Best Sci Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now (October 2020)
Are you looking for the best sci-fi movies to stream on Netflix right now? The service itself is basically the stuff of science fiction -- a huge repository of motion pictures, available to watch at the push of a button. Time travel to any era in cinema history (more or less)! It's a magical, wonderful concept, and the only thing that would make it better is if they actually had all the movies you want. But that's where we come in with our monthly updates on the best new movies on Netflix. So let's take a look at the best sci fi streaming on Netflix, including true classics of the genre like Back to the Future, Total Recall and WarGames, as well as more recent hits like Snowpiercer and I Am Mother. This list features high-concept stories for fans of all kinds to watch. The newest additions to the list will be added at the top and marked with an asterisk. Oh, and when you're done here, be sure to also check out our list of the 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies Ever and what's new to Netflix this month. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-sci-fi-movies-on-netflix&captions=true"] Best Movies on Netflix by Genre:
One of Schwarzenegger's best outings, and one of director Paul Verhoeven's most violent romps, was Total Recall, the story of a daydreaming construction worker who inadvertently unlocks previous memories of being a death-defying secret agent. Or...is he imagining the entire thing and causing himself to have a fatal embolism? Who's to say?
Hugh Jackman stars in this lively, emotional family film, from Stranger Things EP Shawn Levy, and based on a short story by Richard Matheson, about a future where human boxers have been replaced by robots. Jackman's small-time promotor reluctantly teams with his estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo), to build and train a championship robot for a last shot at redemption.
This fascinating dystopian drama takes us into the future, after humanity's all but been eradicated, and follows a young girl, simply known as Daughter, as she's raised in a post-apocalyptic bunker by a robot named Mother (voiced by Rose Byrne). Hillary Swank plays a mysterious outsider who may throw the entire plan to rebuild the population out of whack. Or could she an integral part of the entire scheme?
This Cold War-era sci-fi thriller will take you back to the early days of the desktop as a young hacker, played by Matthew Broderick, inadvertently confuses an A.I. at NORAD into starting up the procedures for a thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union. Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, and Barry Corbin also star.
Mel Brooks' stellar Star Wars parody (with a bit of Aliens, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek thrown in for good measure) is largely lauded as one of the comedian's best as Bill Pullman's Lone Starr (think Han blended with Luke) uncovers the legend of "The Schwartz" on his quest to rescue Princess Vespa from Rick Moranis' deadly doofus, Dark Helmet.
Good news, '80s kids - Netflix finally has the complete Back to the Future trilogy available to stream. No longer do we have to settle for just re-watching Back to the Future Part III. The original remains one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, in part because it worries less about the rules of time travel and more about having fun with Michael J. Fox's lovable hero Marty McFly as he's dragged three decades into the past. Neither sequel is quite as good, but both manage to add entertaining new wrinkles to the saga of Marty and Doc Brown.
While it seems to come and go in Netflix's library on an almost monthly basis, it's always worth catching up with this gem from South African director Neill Blomkamp. District 9 is an effective (if not terribly subtle) allegory about South Africa's history of apartheid. In this alternate universe, a group of bug-like alien refugees have become third-class citizens. Sharlto Copley stars as Wikus van de Merwe, a mid-level government employee who discovers firsthand what it's like to live as an alien outcast.
Eternal Sunshine is one of those odd movies that doesn't neatly fit into any one category, but that's exactly why we love it. It's both a tender romantic drama and a high-concept sci-fi movie, with a hefty dose of comedy thrown in for good measure. Jim Carrey delivers one of his best and most melancholy performances ever as Joel, a lovesick man who resorts to wiping his memory to get over a bad breakup. The always excellent Kate Winslet is perfectly matched as his old flame Clementine. Eternal Sunshine is one more reminder that director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman are one of the greatest creative duos around.
The great thing about time travel is that it often allows for high-concept storytelling on a very low budget. Like Primer before it, In the Shadow of the Moon applies the "less is more" approach and delivers a heady thriller in the process. Starring Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman and Michael C. Hall, In the Shadow of the Moon opens with a murder mystery and soon expands to encompass several timelines. With Back to the Future no longer available on Netflix, this is the next best way to get your time travel fix.
As much as we love the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and Tom Holland's current incarnation of Peter Parker, there's a strong case to be made that Into the Spider-Verse is the greatest Spider-Man movie of all time (if not the best Marvel movie of them all). Into the Spider-verse dives headlong into the mythology of the comics and brings together multiple Spider-Men from throughout the Marvel multiverse. The animation style is incredible, but it's really the heartfelt exploration of Miles Morales' superhero origin story that makes this one so special.
While it's a very different film from The Matrix, Cloud Atlas is no less an impressive accomplishment on the part of the Wachowski sisters. This sweeping epic features a strong ensemble cast playing multiple roles throughout time, as the plot stretches from the mid-19th century to mankind's post-apocalyptic future. The story can be confusing on a first watch, but the lavish visuals and music make it well worth the effort.
The Lobster is far from the most approachable or mainstream-friendly film on this list, but we'd expect nothing less from director Yorgos Lanthimos. Fans of dystopian sci-fi hungry for something quirky and different will find exactly that in this darkly hilarious look at life in a world where singles have 45 days to either find a romantic partner or be transformed into an animal. Both Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz deliver top-notch performances as budding lovers struggling to build a relationship against the backdrop of a very strange and oppressive world.
Snowpiercer is easily one of the best comic book adaptations that most viewers don't even realize is a comic book adaptation in the first place. Acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho made his English language debut here, chronicling a post-apocalyptic world where a handful of survivors (played by Chris Evans, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer and others) make their way through a frozen wasteland aboard an eternally moving train. Naturally, the class divide still exists in this terrible future, and the film focuses a great deal on contrasting the squalor of the rear cars with the decadent luxury of the train's more privileged passengers.
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Total Recall (1990)
One of Schwarzenegger's best outings, and one of director Paul Verhoeven's most violent romps, was Total Recall, the story of a daydreaming construction worker who inadvertently unlocks previous memories of being a death-defying secret agent. Or...is he imagining the entire thing and causing himself to have a fatal embolism? Who's to say?
Real Steel (2011)
Hugh Jackman stars in this lively, emotional family film, from Stranger Things EP Shawn Levy, and based on a short story by Richard Matheson, about a future where human boxers have been replaced by robots. Jackman's small-time promotor reluctantly teams with his estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo), to build and train a championship robot for a last shot at redemption.
I Am Mother (2019)
This fascinating dystopian drama takes us into the future, after humanity's all but been eradicated, and follows a young girl, simply known as Daughter, as she's raised in a post-apocalyptic bunker by a robot named Mother (voiced by Rose Byrne). Hillary Swank plays a mysterious outsider who may throw the entire plan to rebuild the population out of whack. Or could she an integral part of the entire scheme?
WarGames (1983)
This Cold War-era sci-fi thriller will take you back to the early days of the desktop as a young hacker, played by Matthew Broderick, inadvertently confuses an A.I. at NORAD into starting up the procedures for a thermonuclear war with the Soviet Union. Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, and Barry Corbin also star.
Spaceballs (1987)
Mel Brooks' stellar Star Wars parody (with a bit of Aliens, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek thrown in for good measure) is largely lauded as one of the comedian's best as Bill Pullman's Lone Starr (think Han blended with Luke) uncovers the legend of "The Schwartz" on his quest to rescue Princess Vespa from Rick Moranis' deadly doofus, Dark Helmet.
The Back to the Future Trilogy
Good news, '80s kids - Netflix finally has the complete Back to the Future trilogy available to stream. No longer do we have to settle for just re-watching Back to the Future Part III. The original remains one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, in part because it worries less about the rules of time travel and more about having fun with Michael J. Fox's lovable hero Marty McFly as he's dragged three decades into the past. Neither sequel is quite as good, but both manage to add entertaining new wrinkles to the saga of Marty and Doc Brown.
Watch Back to the Future on Netflix.
District 9 (2009)
While it seems to come and go in Netflix's library on an almost monthly basis, it's always worth catching up with this gem from South African director Neill Blomkamp. District 9 is an effective (if not terribly subtle) allegory about South Africa's history of apartheid. In this alternate universe, a group of bug-like alien refugees have become third-class citizens. Sharlto Copley stars as Wikus van de Merwe, a mid-level government employee who discovers firsthand what it's like to live as an alien outcast.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Eternal Sunshine is one of those odd movies that doesn't neatly fit into any one category, but that's exactly why we love it. It's both a tender romantic drama and a high-concept sci-fi movie, with a hefty dose of comedy thrown in for good measure. Jim Carrey delivers one of his best and most melancholy performances ever as Joel, a lovesick man who resorts to wiping his memory to get over a bad breakup. The always excellent Kate Winslet is perfectly matched as his old flame Clementine. Eternal Sunshine is one more reminder that director Michel Gondry and writer Charlie Kaufman are one of the greatest creative duos around.
Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Netflix.
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
The great thing about time travel is that it often allows for high-concept storytelling on a very low budget. Like Primer before it, In the Shadow of the Moon applies the "less is more" approach and delivers a heady thriller in the process. Starring Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman and Michael C. Hall, In the Shadow of the Moon opens with a murder mystery and soon expands to encompass several timelines. With Back to the Future no longer available on Netflix, this is the next best way to get your time travel fix.
Read IGN's In the Shadow of the Moon review or watch In the Shadow of the Moon on Netflix.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
As much as we love the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies and Tom Holland's current incarnation of Peter Parker, there's a strong case to be made that Into the Spider-Verse is the greatest Spider-Man movie of all time (if not the best Marvel movie of them all). Into the Spider-verse dives headlong into the mythology of the comics and brings together multiple Spider-Men from throughout the Marvel multiverse. The animation style is incredible, but it's really the heartfelt exploration of Miles Morales' superhero origin story that makes this one so special.
Read IGN's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review or watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on Netflix.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
While it's a very different film from The Matrix, Cloud Atlas is no less an impressive accomplishment on the part of the Wachowski sisters. This sweeping epic features a strong ensemble cast playing multiple roles throughout time, as the plot stretches from the mid-19th century to mankind's post-apocalyptic future. The story can be confusing on a first watch, but the lavish visuals and music make it well worth the effort.
The Lobster (2015)
The Lobster is far from the most approachable or mainstream-friendly film on this list, but we'd expect nothing less from director Yorgos Lanthimos. Fans of dystopian sci-fi hungry for something quirky and different will find exactly that in this darkly hilarious look at life in a world where singles have 45 days to either find a romantic partner or be transformed into an animal. Both Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz deliver top-notch performances as budding lovers struggling to build a relationship against the backdrop of a very strange and oppressive world.
Read our The Lobster review or watch The Lobster on Netflix.
Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer is easily one of the best comic book adaptations that most viewers don't even realize is a comic book adaptation in the first place. Acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho made his English language debut here, chronicling a post-apocalyptic world where a handful of survivors (played by Chris Evans, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer and others) make their way through a frozen wasteland aboard an eternally moving train. Naturally, the class divide still exists in this terrible future, and the film focuses a great deal on contrasting the squalor of the rear cars with the decadent luxury of the train's more privileged passengers.
Read our Snowpiercer review or watch Snowpiercer on Netflix.
How We Choose the Best Sci Fi Movies on Netflix
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/11/29/5-ways-pop-culture-science-fiction-has-influenced-real-technology"] Science fiction is a wide-ranging genre, and one that can sometimes be difficult to pin down. We try to focus on sci-fi movies that have a time-tested reputation like The Matrix, as well as those movies that scored well on aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. In some cases, we may pick more critically divisive movies like Under the Skin that we still feel are worth checking out. The one common thread is that all these movies explore the intersection of humanity and technology in a unique way. [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=Best%20of%20Netflix%20Right%20Now&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=recirc-netflix-genre&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article"]
Best Sci Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now (October 2020)
![Best Sci Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now (October 2020)]()
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October 01, 2020
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