Why Greenland 2: Migration Is The First Truly Terrifying Movie Of 2026

This post contains spoilers for "Greenland 2: Migration."

While entertaining, natural disaster movies tend to be full of mindless action and lacking in real stakes. Broadly speaking, the heroes survive and the world returns to normal afterward, making it difficult for viewers to feel terrified for their plights. However, "Greenland" differs from the usual disaster movie formula by telling a genuinely harrowing story that explores how humanity would react to, and suffer from, a catastrophic event. "Greenland 2: Migration" continues to showcase the bleaker side of disaster fare — and it's even more brutal than its predecessor. A Happy New Year movie, this is not.

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh from a script by Chris Sparling and Mitchell LaFortune, "Greenland 2: Migration" combines disaster movie thrills with post-apocalyptic savagery. The story takes place five years after the events of the first movie and follows John Garrity (Gerard Butler) and his family as they leave their bunker and travel to Europe in search of sanctuary. It's a perilous journey, though — one laden with radiation showers, societal breakdown, and armed marauders. If that isn't bad enough, John also has to contend with health issues while keeping his wife and son safe.

On paper, "Greenland 2: Migration" sounds like every other post-apocalyptic disaster movie. By no means does it rewrite the rulebook, but the film is effective in its execution of depicting a cruel world that takes no prisoners. With that in mind, let's dig into why Waugh's sequel is so much more than another run-of-the-mill disaster blockbuster.

"Greenland 2: Migration" is a harrowing reflection of real-world anxieties pertaining to the environment — climate change, pollution, radiation exposure, you name it. These are common themes in movies of this ilk, but this one presents natural disasters as monstrous, unforgiving, forces of dread that come out of nowhere, claiming victims every single time. "Greenland 2: Migration" wants to scare us into thinking, and it's effective in that regard. Some sequences are over-the-top, sure, but the movie still makes a terrifying argument for why we should treat Mother Nature right.

That said, the scariest aspects of "Greenland 2: Migration" are the human-made atrocities. Regular people suffer because there isn't any space in military safety zones that host the privileged few. Lawlessness turns people into killers because they need simple things like vehicles. War has broken out because opposing forces want to control the film's only safe haven. The worst part? The innocent folks who get caught up in the crossfire, as is often the case in times of chaos. What's more, some of the film's most disturbing moments emerge from selfish desperation — like people being turned away from lifeboats and left to drown in tidal waves while those deemed more important sail away to safety. That's probably how it would go down in real life, and it's a scary thought.

Be that as it may, "Greenland 2: Migration" is a somewhat hopeful movie. For all of the tragic and brutal moments, there are just as many reminders that humanity can be compassionate, helpful, and fundamentally decent. It's all about the balance, right? Still, when the film gets dark, it's downright cruel — and that's why it's a great disaster movie.