The best sci fi movies to watch at home

Science fiction is descriptive, not predictive. Science fiction films often try (and fail!) to forecast the future using the thoughts and concerns from their present. However, extrapolations end up being stories that speak with the hopes and fears in those times.

This is all to say science fiction, also known as speculative fiction, is an art form of possibility and reflection. It has spawned many iconic films whose aesthetic resonance and thematic depth have inspired and enlivened the imaginations of many more. From Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris to Andrew Niccol’s GattacaAnd more. The history and legacy science fiction film tells us about futures, which have helped shape our present view and continue to entertain and educate audiences.

We’ve created a list of some of our favorite sci-fi films currently available on streaming, movies that continue to inspire us look to the future and imagine worlds and ideas both fantastical yet nonetheless inextricably rooted in our reality. Below are twelve of our favorite sci-fi films that can be streamed on Netflix and Hulu.

Akira

Photo by Funimation

Sometimes animation starts to look quaint or dated as styles and technologies change, but Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark anime movie AkiraThe original Otomo manga series still stands out on TV today, as much as it did in 1988. Its ultimate intent, drawn from Otomo’s much longer and more in-depth manga series, can be hard to follow, depending on which translation you get — its point about human evolution is slightly fuzzy, and its impulsive, dim juvenile-delinquent protagonist isn’t up to seeing any of the scope or depth in what’s going on, let alone explaining it to the audience.

The action itself is flawlessly executed and the emotion behind it are powerful and acute. One member of a motorcycle gang encounters a child with unusual powers in a far-future post-apocalyptic scene. The government abducts him, while another tries and finds him. They share a history that is both gritty and sometimes hallucinogenic. Their shifting relationships help to tell a story about their secret experiments with human potential. This happens as the city suffers from political unrest. It is a film with vivid visuals that create tension at every level of society. Akira has been imitated for decades because there just wasn’t anything else like it in 1988. For the most part, there still isn’t. —Tasha Robinson

AkiraYou can stream the video on Hulu Tubi.

Dark City

Image by New Line Cinema

Alex Proyas’ neo-noir reality-bending movie Dark CityOnly a year earlier, it was released The MatrixThey were made from the same themes, so they are similar. The Matrix Even some can be reused Dark City’s sets, tying them even closer together). In any case, it’s a dope film.

In a mysterious, inscrutable place, Murdoch is seen as an amnesiac. After mysteriously waking up in a bathtub, he finds himself charged with the murder of a young lady. Evading capture, Murdoch wanders through the streets of this metropolis in search of answers to who he was and what happened, all the while stalked by mysterious trench coat-wearing figures who harbor the truth of the city’s true nature and function. With supporting performances by William Hurt as Inspector Bumstead; Jennifer Connelly as Murdoch’s wife, Emma; Richard O’Brien as the sinister Mr. Hand; and an incredibly out-of-character performance by Kiefer Sutherland as a nebbish scientist named Daniel Schreber, Dark City may not be the same cultural juggernaut as the Wachowskis’ Matrix franchise, but it certainly stands as one of the most visually memorable and adventurous sci-fi movies of the late ’90s. —Toussaint Egan

Dark CityYou can stream the movie for free with your library card Kanopy.

Day when the Earth caught fire

Universal Pictures

The 1961 disaster film is haunting and prescient. It depicts the Earth being thrown out of orbit by nuclear bomb testing simultaneously by the U.S.A. and Soviet Union. The world begins to tilt off its axis towards the sun and then the temperatures rise, causing postwar Londoners to experience a debilitating, hot fever. The Daily Express journalists cover this story, and they report on the last attempt at saving the planet.

Although the film, directed by Hammer veteran Val Guest, has a limited scope and a low budget, it captures the frightening enormity of the situation with desolate backgrounds and a burnt Sepia tint on crisp monochrome photographs. It also tells details such as melting roads, mist rolling from an evaporating River Thames and the radiator attached to every car’s roof. To keep the story moving, there’s a sweet romance between leads Edward Judd and Janet Munro, and a businesslike journalistic procedural led by the great Leo McKern as the paper’s science editor. (The film shot at the real Daily Express offices and featured the paper’s real editor, playing himself.)

Guest and Wolf Mankowitz have written a wonderful script that is passionate and precise. Guest and Mankowitz looked for an alternative perspective to the nuclear disaster. Their vision of global heating would be a powerful catalyst that will continue long after the Cold War ends. The Day That the Earth Catched Fire’s A bleak, but hopeful ending is more powerful than any victory or defeat. It’s more pertinent and chilling today than it was sixty years ago. —Oli Welsh

The Day That the Earth Catched FireYou can stream the movie for free with your library card Kanopy.

Fantastic Planet

Image by Criterion Channel

Fantastic Planet is one of those films that’s nearly impossible to describe, in part because no explanation can quite convey just how bizarre it is. It’s set on the fictional planet of Ygam, where gigantic blue humanoids (“Draags”) and humans (“Oms”) coexist. However, humans aren’t the main protagonists in this society. On Ygam their existence is closer to an insect. They live as wild animals, which are often regarded negatively and sometimes enslaved for pets. They are controlled by periodic genocide.

Film is based upon the 1957 novel Oms en série by dental-surgeon-turned-author Stefan Wul, whose reputation for subverting the classic science fiction tropes of the era earned him cult status within the genre. While the allegorical elements of the story are captivating enough by themselves, the adaptation on big screen, with its surrealist animation style and psychedelic soundtrack is essentially a 70 minute-long acid trip. If you’re into that sort of thing, then Fantastic PlanetThis movie is a must-see. And if you’re not, well, it’s still a great movie to play in the background at parties. —Tara Long

Fantastic PlanetAvailable to stream online Criterion Channel HBO MaxFor free and with ads Roku Channel. It can be found on YouTube.

Gattaca

Columbia Pictures

Twenty-five years after its release, Andrew Niccol’s GattacaIt is as exciting, vibrant, and thought-provoking today as it was in the past. It engages in fundamental questions about humanity, as well as thorny topics such ethics and science. The film presents a near-future society that has fully embraced eugenics, to the point of creating a caste system that separates genetically engineered humans (“valids”) from naturally conceived people (“invalids”). What happens when an underclass member takes advantage of a chance to achieve his dream of space travel and assumes the identity of a valid. How can this be avoided?

That’s the thing about GattacaThe film is a great old-school thriller, regardless of your views on the Big Life Questions. There’s a riveting game of cat and mouse at its center, as Vincent (Ethan Hawke) tries to evade detection by his employer, the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation, and by the authorities — who include his valid younger brother Anton (Loren Dean), a detective investigating a murder at the spaceflight company. There’s also the mystery of Jerome (Jude Law), the valid whom Vincent is impersonating by using his blood, skin, hair, and urine. Being a valid in this world doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got it made, as Jerome and as Vincent’s co-worker Irene (Uma Thurman) know all too well.

It is possible to instantly feel the lure of sci-fi noir mysteries. Blade RunnerHowever, Gattaca’s retrofuturistic aesthetic and striking color palette — with its vivid blue, green, and amber tones — go a long way toward setting the film apart from its better-known genre counterparts. And its story is ultimately an inspiring tale about the human spirit, so if you’re looking for a sci-fi film that isn’t nihilistic even in a dystopian setting, Gattaca has you covered. —Samit Sarkar

GattacaAvailable to stream online Netflix.

The host

Magnolia Pictures

Before you launch SnowpiercerSetting up Okja free, Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho unleashed The host, a biting creature feature that draws as much from Steven Spielberg’s preoccupation with fatherhood as from American military intervention in South Korea. The tight-knit Park family — including stoic patriarch Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong), his shiftless son Gang-du (regular Bong collaborator Song Kang-ho), and enterprising granddaughter Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung) — find themselves at the center of a monster attack and a government conspiracy. What starts off as a thrilling Godzilla riff, complete with an all-timer of a monster reveal, quickly morphs into what would become Bong’s signature style: a sly satire that’s surprisingly heartfelt. The familiar anger at the sight of incompetent military officials is quickly followed by shocked laughter at the Parks’ overwrought mourning, and later, more than a bit of sympathy for the beast. (OK, maybe that’s just me.) Bong’s nimble filmmaking — combining classic keep-away technique with the boldness of a rising talent — sets a new standard for not just monster films, but, more broadly, for sci-fi storytelling. —Danette Chavez

The HostIt is free to stream with advertisements Tubi PlexOr, you can get one for free with your library card Kanopy Hoopla.

Metropolis

Kino Lorber

Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent masterpiece is one of the finest examples of German Expressionism and of science fiction storytelling on film. This is the original feature-length Sci-Fi movie. Metropolis This was a massive undertaking and took several years. It cost $24 Million to create.

You are set in a futuristic future. Metropolis It depicts an epic class struggle where star-crossed lovers are on opposing sides. At about 150 minutes, it’s one of the longer silent movies from the era, but interested viewers will be rewarded with one of the most influential science fiction movies ever made and some of the most stark architecture and set design ever put on film. It’s a monumental achievement in practical filmmaking that still astonishes to this day, while doubling as a political message for social change. As the film’s closing intertitle says, “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.” —Pete Volk

MetropolisIt is free to stream with advertisements Pluto TV Oder Roku ChannelGet a library card to get access for no cost KanopyOr Hoopla.

Prospect

Image: Gunpowder & Sky

ProspectThe film is low-budget scifi that delivers a lot of punch. It’s about desperate moon prospectors searching for precious gems at an alien moon. Filmed in lushly surreal Pacific Northwest. Pedro Pascal’s performance as a mercenary is a highlight, full of roguish charm and intimidating charisma that makes him instantly captivating whenever he’s on screen.

Practical effects do a remarkable job in making the small-scale story seem larger than it actually is. The film’s main characters must ensure that the gems they seek are carefully extracted from fleshy sporepods. To ensure that the treasure is not destroyed or rendered worthless, this requires a precise process. This not only increases tension, but it also speaks volumes about the location without speaking a word. You quickly realize how difficult these characters work to find one little treasure. It’s what ProspectIt is all about what it takes for survival out on the edge. —Clayton Ashley

ProspectAvailable to stream online HuluGet it for no cost KanopyWith a library card

Skylines

Vertical Entertainment

If you tire of modern, CG-heavy science fiction blockbusters, this one’s for you. With delightful practical alien suits and sets that immerse you in the movie’s universe from the start, the third movie in writer-director Liam O’Donnell’s trilogy is the best in the bunch. After the events of Beyond Skyline You can skip the first (also available on Netflix, and well worth watching). Skylines follows superhero captain Rose Corley Lindsey Morgan and Trent (in what should have been a career-making appearance) as they attempt to protect billions of alien-human hybrids, from an incurable disease. Added to that, Yayan Ruhian’s return (RaidThe addition of Rhona Mitra and Daniel Bernhardt, two iconic action actors. Skylines This filmmaking is a top-notch modern style and they make it a great time. —PV

Skylines You can stream the video on Netflix.

Solaris

Image from the Criterion Collection

What begins as an investigation into a space station’s severed communication lines becomes a contemplative deep dive into a mind untethered by grief. But Solaris may be the most approachable of Andrei Tarkovsky’s movies — the Russian director’s portfolio ran the gamut from dazzling to confounding — it’s still one of the denser science fiction epics, acting as a sort of cousin to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both films are obsessed by the mysteries of the cosmos. Both movies place confused protagonists in complex and vastly illegible situations. But while Kubrick’s adventure into the stars becomes colder and more removed as its run time progresses, Solaris It is determined to celebrate the humanity of its lost explorations. —Mike Mahardy

SolarisAvailable to stream online Criterion Channel HBO Max.

Space Sweepers

Image by Netflix

The Korean space drama, a stunning sci-fi blockbuster that has something for everyone, is this Korean space drama. Space battle scenes that are jaw-dropping! Robot that loves to be human. The toughest guy in the crew, who is super protective of his vulnerable teammate. Trenchant comment on capitalism and the response of billionaires to climate change Seriously, Space Sweepers It has everything.

An adorable group of campers stumble upon a weapon for mass destruction…that is, a robot baby. They become close friends as their mutual desire for money clashes with their affection for that robot child. It is a fraction the price of Hollywood’s equivalents. Space Sweepers This movie looks even better than the latest American sci-fi blockbusters. It features an ensemble of actors and characters that will keep you entertained well past its 136 minute run time. —PV

Space SweepersThis stream is now available Netflix.

Timecrimes

Magnolia Pictures

I’m not going to say too much about TimecrimesIf you don’t know much about Spanish, this time-travel chiller in Spanish from 2007 can be enjoyed. A well-to-do, if slightly hangdog, middle-aged suburbanite called Héctor (Karra Elejalde) observes, through binoculars, a young woman take off her clothes and apparently collapse in the woods behind his home. He decides to investigate and is shocked when a stranger appears with a bandaged, bloodied head. So begins one of the most ingeniously plotted time-travel films of all time, and one of the few pieces of time-travel fiction I’ve ever encountered to successfully close its paradoxical loop — never mind do it so elegantly, and with such a wonderfully tart twist of Hitchcockian bitterness. —OW

TimecrimesYou can stream the video on HBO Max.