The Best Survival Movies and TV Shows on Hulu

What it's about: The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $7.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: A father living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six young kids tries to assimilate back into society.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Hulu & CBS All Access), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Six months after the events depicted in The Matrix, Neo has proved to be a good omen for the free humans, as more and more humans are being freed from the matrix and brought to Zion, the one and only stronghold of the Resistance. Neo himself has discovered his superpowers including super speed, ability to see the codes of the things inside the matrix and a certain degree of pre-cognition. But a nasty piece of news hits the human resistance: 250,000 machine sentinels are digging to Zion and would reach them in 72 hours. As Zion prepares for the ultimate war, Neo, Morpheus and Trinity are advised by the Oracle to find the Keymaker who would help them reach the Source. Meanwhile Neo's recurrent dreams depicting Trinity's death have got him worried and as if it was not enough, Agent Smith has somehow escaped deletion, has become more powerful than before and has fixed Neo as his next target.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 4 others).

What it's about: Two boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and form a pact to help him reunite with his lover and escape.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Mumbai, India, November 26, 2008. While several terrorists spread hatred and death through the city, others attack the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Both hotel staff and guests risk their lives, making unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and keep everyone safe while help arrives.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Jubei is a masterless ninja who travels the land alone, lending his services to those with gold—or a worthy cause. His fearsome abilities have served him well, but a plot to overthrow the government threatens to end his wandering ways—and possibly his life.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu).

What it's about: Peter Weir's follow-up to Master & Commander (2003) is the stark & brilliant The Way Back, which takes on the theme of man's struggle for freedom. At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag. The film details their perilous & uncertain journey to freedom, as they cross deserts, mountains, & several nations.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & AcornTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Their mission is simple: Find a cure. Stop the virus. Save the world. When a global pandemic wipes out eighty percent of the planet's population, the crew of a lone naval destroyer must find a way to pull humanity from the brink of extinction.

Where to Watch: 56 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 5 episodes (9%) are available to stream on a popular TV everywhere service (TNT). 56 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A high concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself.

Where to Watch: 46 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 46 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Microsoft & 3 others).

What it's about: A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They've secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon's toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Although theorised, no one is really ready when a mountain pass above the scenic and narrow Geiranger fjord in Norway collapses and creates a tsunami over 300 feet high. A geologist is one of those caught in the middle of it.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu & Monsters Nightmares) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: The plane carrying wealthy Charles Morse crashes down in the Alaskan wilderness. Together with the two other passengers, photographer Robert and assistant Stephen, Charles devises a plan to help them reach civilization. However, his biggest obstacle might not be the elements, or even the Kodiak bear stalking them -- it could be Robert, whom Charles suspects is having an affair with his wife and would not mind seeing him dead.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The year is 2022, and after an unlikely event, only one man is left on earth: Phil Miller, who used to be just an average guy who loved his family and hated his job at the bank. Now, in his RV, Phil searches the country for other survivors.

Where to Watch: 66 episodes (99%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 18 episodes (27%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (FOX). 67 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: In 2047 a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship 'Event Horizon' which disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage. With its return, the crew of the 'Lewis and Clark' discovers the real truth behind the disappearance of the 'Event Horizon' – and something even more terrifying.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A dramatization of the Montreal Massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, Fandor & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Upon receiving reports of missing persons at Fort Spencer, a remote Army outpost on the Western frontier, Capt. John Boyd investigates. After arriving at his new post, Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide -- a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A young husband and wife must fight to return home in a post-apocalyptic mid-western landscape ravaged by gangs.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $6.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: The adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They evacuated there and are now trying to figure out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore and to survive in their unknown area of the universe.

Where to Watch: 40 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 40 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A reality show contest where sixteen or more castaways split between two or more “Tribes” are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for roughly 39 days. Frequent physical challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for “Immunity”, forcing the other tribe to attend “Tribal Council”, where they must vote off one of their players.

Where to Watch: 9 episodes (2%) are available to watch free online (CBS). 583 episodes (99%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu & CBS All Access). 470 episodes (80%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Wendy, a near-penniless drifter, is traveling to Alaska in search of work, and her only companion is her dog, Lucy. Already perilously close to losing everything, Wendy hits a bigger bump in the road when her old car breaks down and she is arrested for shoplifting dog food. When she posts bail and returns to retrieve Lucy, she finds that the dog is gone, prompting a frantic search for her pet.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Hulu, Fandor & 3 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The players of a virtual reality MMORPG, Sword Art Online, are trapped and fighting for their very lives. After it is announced that the only way to leave the game is by beating it, Kirito—a very powerful swordsman—and his friends take on a quest to free all the minds trapped in Aincrad.

Where to Watch: 72 episodes (70%) are available to watch free online (Crunchyroll). 75 episodes (73%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Hulu & Crunchyroll). 24 episodes (23%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Talented but unproven stock car driver Cole Trickle gets a break and with the guidance of veteran Harry Hogge turns heads on the track. The young hotshot develops a rivalry with a fellow racer that threatens his career when the two smash their cars. But with the help of his doctor, Cole just might overcome his injuries-- and his fear.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The one adored as the mother is not the real parent. The people living here together are not actual siblings. The Gracefield House is where orphaned children live. An irreplaceable home where 38 siblings and Mom live happy lives, even with no blood relations. However, their everyday life suddenly came to an abrupt end one day...

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (100%) are available to watch free online (Crunchyroll). 12 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 2 episodes (17%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Adult Swim).

What it's about: James Reese has a good job as an ambassador's aid in France, but his real passion is a side gig—working in a minor role in the CIA. He would love to be a full-fledged agent and can't believe his luck when he lands an assignment with Charlie Wax. Trigger-happy Charlie soon has James crying for his desk job, but when he learns that the same guys they're trying to catch are after him, James realises that Charlie may be his only hope of survival.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Molly Mahoney is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium—the strangest, most fantastic and most wonderful toy store in the world. After Mr. Magorium bequeaths the store to her, a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once-remarkable Emporium.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Hardcore survivalists are put by themselves in the Vancouver Island wilderness, without camera crews, teams, or producers – on a single mission to stay alive for as long as possible.

Where to Watch: 31 episodes (45%) are available to watch free online (History). 56 episodes (81%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 45 episodes (65%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (History). 69 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Bear strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger.

Where to Watch: 67 episodes (82%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 57 episodes (70%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (BBC America). 74 episodes (90%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: In the wilderness of British Columbia, two hunters are tracked and viciously murdered by Aaron Hallum. A former Special Operations instructor is approached and asked to apprehend Hallum—his former student—who has 'gone rogue' after suffering severe battle stress from his time in Kosovo.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Viewers go deep into an Alaskan winter to meet six tough and resilient residents as they try to stay one step ahead of storms and man-eating beasts to make it through to spring. The closest neighbor to Sue Aikens is more than 300 miles away. Eric Salitan subsists solely on what he hunts and forages. Chip and Agnes Hailstone catch fish for currency in bartering for supplies, and Andy and Kate Bassich use their pack of sled dogs for transportation.

Where to Watch: 16 episodes (15%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Hulu). 43 episodes (41%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (FOX & NatGeo). 96 episodes (91%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: When the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies, Takashi Komuro and several of his classmates at Fujimi High School try to survive the apocalypse.

Where to Watch: 12 episodes (92%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 12 episodes (92%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Survivorman is a Canadian-produced television program, broadcast in Canada on the Outdoor Life Network, and internationally on Discovery Channel and Science Channel. The show aired three seasons and 4 specials – 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2012.The title refers to the host of the show, Canadian filmmaker and survival expert Les Stroud, who used survival skills and knowledge to survive for up to ten days alone videotaping his adventures in remote locales where he brought with him little or no food, water, or equipment. According to the show's website, each location was scouted and pre-planned extensively by Stroud and his team who consulted with survival specialists and natives of each area. The fact that Stroud spent his time alone without a production crew is a major focus of the show.

Where to Watch: 43 episodes (66%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 41 episodes (63%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Science). 54 episodes (83%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: What happens when you put two complete strangers - sans clothes - in some of the most extreme environments on Earth? Each male-female duo is left with no food, no water, no clothes, and only one survival item each as they attempt to survive on their own.

Where to Watch: 55 episodes (41%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 95 episodes (71%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Discovery). 130 episodes (97%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: In the aftermath of an incurable virus spread, a robot seeking to eradicate humanity deceptively guides a Red Cross survivor to sanctuary with the false hope of his family awaiting in Safe Zone 57.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Centers on the Kilcher family and their community outside Homer, Alaska. Begun by patriarch Yule Kilcher who immigrated from Europe during WWII, and currently led by his sons, Otto and Atz Kilcher (singer Jewel's father) the family have lived on their land for four generations. The show also features the homesteaders who live nearby and interact with the Kilchers.

Where to Watch: 19 episodes (12%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 110 episodes (67%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Discovery). 147 episodes (89%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Jeremiah is an American television series starring Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner that ran on the Showtime network from 2002 to 2004. The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the adult population has been wiped out by a deadly virus.

Where to Watch: 35 episodes (81%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu). 35 episodes (81%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: Mike Regan is a successful, self-made man who has it all: a gorgeous wife, a beautiful teenage daughter and a sleek, state-of-the-art “smart home”. But he soon finds himself in a deadly, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse when his I.T. consultant, Ed, starts using his skills to stalk Mike’s daughter and endanger his family, his business, and his life. In a world where there is no privacy, and personal secrets can go viral by the click of a mouse, Mike needs to rely on his old connections to defeat a new kind of nemesis.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A pregnant woman and her husband are taken in by a farmer and his wife after crashing their car in the Scottish countryside. Once inside, they realize their hosts’ daughter is a missing child from the news years earlier. Things take a sinister twist when the farmer and his wife inform the couple they intend to keep their baby once born.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Hulu), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Dual Survival is an American reality cable television series aired on the Discovery Channel. The show features a pair of survival experts in challenging environments.For the first two seasons the show featured the differing outdoor survival philosophies and skills of Cody Lundin, a naturalist and primitive-skills expert who runs the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Arizona and Dave Canterbury, a military-trained survival instructor who runs the Pathfinder Training School in Ohio. Beginning with the third season, Canterbury was replaced with Joseph "Joe" Teti.

Where to Watch: 38 episodes (40%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 74 episodes (79%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Discovery). 87 episodes (93%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: Running Wild with Bear Grylls, the survivalist takes one celebrity into the most remote locations in the U.S. and around the world for a 48-hour journey of a lifetime. From skydiving into the Catskill Mountains, to rappelling down the cliffs of Utah and battling torrential wind and rain in Scotland, Grylls and each celebrity will have to push both their minds and bodies to the limit to successfully complete their journey.

Where to Watch: 1 episodes (3%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 32 episodes (97%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Deep in the Alaskan wilderness lives a newly discovered family who was born and raised wild. Billy Brown, his wife Ami and their seven grown children – 5 boys and 2 girls – are so far removed from civilization that they often go six to nine months of the year without seeing an outsider. They’ve developed their own accent and dialect, refer to themselves as a "wolf pack," and at night, all nine sleep together in a one-room cabin. Simply put, they are unlike any other family in America. Recently, according to the Browns, the cabin where they lived for years was seized and burned to the ground for being in the wrong location on public land.

Where to Watch: 13 episodes (12%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 80 episodes (73%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Discovery). 100 episodes (91%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A group of the best survival experts in the world take on an un-survivable situation: 40 days. 40 nights. No food, water or clothes. To survive they'll need to master the environment, pushing far beyond the breaking point. Will even one be able to finish?

Where to Watch: 8 episodes (14%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 53 episodes (93%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (Discovery). 53 episodes (93%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Castaways is a reality series testing the human need for companionship under extreme circumstances as each individual learns there are other castaways out there but are unaware of how many, their locations or when they will be rescued. The series follows 12 diverse individuals as they're dropped alone throughout various islets in Indonesia and challenged to survive among washed-up luggage, scattered resources and abandoned structures.

Where to Watch: 10 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu). 7 episodes (70%) are available to stream on a TV everywhere service (ABC).

What it's about: Lives spiral out of control when four friends cover up a murder.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu).

What it's about: A wild animal attacks six medical students on a weekend hike in the woods. One by one, they become infected with a “feral disease,” turning them into rabid, bloodthirsty creatures, and the vacation becomes a nightmare as they fight to survive each other.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Hulu) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).