7 zombie movies to watch if you loved ‘The Elixir’

The Elixir is a 2025 Indonesian horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Kimo Stamboel. Released on Netflix on October 23, the film quickly topped the streamer’s global non-English rankings, drawing over 11 million viewers within days.

Produced by Edwin Nazir for Mowin Pictures, The Elixir stars Mikha Tambayong, Eva Celia, Donny Damara, Dimas Anggara, Marthino Lio, and Kiki Narendra.

Set in a village outside Yogyakarta, the story follows a family running a jamu (traditional herbal medicine) business. When the patriarch’s obsession with immortality leads to disaster, it unleashes chaos, forcing the estranged family to reunite and survive a deadly zombie outbreak born from their own creation.

If viewers enjoyed watching The Elixir for its themes of survival and supernatural mystery, here are seven other zombie movies worth watching.

Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.

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28 Days Later, Cemetery Man, and 5 other zombie movies to watch if you loved The Elixir

1) 28 Days Later

28 Days Later (2002) follows a bicycle courier who wakes from a coma (Image via Apple TV+)

28 Days Later (2002), directed by Danny Boyle, follows a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to find that a violent “Rage” virus has ravaged humanity.

Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, and Christopher Eccleston, the film blends horror with human emotion as a small group of survivors struggles to stay alive in a desolate London.

Inspired by Night of the Living Dead and The Day of the Triffids, it was shot on eerily empty U.K. streets at dawn, creating haunting imagery.

Like The Elixir, 28 Days Later explores how a man-made infection spirals out of control, turning humanity’s pursuit of progress into catastrophe.

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2) I Am Legend

I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, is a post-apocalyptic action-horror film (Image via Apple TV+)

I Am Legend (2007), directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith, is a post-apocalyptic action horror film based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel.

Set in an abandoned New York City, it follows Dr. Robert Neville, a virologist who is immune to a man-made virus that has wiped out most of humanity and turned the rest into nocturnal mutants.

With only his dog Sam for company, Neville searches for survivors and works tirelessly to find a cure while fending off the infected that roam the city at night.

I Am Legend and The Elixir share a deep sense of isolation and scientific tragedy - in both, the desire to cure or perfect humanity leads to devastation.

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3) Zombieland

Zombieland is a comedic take on the post-apocalyptic zombie genre (Image via Apple TV+)

Zombieland (2009), directed by Ruben Fleischer, is a post-apocalyptic zombie comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray.

The film follows four survivors named Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock as they travel across America in search of safety after a zombie outbreak, forming an unlikely bond along the way.

While Zombieland leans on humor, it echoes The Elixir in showing how people adapt and find connection in the aftermath of a deadly outbreak.

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4) Cemetery Man

Rupert Everett plays Francesco Dellamorte in Cemetery Man (Image via Getty)

Cemetery Man (Italian: Dellamorte Dellamore) is a 1994 horror film starring Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, and Anna Falchi.

Based on Tiziano Sclavi’s novel, it follows Francesco Dellamorte, a weary caretaker in the Italian town of Buffalora, who must repeatedly kill the dead that rise from their graves. Surrounded by decay and loneliness, he searches for love and purpose amid the chaos, blending horror, dark humor, and absurdity.

Cemetery Man mirrors The Elixir through its blend of horror, death, and dark introspection. Both films use the undead not just for scares but to explore existential despair and the futility of controlling life and death.

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5) Shaun Of The Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

Shaun of the Dead (2004) is a British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright and co-written with Simon Pegg, who stars as Shaun, an aimless London salesman caught in a zombie apocalypse.

Along with his slacker friend Ed (Nick Frost), he sets out to rescue his mother and ex-girlfriend amid the chaos. Inspired by Pegg and Wright’s sitcom Spaced and George A. Romero’s zombie films, it blends horror, satire, and British humor as part of Wright’s “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy.

Much like The Elixir, Shaun of the Dead balances horror with emotional storytelling. Both depict ordinary people facing the absurdity of an outbreak, exploring love and the humor that emerges from fear.

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6) Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is an Australian action-horror film (Image via Prime Video)

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014) is an Australian action-horror film directed by Kiah Roache-Turner. It follows Barry, a mechanic who loses his family to a zombie outbreak caused by a meteor shower.

Teaming up with survivors, he learns zombie blood and breath are flammable, while his sister Brooke is captured and gains the power to control the undead.

Reuniting with Barry, Brooke uses her newfound power to fight back against the soldiers and their deranged scientist. The siblings take revenge on their captors, using zombies as weapons and fuel in a world turned toxic and apocalyptic.

Wyrmwood and The Elixir share an inventive approach to zombie horror, merging family bonds, survival, and science gone wrong. Both showcase rebellion against systems that misuse power in the face of apocalypse.

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7) Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies is an American zombie romantic comedy (Image via Apple TV+)

Warm Bodies (2013) is an American zombie romantic comedy directed by Jonathan Levine and based on Isaac Marion’s 2010 novel.

Starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, it follows R, a zombie who begins to regain his humanity after falling in love with Julie, a human survivor. Their unlikely connection sparks hope in a world devastated by a zombie apocalypse, leading to R slowly coming back to life.

As R protects Julie from danger, their growing bond inspires change among other zombies, drawing conflict with Colonel Grigio, Julie’s father.

In contrast to its darker tone, The Elixir aligns with Warm Bodies through themes of transformation and redemption. Each film suggests that even in a world ruled by the undead, humanity’s capacity for love and renewal endures.

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Interested viewers can watch The Elixir on Netflix.

Edited by Moakala T Aier