Since the days of Stuart Paton’s20,000 Leagues Under the Seaand Fritz Lang’sMetropolis, filmmakers and moviegoers have been fascinated withscience fiction. Aliens, dystopian societies, and robots from the future; the sci-fi genre is extensive and flexible, presenting creators with plenty of room to explore fantastical ideas based on science and technology.
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Inception
Christopher Nolan regularly dips his toes into the sci-fi genre, with the most blatant example beingInterstellar. While that film tends to be polarizing, the same cannot be said aboutInception, which is a front-runner for the director’s best movie. Although it has all the makings of a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, the 2010 film incorporates some fairly cerebral science-fiction ideas, and it takes them seriously rather than employing them as a plot device.
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Inceptionenvisions a world that contains technology that allows people to enter somebody else’s dreams, where they can implement ideas that will echo in the target’s subconscious. Framed like a heist movie,Inceptionis packed to the brim with visually stimulating and creative set pieces, and they do not come at the expense of a gripping story or likable characters. The latter are brought to life by an all-star cast that includes the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, and Ken Watanabe.
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Galaxy Quest
Star Trek’s enduring popularity speaks for itself. Along with being responsible for some of sci-fi’s greatest series and movies, the massive franchise also inspired arguably the genre’s funniest parody:Galaxy Quest. Decades after the show went off the air, Galaxy Quest’s cast mostly spend their time on the convention circuit. However, their lives take a turn for the weird when they are recruited by a naive alien race who take their low-budget adventurers are face value. Suddenly, these actors and actresses find themselves taking on an intergalactic threat that would challenge even the likes of Spock and Kirk.
Galaxy Questis a loving tribute to all things classicStar Trek, one that pokes fun at the 1960s show while also highlighting its influence and importance. While familiarity with the parody’s subject improves the experience,Galaxy Questis still funny without that knowledge.
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The Adam Project
Released on Jul 08, 2025 on Netflix,The Adam Projectis an easy, if forgettable watch. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, and Zoe Saldana, thesci-fi comedyslips into the time-travel subgenre as it follows a pilot who must team up with his younger self to save the day.
The Adam Projectis a pleasant movie that elevates its by-the-numbers plot by making good use of its charismatic cast. Although it is thetype of film that has been done to death, there is still plenty of fun to be had with this outing.
Who Am I
Sci-fi might be a bit of a stretch when it comes toWho Am I, a hacker-themed thriller that maintains a sense of heightened realism throughout the majority of its narrative. The German film follows Benjamin, an isolated and self-conscious hacker who is recruited by a group of pros. He eventually tags along and becomes ensnared in a big case that involves conspiracy and murder.
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Who Am Iis a fun ride with barely a dull second. While a relatively low-budget production, the movie makes very good use of real-life locations to enhance the story. It even presents a fun twist on the darknet, at least in terms of presentation.
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Pitch Black
All threeRiddickmovies are on Netflix, and they make for a fun albeit inconsistent trilogy. Out of these flicks,Pitch Blackis unquestionably the standout, and it holds up better than its sequels. Combining action and horror, the film follows Riddick as he tries to survive on and escape from an alien planet, a process that proves to be nothing if not wildly entertaining.
Even all these years later,Pitch Blackstill contains one of Vin Diesel’s best performances. While somewhat reminiscent of other sci-fi classics likePredator, this 2000 sci-fi film has enough unique touches to stand on its own two feet.
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Okja
Sci-fi loves stories about humans befriending creatures, be they aliens or gremlins.Okjais one of the more recent and better additions to this subgenre, although it is anything but a typical representation of this concept. The titular Okja is adorable, as is its friendship with Lucy; however, the man-made creature is also destined to be packaged as meat in the future.
Like most ofBong Joon Ho’s projects,Okjais ambitious and thought-provoking, particularly in its exploration of corporate behavior and food consumption. The film has plenty of things to say and the confidence to execute them well, resulting in an experience that covers an incredibly wide range of emotions.
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What Happened To Monday
In an alternate universe where Earth’s resources have been depleted and families are restricted to one child, a single father with septuplets has to come up with a scheme to keep his daughters together. So, they essentially pretend to be a single person, each one getting a day of the week. When one of the sisters, Monday, goes missing, the rest have to figure out what happened to her.
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What Happened to Mondayhas a fun premise, some neat action sequences, and a game cast, with Noomi Rapace being especially fantastic as the seven siblings.Netflix’s sci-fi filmdoes not fully come together to create an all-time great experience, but it is an entertaining watch nevertheless.
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I Am Mother
Focusing on anunorthodox parent-child relationship,I Am Motherfollows a robot with advanced AI that spends its time looking over embryos in a research facility. Simply known as Mother, the robot’s core connection is with a young girl named Daughter, and this intriguing sci-fi flick dedicates a decent stretch of time to establishing these two’s dynamic. In fact,I Am Motherkeeps its cast to a minimum, with the only other major player being a human woman who serves as a rival to the AI.
I Am Motherpresents fascinating ideas while touching upon classic science-fiction themes that are socially relevant in the present day. Despite its tiny cast and intimate setting, the film is quite story-driven, particularly during its second half.
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Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus
After almost two decades,Invader Zimmade a glorious comeback in the form of a Netflix movie salvaged from a droppedNickelodeon project.Enter the Florpusexpertly recaptures a lot of the original show’s brilliance, be it the fantastic voice acting, the nihilistic themes, or the crude, absurdist art style. A few things have changed since the early 2000s though; for one, the movie is not quite as relentlessly dark as the TV series, even going as far as to give Dib a few “nice” moments. This might frustrate some long-time fans, but growth is not a bad thing, andEnter the Florpusexplores these new dimensions well.
While it is one of thefunniest science-fiction movies on Netflix,Invader Zim: Enter the Florpusis a difficult recommendation for newcomers to the franchise as a whole. That’s not to say the uninitiated won’t find anything to enjoy here, but a pre-existing familiarity with the characters and their history together elevates the experience significantly.
Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
Childhood is a frequent theme in Richard Linklater’s movies, andApollo 10½: A Space Age Childhoodis the most blatant example except for perhapsBoyhood. Technically, the 2022 movie qualifies as sci-fi since it involves a kid being recruited to go on a trip to the moon; however, this fantastical excursion is a fun distraction rather than the film’s focus.
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Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhoodrevolves around the space race, specifically the public reaction to the moment. While it does touch upon the moon landing’s cultural importance, the film is presented like a scattershot collection of memories and emotions fueled by the event. The animated movie does not have much in the way of narrative drive, but it works well as a snapshot of a unique period in the history of the United States.
