Girls On Film: My Top 5 ‘Women Versus Nature’ Thrillers

The ‘Women Versus Nature’ Thriller

One of my favourite subgenres in thriller is ‘women versus nature’. In these movies, a female lead will most often go into nature and get stranded there for some reason. During that ordeal, she must survive the harsh landscape and/or other threats that arise.

These threats may be extreme weather, wild creatures such as sharks, wild boars, other people (most often men) and sometimes even aliens! In the course of these stories, she will likely be forced to engage with something about herself. These emotional stakes may come from her backstory, or her personality/worldview, or both.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there are not ‘men versus nature’ films too. The most famous recent example is probably The Revenant (2015). Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as frontiersman Hugh Glass, he must drag himself to safety and get his revenge after being mauled by a bear. It also got him his long-awaited Oscar.

As a script editor at Bang2write, I specialise in the Thriller genre. I also wrote the non-fiction book, Writing & Selling Thriller Screenplays: From TV Pilot to Feature Film.

In this article, I’ll be exploring some of my favourites – based on both being a viewer and working in the thriller genre.

Ready? Let’s go …

My Top 5 Movies In This Subgenre 

1) Send Help (2026)

Rachel McAdam plays Linda, an awkward, over-worked ‘good girl’ type who loves the reality TV show Survivor. After a plane crash, she and her arrogant nepo-baby boss must cooperate to survive on a remote jungle island.

Unlike the other movies on the list, Send Help is deeply comedic as well as thrilling. Dylan O’ Brien really shines as the younger, entitled man who’s been given the keys to the kingdom. He really is THE WORST.

In addition, Linda goes from protagonist to antagonist so convincingly! THAT scene where she gets her own back — wowsers!

2) The Shallows (2016)

Blake Lively plays Nancy, a surfer who is attacked by a great white shark. Must 200 yards from safety, the short journey becomes the ultimate contest of wills.

What I really liked about this one is it really embodies the ‘so near, yet so far’ idea. Nancy must dig deep and realise no one is coming to rescue her … and rescuing herself leads to a genuinely thrilling showdown with the shark.

3) Fall (2022)

When a high-rise climb goes wrong, best friends Becky and Hunter (Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner) find themselves stuck at the top of a 2,000-foot tower in the middle of the desert.

I’ve not seen either actor before, but I was so impressed by their performances. The way they interact with each other – and the impressively dark backstory – is really something.

Also, the director does an exceptional job of making it feel like vertigo! My teenage daughter and I kept running out of the room because watching was so intense!

4) Crawl (2019)

I love how simple the concept behind Crawl is. Gigantic alligators swarm around a young woman called Haley (Kaya Scodelario) and her father (Barry Pepper) as floodwaters engulf their home.

Of course, they end up washed up in the crawl space under the house (hence the title!). Haley is also a championship swimmer, meaning that it’s her job to save her Dad.

His cheerleading cry, ‘You’re an apex predator!’ is repeated throughout the movie. However, it becomes an inevitable ‘punch the air’ moment, rather than cheesy and predictable.

5) Apex (2026)

This is another one with a deceptively dark backstory. Charlize Theron plays Sasha, a mountain climber haunted by a fatal decision in Norway. When she retreats to the Australian wilderness to recover, her journey turns into a desperate hunt when she comes across Ben, played by Taron Egerton.

There’s a masterful ‘bait and switch’ in the first act of this movie, plus both actors put in great performances. There’s some fantastic moments of peril, too.

Ultimately however, this one suffered a tone problem in my view. It doesn’t seem to quite know whether it’s serious or not … which affects some key reveals. That said, it’s still a great ride.

6) Bonus: Prey (2022)

This one is slightly different to the rest because it falls a little outside the ‘women versus nature’ subgenre. It’s sci-fi as well as thriller, plus The Predator is the main threat. However, it’s still an outstanding female-led survival thriller where the wilderness itself becomes a weapon.

Unlike the other movies, Prey’s protagonist is not transplanted into the wilderness; she already lives there. Amber Midthunder plays Naru, a Comanche tribe member who is bored with her lot as a healer. She wants to be a warrior but is not taken seriously … not because she’s a woman, but because it’s felt her talents lie elsewhere.

I think what I like best about Prey is that Naru must outwit The Predator, using her environment to help her. This is a callback to the original starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It also means critics – ‘She’s too small to take on the Predator!’ – are misremembering the first film. After all, as big as he is, it’s not brawn Arnie uses to overcome the creature … it’s brains! Just like Naru.

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