7 Best Netflix Sci-Fi Films to Watch Right Now

Griff Griffin
·2 min read
2

Netflix is home to some incredible sci-fi films, from must-see originals to blockbusters that captivated cinema audiences. And contrary to convention, not all of them take you to space.

The world of speculative fiction deals with all manner of fanciful concepts, like parallel universes, time travel, and extra-terrestrial life. Read on below for Netflix's very best examples.

Or if you're after something different, check out the 7 best crime movies on Netflix.

<p>20th Century Studios</p><p>It's <em>Apocalypse Now</em> in space as Brad Pitt’s angsty astronaut sets off on a quest across the solar system to find a man who’s seemingly gone mad with power. That man is also his dad, played by Tommy Lee Jones with the kind of weary melancholy you’d only get by hanging around on your own near Neptune.</p>

20th Century Studios

It's Apocalypse Now in space as Brad Pitt’s angsty astronaut sets off on a quest across the solar system to find a man who’s seemingly gone mad with power. That man is also his dad, played by Tommy Lee Jones with the kind of weary melancholy you’d only get by hanging around on your own near Neptune.

<p>Netflix</p><p>The latest film on this list sees Adam Sandler play a lonely astronaut who misses his wife. Enter a talking alien spider voiced by Paul Dano who invites him, via telepathy, to examine his memories and discover the meaning of life. Strange, sensitive, and fascinatingly psychoanalytic.</p>

Netflix

The latest film on this list sees Adam Sandler play a lonely astronaut who misses his wife. Enter a talking alien spider voiced by Paul Dano who invites him, via telepathy, to examine his memories and discover the meaning of life. Strange, sensitive, and fascinatingly psychoanalytic.

<p>Netflix</p><p>Netflix’s underrated 2021 sci-fi drama stars Anna Kendrick as an astronaut whose three-person team grapples with a life-or-death decision when she discovers an unplanned passenger onboard.</p>

Netflix

Netflix’s underrated 2021 sci-fi drama stars Anna Kendrick as an astronaut whose three-person team grapples with a life-or-death decision when she discovers an unplanned passenger onboard.

<p>Netflix</p><p>Director/writer Adam McKay injects some much-needed levity into the typically heavy sci-fi genre. It sees two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence), attempt to warn the world of a planet-ending asteroid - but the world couldn’t care less.</p>

Netflix

Director/writer Adam McKay injects some much-needed levity into the typically heavy sci-fi genre. It sees two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence), attempt to warn the world of a planet-ending asteroid - but the world couldn’t care less.

<p>Sony Pictures</p><p>Not only does <em>District 9</em> convince as a realistic depiction of what could happen to aliens if they ever came to Earth (we’d quarantine them in ghettos and harass them a lot), but also offers explosive sci-fi spectacle as government agent Wikus is exposed to their biotechnology.</p>

Sony Pictures

Not only does District 9 convince as a realistic depiction of what could happen to aliens if they ever came to Earth (we’d quarantine them in ghettos and harass them a lot), but also offers explosive sci-fi spectacle as government agent Wikus is exposed to their biotechnology.

<p>Netflix</p><p>Netflix’s original 2018 sci-fi horror sees a group of scientists on board an Earth-orbiting vessel confronting a dark alternate reality as they test a device to solve an energy crisis. In other words, the planet vanishes, and they have to find a way home. It's like a bloodless <em>Event Horizon</em>. </p>

Netflix

Netflix’s original 2018 sci-fi horror sees a group of scientists on board an Earth-orbiting vessel confronting a dark alternate reality as they test a device to solve an energy crisis. In other words, the planet vanishes, and they have to find a way home. It's like a bloodless Event Horizon.

<p>Netflix, Paramount</p><p>Alex Garland’s psychological cosmic horror unfolds not in space, but on good old Earth as Natalie Portman investigates ‘The Shimmer’, a mysterious quarantined zone causing life to grow out of control. A must-watch for the scene with a hideously mutated bear alone. </p>

Netflix, Paramount

Alex Garland’s psychological cosmic horror unfolds not in space, but on good old Earth as Natalie Portman investigates ‘The Shimmer’, a mysterious quarantined zone causing life to grow out of control. A must-watch for the scene with a hideously mutated bear alone.