The 5 best sci fi movies to watch on Netflix and more in August 2023

Polygon readers, happy August!

Gareth Edwards’ latest sci-fi film, The End of Summer is just around the corner. Gareth Edwards’ The CreatorDenis Villeneuve’s 2021 sequel to epic sci-fi Denis Villeneuve looks promising. Dune. There’s plenty of time between now and when those films are released, however, so why not pass the time with some of the best sci-fi movies available to stream now?

Every month we select five science-fiction movies that you can watch on Netflix, or any other streaming platform. This month, we have an exciting Blaxploitation-inspired sci-fi mystery from a promising new director, a surreal ’80s sci-fi horror film from the director of Mandy, a ’90s cyberpunk anime classic, and more.

Let’s get into it!

It Cloned Tyrone

Parrish Lews/Netflix

Year: 2023
Run time: 2h 2m
Director:Juel Taylor
Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx

Netflix’s best original movie of 2023 is one of the year’s best movies, period. Juel Taylor, the first time feature director for Netflix, has brought a litany genres and cultures to this modern Blaxploitation parody. It’s a fun sci-fi farce.

The trio of a drug seller (John Boyega), pimp (Jamie Foxx) and sex worker Teyonah (Parris), who stumble upon a conspiracy that involves their entire neighborhood, must put aside their differences to work together to stop it.

Foxx and Parris are laugh-out-loud funny throughout the movie’s breezy run time, and it’s a wonder that Boyega was able to keep a straight face while filming. (If you watch the bloopers, you’ll know the truth: He wasn’t). It Cloned Tyrone It is by far the most hilarious sci-fi film you will see this month. When you’re done, watch this hilarious “interview” Boyega conducted with his character Fontaine. —Pete Volk

It Cloned TyroneNetflix offers a wide range of streaming content.

Vesper

IFC Films

Year: 2022
Run time: 1h 54m
Directors: Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper
Cast: Raffiella Chapman, Eddie Marsan, Rosy McEwen

If you’re anything like me, the prospect of the global climate crisis has a habit of hovering at the edge of your thoughts as you otherwise go about your day-to-day life. The combined tragedy of the Maui and Canadian wildfires this summer and the subsequent levels of air pollution produced by the latter only bring this problem into sharper focus, and it’s easy to feel disheartened by the lack of meaningful progress from major nations in divesting themselves from reliance on fossil fuels. Science fiction, more than just escapism or entertainment, is also a form of self-reflection and catharsis. It allows creators as well as audiences to imagine how they would live in a future world on the verge of collapse. Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper’s 2022 post-apocalyptic film VesperThis is the perfect example.

In a world where environmental collapse has divided humanity, Vesper (Raffiella Chappell) is a young girl who strives to find a solution to growing a strain of food plants, while caring for her father Darius (Richard Brake). When a drone from a mysterious technologically advanced enclave known as the Citadel crash-lands near Vesper’s home, Vesper discovers a young woman named Camellia (Rosy McEwen) beside the wreckage. Vesper is offered a bargain: If she helps her to return to the Citadel with her father, both Vesper will be treated well and welcomed. The journey to get there is more perilous than either one expects, however, as Vesper and Camellia are forced to contend not only with the hostile, mutated creatures of the planet, but the vicious machinations of Vesper’s uncle Jonas (Eddie Marsan).

VesperThis is one the best independent sci fi movies in the last ten years. With a stunning sense of imagination and detail, the movie captures an eco-ravaged earth with beauty that borders on the surreal. It’s a tragically underseen masterpiece that thoroughly deserves more appreciation and appraisal, and a unique vision of survival that offers a hint of hope at a better future beyond the end of the world. —Toussaint Egan

Vesper You can stream the movie on Hulu.

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Magnet Release

Year: 2012
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Cast: Michael Rogers, Eva Allan, Scott Hylands

Panos Cosmatos’ You can watch the videoIt was by far the most outstanding entry in Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of CuriositiesWhen the horror anthology series debuted last year. The 2018 hit cult film was directed by MandyHe is working on his latest movie. NekrokosmA sci-fi love story with an intergalactic backdrop, set in a world of horror and intrigue. There’s no word as of yet when audiences can expect Cosmatos’ new film, and considering the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, it’s probably going to be awhile. In the meantime, why not circle back and watch Cosmatos’ first film: the phantasmagorical sci-fi horror throwback Beyond the Black Rainbow.

The film is set in the 80s and centers around Elena (Eva Bourne credited as Eva Allan), who’s a young, gifted telekinetic. She finds herself in an experimental research center called the Arboria Institute, where she becomes a prisoner. Menaced by the Institute’s acting director, the sociopathic Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers), Elena is tormented and experimented on through the use of a mysterious glowing pyramid device that has the power to dampen her abilities and drain her physical strength. Nyle is becoming increasingly agitated and obsessive about his research. Elena has to find an escape route and expose him as well as the Institute.

Beyond the Black RainbowThe movie is heavily style-driven and has little to do with dialogue or story. Cosmatos himself stated the film was inspired by his desire to “create a film that is a sort of imagining of an old film that doesn’t exist,” channeling his childhood experiences of perusing movie stores and falling in love with VHS movie covers. This film has a more pronounced tone and visual style. You can watch the videoJeremy Schmidt, keyboardist at Black Mountain, has created a pulsating, eerie synth score with fuzzy textures and stark colors. To describe it simply: It’s a phantasmagorical trip, one that you’ll be more than thankful to have taken the plunge to explore. —TE

Beyond the Black Rainbow You can stream the movie on Prime Video.

Enjoy the Reminiscence

Photo: Ben Rothstein/Warner Bros. Pictures

Year: 2021
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Lisa Joy
Cast: Hugh Jackman Rebecca Ferguson Thandwe Neutron

Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy’s feature-length debut is a future noir exploration of the relationship between trauma and nostalgia in a post-climate change future. Hugh Jackman is Nick Bannister. He runs a company that allows customers to recreate memories with a virtual reality device. Nick is infatuated with Mae, an intriguing femme fatale played by Rebecca Ferguson, who enters his life and then disappears as soon as she does. This leads him to embark on a quest to locate her, which will lead to a deadly plot.

If you’re feeling nostalgic for Westworld following the series’ abrupt cancellation, Enjoy the Reminiscence might be just the movie you’re looking for. Sure, it doesn’t have lifelike androids or super-advanced AI, but it does have a terrifically rendered world courtesy of WestworldHoward Cummings, the production designer and score is by WestworldComposer Ramin Djawadi. It’s a rare example of a big studio sci-fi movie that doesn’t shirk away from the reality and costs of climate change while urging audiences to face the challenges of that reality head-on instead of retreating into the stultifying comfort of the past. —TE

Enjoy the Reminiscence You can stream the movie on Max.

Ghost in the Shell

Image: Production I.G/Manga Entertainment

Year: 1995
Run time: 1h 23m
Director: Mamoru shii
Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi

Mamoru Oshii’s feature-length anime adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s sci-fi action manga is one of the undisputed classics of the cyberpunk subgenre — a dazzling and enduring work of speculative storytelling that at once channels the melancholic ennui of Andrei Tarkovsky and infuses it with the blistering firefights one might find in a Michael Bay film. Motoko is a cyborg who works in the field for an information warfare and domestic terror task force in a future Japan. When a mysterious rash of cyber crimes perpetrated by an elusive hacker known as the “Puppeteer” begins to spread across Japan, Kusanagi and her team are dispatched to apprehend the culprit. Kusanagi has never faced a case like this before. It will make her question her humanity and the difference between organic and artificial consciousness.

Ghost in the ShellIt is an animation masterpiece that continues to inspire and provoke viewers decades after it was first released. Please, Please click here to learn more aboutDo not waste time with the 2017 live action movie featuring Scarlett Johansson. Instead, watch this and forget all about it. —TE

Ghost in the ShellCriterion Channel offers streaming of the movie. Prime Video.