From devastating tsunamis to deadly floods and hurricanes, some of cinema’s most gripping survival stories have shown how quickly water can turn into a destructive force. If you are looking for something to watch over the weekend, these six films offer a mix of suspense, drama and disaster, with characters fighting to survive against overwhelming odds. Here are six disaster movies worth adding to your watchlist. Hard Rain When a record storm floods a small Indiana town, an armored-truck guard finds himself hunted by a crew of thieves who want the cash he is carrying, all while the streets turn to rivers around them. Christian Slater, Morgan Freeman, Minnie Driver and Randy Quaid star in the 1998 thriller, directed by Mikael Salomon. Much of the action plays out in flooded streets and buildings, turning the rising water into a constant threat. Crawl As a Category 5 hurricane bears down on Florida, a young swimmer goes looking for her missing father and finds him trapped in the crawl space beneath the family home, with the floodwater rising and alligators moving in. Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper lead the 2019 film, directed by Alexandre Aja and produced by Sam Raimi. Running under 90 minutes, it is a tight, claustrophobic creature feature that never lets up. The Impossible On a family holiday in Thailand, a mother and her three sons are swept apart when the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hits, and each must fight through the wreckage to find the others. Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland star in the 2012 drama, directed by J.A. Bayona and based on a real family's ordeal. Watts earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and the wave sequence remains among the most harrowing ever filmed. The Perfect Storm Three weather systems collide in the North Atlantic just as a Massachusetts fishing crew heads out for one last big catch, sending the boat into waves no vessel was built to survive. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio lead the 2000 film, directed by Wolfgang Petersen from Sebastian Junger's book about the 1991 storm. It earned Oscar nominations for sound and visual effects. The Day After Tomorrow A climatologist races to reach his stranded son in New York after global warming triggers a chain of superstorms, with a massive tidal surge swallowing Manhattan and a deep freeze following behind it. Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum and Sela Ward star in the 2004 blockbuster, directed by Roland Emmerich. It trades realism for pure spectacle, and the flooded New York sequences are still its most memorable. Beasts of the Southern Wild In a remote Louisiana bayou community, a six-year-old girl and her ailing father brace for a storm and rising water that threaten to erase the only home she has ever known. Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry star in the 2012 drama, directed by Benh Zeitlin. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with Wallis becoming the youngest Best Actress nominee in Academy Award history.
