who revived the survival game genre in popular culture. The protagonists of Battle Royale are ordinary high school students chosen without their knowledge to participate in a brutal competition held annually by a totalitarian government. Once on a remote island, the teens are forced to kill each other, as there can only be one winner in the battle royal.

8. The Running Man (1987)

A somewhat loose interpretation of Stephen King's novel of the same name, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie is set in the not-too-distant future, where one of the primary forms of entertainment is a show called The Running Man, whose participants are forced to flee from violent stalkers that hunt down and kill them. One day, insubordinate police officer Ben Richards ends up as a contestant on the show: he organises his fellow runners to fight back against the stalkers and wins the game by beating the system.