The 18 best sci-fi movies on Netflix right now

Government experiments, mutant creatures, and adventures in pharmaceuticals make up the cosmic horrors and delights in Netflix’s finest sci-fi selections.

Life is all about perspective, and nothing snaps you out of a funk quite like escaping to a future world where things are much, much worse. Whether you're dropping into a government-controlled dystopia or a world free from privacy, rest easy in the knowledge that however your life looks right now, it looks a lot better than these potential realities.

From films satirizing government inaction in reaction to climate change, to journeys into the worlds of party drugs and pills that provide superpowers, these are the must-watch sci-fi movies on Netflix.

The Adam Project (2022)

The rules of time travel be damned! In The Adam Project, a fighter pilot (Ryan Reynolds) living in the year 2050 attempts to travel back to 2018 to save his wife (Zoe Saldaña), but accidentally crash lands in 2022 where he comes face-to-face with his teenage self (Walker Scobell). As the two Adams work together to return Old Adam to the future, they find ways to grow and grieve through traumas new and old. Think Back to the Future–meets–Free Guy. Also starring Catherine Keener as the leader of Old Adam's world and Mark Ruffalo as Adam's father Lou, EW's critic writes that "Adam barrels along on movie stars and charm, from futures past and back again." —Randall Colburn

Where to watch The Adam Project: Netflix

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldaña, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, Walker Scobell

Related content: The Adam Project stars break down the film's Star Wars 'Endor sequence'

Anon (2018)

Privacy and anonymity are luxuries afforded to no one in the 2018 British-American sci-fi thriller Anon. Clive Owen stars as Det. Sal Frieland, a troubled cop operating in a dystopia where the entire populace is implanted with an ocular device intended to record and track the movements of the people around them. The government's transparency methods ensure that all criminal activity is caught on tape — but when a mysterious woman with no digital footprint (Amanda Seyfried) crosses paths with Sal, he realizes she might have a connection with a series of unsolved murders he's investigating. Director Andrew Niccol tells EW, "I always wanted to do a movie about privacy and the fact that there was never a war for privacy because we already lost — we gave away our privacy without a fight, all for convenience." —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch Anon: Netflix

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Andrew Niccol

Cast: Clive Owen, Amanda Seyfried, Colm Feore, Mark O'Brien

Related content: Andrew Niccol describes his new Netflix film Anon as 'Cambridge Analytica on crack'

Battleship (2012)

Battleship proves board games aren’t just for basements. With an eclectic cast that includes both Liam Neeson and Rihanna, Battleship is a military science fiction action film that combines a love story, aliens, and good old fashioned naval warfare — and somehow manages to pull it all off. Propelled by the best special effects available at the time, while still nodding to the game’s original low-tech roots, Battleship also manages to reunite Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg with FNL star Taylor Kitsch to great effect. If you’re looking for an action film that won’t sink under the weight of your expectations, Battleship, EW’s critic writes, is the “rousing, engaging, and emotionally complex action war picture the silly 2001 action war picture Pearl Harbor only wished it could be.” —I.G.     

Where to watch Battleship: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Peter Berg  

Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano, Liam Neeson

Related content: Battleship: Kevin Costner's surprise advice to Peter Berg

Bird Box (2018)

Sight becomes a barrier in Bird Box, a postapocalyptic thriller where the enemy must go unseen, or else. Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman responsible for transporting her two young children down a river while wearing blindfolds: a strategy intended to help the survivors avoid seeing the entities that attacked Earth five years earlier, and who cause those who look upon them to commit suicide. Jumping between their present journey and the past events that led Malorie and the children to this point, director Susanne Bier leans into the tension of the unknown and relies on her talented but eclectic cast to do the rest. Released the same year as A Quiet Place, and possessing a somewhat similar premise, Bird Box received less attention when it first premiered, but this sci-fi horror film is a great option for fans of both genres. —I.G.

Where to watch Bird Box: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Susanne Bier

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson, Machine Gun Kelly

Related content: Bird Box author Josh Malerman on publishing a sequel during the end times

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

As it turns out, the only thing missing from the British anthology series, Black Mirror, was options. In Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the TV show gets a movie makeover, but with a twist: The film was shot in the style of a "choose your own adventure" novel, and viewers can customize their viewing experience through their scene selections. Centered around a young programmer named Stefan (Fionn Whitehead), Bandersnatch follows Stefan's journey in developing a video game for a famous gaming company, a journey that puts Stefan under a great deal of mental and emotional stress, and results in one of ten main endings. Black Mirror is beloved for its eldritch and tech-focused content, and Bandersnatch keeps that tone alive, using the main story line to explore themes like free will and mind control, even as the viewers' choices drive the story forward. —I.G.

Where to watch Black Mirror: Bandersnatch: Netflix

Director: David Slade

Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Will Poulter, Craig Parkinson, Tallulah Rose Haddon, Catriona Knox

Related content: All the possible Black Mirror: Bandersnatch endings, ranked

Don't Look Up (2021)

As a comet sets its sights on Earth and prepares to wipe out human civilization, two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) rush to warn the world of the impending collision — only to discover the world doesn't really care. "Based on events that haven't happened yet," as the film's trailer states, Don't Look Up is a sci-fi satire that skewers climate deniers and government inaction in the face of scientific evidence pointing to looming catastrophe. Directed by Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short), and featuring everyone in Hollywood from Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep to Timothée Chalamet and Ariana Grande, Don't Look Up offers great jokes and fun cameos, but be warned: it's not exactly light fare. Still, as far as sci-fi comedies go, this one is worth a watch — just don't think too deeply about the implications of the film's ending. —I.G.

Where to watch Don't Look Up: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Evans

Related content: Don't Look Up director says 'editing mistake' showing crew was 'on purpose'

The Hunger Games (2012)

More than a decade has passed since viewers were first transported to the country of Panem, a grim dystopian future divided into factions and ruled by a merciless Capitol. As penance for a past rebellion, every year, the children of Panem’s 12 districts are required to enter their names into the country’s Hunger Games, a televised event that is half reality competition show, half violent death match. When Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) little sister is selected as one of the tributes for District 12, she volunteers to take her place. To make it back home safe to her family, Katniss must survive her time in the arena, competing against tributes who have been training for the Games their whole lives, as well as her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) with whom she has a complicated relationship. Based on the best-selling trilogy, which spawned four films, The Hunger Games is one of those rare franchises that succeeds in creating adaptations that are equal to their source material. —I.G.  

Where to watch The Hunger Games: Netflix 

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Gary Ross 

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland

Related content: Watch the first teaser for The Hunger Games prequel centered on a young Coriolanus Snow

Jurassic Park (1993)

Ingenious tycoon John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) hatches a money-minting spectacle: a theme park teeming with genetically cloned dinosaurs as seemingly harmless attractions. But when a trio of experts — including a chaotician (Jeff Goldblum), paleontologist (Sam Neill), and paleobotanist (Laura Dern) — drop by for a preview, they soon find themselves in a saurian-sized crisis when the park's power is cut, becoming prey on an island free-range with dinos. While some critics may argue it doesn't quite scale the heights of other Steven Spielberg classics, Jurassic Park unleashed a can't-miss event with its life-like animatronics, led by VFX artist Stan Winston, creating a box-office juggernaut that cemented its place on EW's best 30 summer blockbusters of all-time. —James Mercadante

Where to watch Jurassic Park: Netflix (leaving April 30)

EW grade: N/A (read the review)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, B.D. Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight

Related content: Jurassic Park cast: Where are they now?

Looper (2012)

Before Rian Johnson helmed his Knives Out franchise and Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (much to some people's dismay, but not ours), he made his first big splash with this 2012 head-scratcher. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does his best Bruce Willis impression as "looper" Joe, a time traveler who comes face-to-face with his future self (Willis for real this time). Old Joe has come to the past to kill the mother of a young boy, who the present Joe has his own reasons for defending, pitting two different versions of the same self against each other. If you're a fan of time travel movies, there are enough cross-linear "grandfather paradoxes" (shout-out to The Umbrella Academy season three) here to keep you up nights, but that doesn't take any of the fun out of Looper's one-of-a-kind timeline-skewing action. —Gwen Ihnat

Where to watch Looper: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels

Related content: Nominated for nothing: Why the Academy should go back in time to honor Looper

Lucy (2014)

It is estimated that humans are able to access 10 percent of our brains’ potential. In the sci-fi action film Lucy, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and savage circumstances collide to give Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), an American student living in Taiwan, access to 28 percent of her brain — and counting. Featuring the signature, stylized violence of French director Luc Besson, the film is presented at high speeds and alongside imagery designed to make you question your sobriety. There’s no debating that the film remains firmly in the shallow end of the character development pool, but Lucy makes up for it with stunt work, pacing, and aesthetic. A non-Marvel or DC superhero story for the technology era, Lucy starts as a cautionary tale and ends in the realm of the trippily cerebral, but steadily summons what one EW contributor describes as “genuine bizarro excitement.” —I.G.  

Where to watch Lucy: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review) 

Director: Luc Besson 

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked 

Related content: Scarlett Johansson teases her Bette Davis-esque character in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

The Midnight Sky (2020)

George Clooney directs, co-produces, and stars in this moody and often wordless adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton's 2016 novel Good Morning, Midnight. Clooney — face wrapped in a giant gray beard — plays Augustine, a scientist at an Arctic research station that's still standing after an unnamed global catastrophe leaves the Earth irradiated. Health declining, he makes two big discoveries: 1) There's a mysterious little girl (Caoilinn Springall) on the station with him, and 2) her only hope for survival is the Aether, a distant spaceship that's returning to Earth unaware of the fate that's befallen it. The Midnight Sky is familiar in its use of genre tropes, but Clooney's soulful performance brings a welcome warmth to this cold vision of Earth's future. As EW's critic notes in her review, the film also has some "arresting visual set pieces, including a blizzard white-out that feels like the actual end of the world and a memorable lesson on the physics of blood dispersion in zero gravity." —R.C.

Where to watch The Midnight Sky: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: George Clooney

Cast: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, Tiffany Boone, Kyle Chandler, Sophie Rundle, Ethan Peck, Caoilinn Springall

Related content: George Clooney discusses the difficulties of filming The Midnight Sky

Oxygen (2021)

A nightmare comes to life for claustrophobics everywhere, Oxygen is a French-language sci-fi film that thinks outside the box in terms of action. At the genesis, an unidentified woman (Mélanie Laurent) awakens in an airtight medical unit, unsure of who or where she is. Interactions with the system's AI — dubbed M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer) — provide some clarity as to her identity, but no matter what she tries, she cannot escape her prison. As she seeks to understand who placed her in the box and why, truths about her personal life and the current state of the world come into focus — but her search for context is actually a race to outwit the slowly depleting oxygen levels. Laurent is excellent, and despite being forced to perform on her back, she manages to imbue the film with a strong sense of determination and humanity. —I.G.

Where to watch Oxygen: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Alexandre Aja

Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi

Related content: The best sci-fi movies on Max

Project Power (2020)

What do a New Orleans police officer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a soldier in search of his daughter (Jamie Foxx), and a rapping drug dealer (Dominique Fishback) have in common? They're all working to rid the streets of Power, a new drug that gives users five minutes of superhero abilities, at the risk of killing them with one hit. A sci-fi action film produced by Netflix, Project Power invites audiences into a city still suffering the after-effects of Katrina, even decades after the hurricane hit. Populated by morally murky characters — like Gordon-Levitt's Detective Frank Shaver, a cop who uses the drug to level the playing field against the city's criminals, or Fishback's teenage Robin Reilly, who knows she needs to deal to get ahead in this world, but is too smart to partake of her own product — the film finds room for cultural context amidst the action sequences. —I.G.

Where to watch Project Power: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Foxx, Dominique Fishback, Machine Gun Kelly, Rodrigo Santoro, Courtney B. Vance, Amy Landecker

Related content: With Netflix's Project Power, Dominique Fishback is poised to take center stage

Ready Player One (2012)

In the year 2045, America has sunk into a dystopia, and the only escape for the impoverished is through the OASIS, a multiplayer virtual reality universe. After the death of James Halliday, one of OASIS’ co-creators, a contest is announced promising ownership of the universe to whoever is first to complete three challenges and discover the golden Easter egg. Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is one of America’s many disenfranchised youths with nothing to live for outside of the OASIS. But when he and his friends inside the game decide to team up to search for the Easter egg, they find themselves challenged and hunted by the IOI, an evil corporation hoping to assert control over the universe. A science fiction film based on the 2011 bestselling novel by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One is half videogame, half technological dystopia, and 100 percent filled with ‘80s pop culture references. —I.G.     

Where to watch Ready Player One: Netflix

EW grade: B (read the review) 

Director: Steven Spielberg 

Cast: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance

Related content: Ready Player One: Inside Aech's intergalactic garage

See You Yesterday (2019)

The best way to live life with no regrets is to build a time machine — which is exactly what happens in Netflix's Spike Lee-produced sci-fi adventure film, See You Yesterday. After best friends and high school science prodigies, C.J. (Eden Duncan-Smith) and Sebastian (Danté Crichlow), unlock the secrets to time travel, they're forced to use their newfound invention in an attempt to save C.J.'s brother Calvin (Brian "Stro" Bradley) from a fatal encounter with the police. A modern take on Back to the Future — also featuring an appearance by the original time traveler, Michael J. Fox — the film grapples with highly relevant cultural issues like police brutality while still having fun with high school tropes and time loops. See You Yesterday might not have gotten the attention it deserved when it first premiered on the platform back in 2019, but the film remains a regret-free sci-fi adventure worth embarking upon. —I.G.

Where to watch See You Yesterday: Netflix

Director: Stefon Bristol

Cast: Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brian "Stro" Bradley

Related content: How Spike Lee mentee Stefon Bristol landed Michael J. Fox for Netflix's See You Yesterday

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

With Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) setting sky-high standards after winning Best Animated Feature, the equally acclaimed sequel proved to be worth the five-year wait. Also nominated for the same Oscar category, Spider-Man: Across the Universe slightly shifts its perspective from Brooklyn's amiable Spider-Man, Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore), to his confidante from another dimension: Gwen Stacy, a.k.a. Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld). As she navigates her complicated relationship with her police dad (Shea Whigham) — who is unknowingly hunting her —  Gwen and Miles swing across the multiverse and ultimately band with a team of Spider-People to protect its existence against a new supervillain, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman). Retaining and even elevating the same prismatic blend of CGI and hand-drawn animations that captivated audiences in the original, the 2023 sequel goes beyond the visual dynamism expected of a superhero movie. According to EW's critic, the film also "mines greater emotional depth by exploring the familial relationships of Gwen and Miles from the perspectives of both parents and children. It truly is a family movie in that sense, with relevance for viewers of many different ages." —J.M.

Where to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Netflix

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali, Oscar Isaac

Related content: How Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk became the coolest character in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

A single genre isn't enough to contain one of Netflix's 2023 releases, They Cloned Tyrone. A sci-fi comedy that combines '70s Blaxploitation with mystery and social satire, the film has similar vibes to movies like Get Out (2017) or Sorry to Bother You (2018) while employing a far more absurd premise. Fontaine (John Boyega) is a drug dealer living in an impoverished area called the Glen. While trying to collect funds owed to him by a local pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot and killed — but that doesn't stop him from showing up on Slick's doorstep the next day to collect his money. Joined by a sex worker named YoYo (Teyonah Parris), the trio attempts to get to the bottom of what appears to be a massive government conspiracy aimed at exploiting their disenfranchised community as medical subjects. A satirical romp that has as much to say about class and racial injustices as it does about mystery movie tropes, They Cloned Tyrone is smart, silly, and uniformly well-acted. —I.G.

Where to watch They Cloned Tyrone: Netflix

Director: Juel Taylor

Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx

Related content: John Boyega calls They Cloned Tyrone with Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx 'a new vibe entirely'

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Orphan Black lovers will want to check out What Happened to Monday, a 2017 sci-fi action thriller directed by Tommy Wirkola. The film stars Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), giving seven unique performances as septuplet sisters, each named after a different day of the week. The siblings live in a fascist America where overpopulation has necessitated the creation of a Child Allocation Bureau (run by Glenn Close), which imposes a single-child policy on all families. The septuplets live secretly with their grandfather (Willem Dafoe), share the name Karen Settman (a relic from their dead mother), and are only allowed to leave the house on the day of the week that corresponds with their name. But after Monday goes out and never comes home, it's up to her sisters to save her — at the risk of exposing themselves. —I.G.

Where to watch What Happened to Monday: Netflix

EW grade: B– (read the review)

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Cast: Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe

Related content: Why the director of What Happened to Monday avoided watching Orphan Black

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• The 12 best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video

• The 15 best sci-fi movies on Hulu

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.