Superior Sci-Fi
Netflix’s sci-fi section is like a wormhole—you never know what you’ll find on the other side. For every mind-bending masterpiece, there’s another film that makes you wish you’d stayed in the real world. And with Netflix’s endless scroll, you can easily spend more time searching than actually watching. So skip the black hole of indecision and dive straight into the good stuff—these are the sci-fi gems worth your next movie night.
Just a heads-up: these films are streaming on Netflix as of September 2024, but availability can shift faster than a time paradox. And depending on where you’re watching from, some titles may not appear in your galaxy.
Back To The Future
We guess it's possible that there are some people who haven't seen this classic 1985 sci-fi action comedy. But the adventures of Marty McFly, Doc Brown, and the DeLorean are always rewatchable.
Universal Pictures, Back To The Future (1985)
Back To The Future 2
It's the lowest rated film of the trilogy, but BTTF 2 has been gaining acclaim over the decades and now stands among some of the best-regarded sequels out there.
Universal Pictures, Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Back To The Future 3
Heading to the old west, BTTF 3 came back strong and holds a nice 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Universal Pictures, Back to the Future Part III (1990)
The Old Guard
This one might be more Superhero than sci-fi, but we won't let that technicality keep this 2020 Charlize Theron movie off the list. Theron plays a member of a group of immortal warrior mercenaries who make an exception to their rules and take on a job they shouldn't have. We love Theron and there's also some great action scenes as well.
Skydance Media, The Old Guard (2020)
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
For anyone who worried that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) couldn’t possibly live up to the groundbreaking brilliance of Into the Spider-Verse (2018), consider those fears completely squashed. Bursting with wit, heart, and jaw-dropping artistry, Across the Spider-Verse doesn’t just continue the story—it expands it into a visual and emotional universe all its own. The Spider-Verse saga has already swung its way into the ranks of the greatest trilogies ever—and the final chapter hasn’t even dropped yet.
Columbia Pictures, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The first film was good, but it was with Terminator 2: Judgment Day that the Terminator-verse reached its pinnacle. It's been pretty much downhill ever since. But let's not let those failures ruin how great T2 was—and still is.
Carolco Pictures, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Starship Troopers
One of the most misunderstood films on our list, Starship Troopers was met with generally negative reviews from critics—and while it made over $120 million at the box office, audience word-of-mouth wasn't great either. Back in 1997, this smart satire didn't connect—but in the years since, critics and audiences have come around to appreciate and praise it. Now you can give it another chance too.
TriStar Pictures, Starship Troopers (1997)
Godzilla Minus One
2023's Godzilla Minus One was the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise. How many of those 37 are worth watching? We don't know exactly. But what we do know is that it holds a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience CinemaScore grade of "A".
Robot Communications, Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Upgrade
Upgrade isn't the first film to examine the idea of Artificial Intelligence and what could go wrong if we give AI too much power—and it won't be the last. But it's a good one and one that kind of got lost in the shuffle upon its theatrical release back in 2018.
Blumhouse Productions, Upgrade (2018)
Oxygen
Oxygen (2021) doesn’t waste a single breath—literally. The film opens with Elizabeth jolting awake inside a sealed cryogenic chamber, her oxygen levels dropping by the second and no memory of how she got there. Claustrophobic, nerve-wracking, and utterly gripping, this sci-fi thriller will leave you gasping right alongside her.
Okja
From the man who brought you Parasite (the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture) comes Okja. Well, technically Bong Joon-ho made Okja a couple years before Parasite, but you get the point. A young girl, a genetically modified "super pig", and a mission to save it from the evil meat industry. To quote A.O. Scott of the New York Times, "Okja is a miracle of imagination and technique".
Plan B Entertainment, Okja (2017)
Life
Looking to add a little horror to your sci-fi night? Then Life might be just what you need. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds, Life brings an alien multi-celled organism to the International Space Centre—and lets just say that things don't go smoothly.
The Platform
Criminals in a Vertical Self-Management Center prison are fed via a large slab that descends past each floor, with those at the top getting as much food as they want and those lower down forced to grab at whatever is left. It's a satisfying high-concept dystopian thriller with a sequel coming in October of 2024.
Basque Films, The Platform (2019)
They Cloned Tyrone
Labeled as a science fiction comedy mystery, They Cloned Tyrone is stylishly made, funny, and has been defined by some critics as part sci-fi and part blaxploitation. Curious?
Federal Films, They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Don't Look Up
In Don’t Look Up (2021), Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play two astronomers desperately trying to warn humanity about a comet hurtling toward Earth—and the world’s reaction is somehow even more terrifying than the comet itself. Satirical, chaotic, and uncomfortably funny, this end-of-the-world sci-fi comedy skewers modern society with pinpoint accuracy.
Hyperobject Industries, Don't Look Up (2021)
Blame!
We don't blame you if you missed it back in 2017. Japanese animated sci-fi dystopian future action isn't part of everyone's Netflix algorithm. However, any flaws the film might have plot-wise, the world-building itself is easily worth your time.
Polygon Pictures, Blame! (2017)
Freaks
A seven-year-old girl has been kept inside her whole life by her father who warns her of "the bad men". But what is the truth beyond the front door? This sci-fi/horror hybrid delivers the thrills and the scares.
Bloomgarden Films, Freaks (2018)
Space Sweepers
South Korean space westerns don't come around every day. Or maybe they do and we've just missed most of them. One we didn't miss, though, was 2021's Space Sweepers—which has been called the first Korean film space blockbuster.
Dexter Studios, Space Sweepers (2021)
I Am Mother
Wondering what Hilary Swank has been up to lately? Well, in 2019, she was in I Am Mother—an Australian post-apocalyptic sci-fi offering about a girl raised in a bunker by a "mother" robot. With its 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, critics mostly agreed that the film had big goals and, for the most part, it reached them.
The Penguin Empire, I Am Mother (2019)
Edge Of Tomorrow
It might not get the same spotlight as Mission: Impossible, but Edge of Tomorrow (2014) is easily one of Tom Cruise’s finest—and most inventive—films of the past decade. Co-starring Emily Blunt, this high-octane time-loop sci-fi thriller mixes explosive action with razor-sharp humor and surprising heart. Critics agreed, too: with a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and more than 20 “Best of the Year” nods, it’s the kind of movie you’ll want to relive again…and again.
Warner Bros, Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
The Kitchen
Sci-fi and social commentary come together in this dystopian future heist film. Daniel Kaluuya co-wrote and co-directed this one that seems to have, based on the Rotten Tomatoes scores, divided audiences and critics 47% to 89%, respectively.
Film4 Productions, The Kitchen (2023)
Europa Report
Evidence of possible life on one of Jupiter's moons sets six astronauts on a mission that probably won't go as planned. This 2013 release is rockin' a solid 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Wayfare Entertainment, Europa Report (2013)
Star Trek Beyond
We would like to recommend that you watch all three films in the rebooted Star Trek trilogy, but we can't do that here because this is a list about Netflix movies and the first two (Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness) are available on Paramount+. But not Star Trek Beyond. The third film in the trilogy is, at least for now, on Netflix.
Paramount Pictures, Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Night Raiders
A joint Canadian-New Zealand production, Night Raiders is set in 2044, in a dystopian future where the people are oppressed by a military government. The story revolves around Niska—a Cree woman—who joins the rebel resistance movement in order to try and save her daughter.
Alcina Pictures, Night Raiders (2021)
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Fans of Shaun the Sheep will feel right at home with this delightful sci-fi adventure—but with a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s safe to say everyone else will, too. Charming, clever, and packed with the kind of visual humor that works for all ages, it’s proof that even stop-motion sheep can deliver out-of-this-world fun.
Aardman Animations, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)
See You Yesterday
Teen science prodigies with time traveling backpacks really divided audiences and critics in 2019. The film holds a whopping 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes but just a 38% audience score. Check it out and see who you agree with.
40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, See You Yesterday (2019)
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines
What 2021 animated sci-fi comedy was nominated for Best Animated feature at the 33rd Producers Guild of America Awards, the 75th British Academy Film Awards, and the 94th Academy Awards? The Mitchells vs. the Machines, of course. It's a road trip movie meets global robot uprising movie, and it's great.
Sony Pictures Animation, The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Stowaway
A stowaway on a mission to Mars has some dire consequences for the crew on board and the mission.
The Midnight Sky
Did you know that George Clooney directed and starred in a sci-fi movie for Netflix in 2020? Well, he did. Clooney plays an aging scientist who must race across the Arctic Circle to warn a returning spacecraft to abandon its plans to return back to Earth because of a recent catastrophic event. It's not a perfect movie, but the grand themes are worth the while.
Anonymous Content, The Midnight Sky (2020)
