The 7 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” represents some of the very best superhero storytelling since “X-Men” hit the big screen in 2000. The story is your classic mentor/mentee tale between a Peter Parker that time in the suit has been unkind to and young and passionate Miles Morales. The story is fun, heartfelt, exciting and epic: the key ingredients to all good stories about the Wall Crawler.

But aside from the story, the movie is also gorgeous to look at. The animators flexed every muscle they had putting the film together and rewatches are rewarded with some tiny new detail to spot every time.

Dune (1984)

The Denis Villeneuve-helmed “Dune” films might have breathed new life into the sci-fi classic, but the original 1984 adaptation is still deserving of a watch. David Lynch is one of the few directorial minds with the skill to juggle all the plots and themes in the film and, while the final product isn’t exactly what he wanted – due in no small part to over involvment from the studio – it is still well worth the time of any new Dune fan to compare where we are to how we got there.

District 9

Yet another sci-fi film that feels very topical in today’s climate, “District 9” follows a world where aliens have come to the planet and lived here for years. The kicker is they’re essentially refugees confined to places like the titular District 9. The human race is less concerned with the treatment of these newcomers and more interested in cracking the code on the weapons they brought with them.

When one man contracts a disease that alters his DNA, he’s placed into District 9 and sees and experiences the horrors of the place firsthand.

The Island

A Micheal Bay flick that rips through and through, “The Island” throws viewers into a dystopian society where people hope to be taken to a utopic island and away from their life in the slums only to discover the real secrets of said island and go on the run. The two – played by Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson – are hunted mercilessly by those keen to keeps their secrets.

It’s a mid-2000s action flick through and through and a perfectly fun 2 hours in front of a screen with a A+ soundtrack by Steve Jablonsky.

They Cloned Tyrone

Netflix does occasionally strike gold with their original movies, and “They Cloned Tyrone” is a testament to that. The film stars Jamie Foxx, John Boyega and Teyonah Parris as an unlikely trio who uncover a shocking conspiracy (hint: reread the film title) in their neighborhood. The film boasts heart and humor alike, and if it had had a theatrical run rather than being thrown to the wolves on Netflix, more people would be talking about it.

Donnie Darko

Plain and simple: if you are a fan of the sci-fi genre and you somehow haven’t seen “Donnie Darko” close out this tab and get to work. To explain the thriller is to spoil some of the magic, but know that Jake Gyllenhaal plays a boy in the late ’80s plagued by visions of a man in a rabbit suit who tells him the world will end in a month if he doesn’t commit a series of crimes.

Just trust that it’s great, and that many movies seen immediately after won’t feel in quite the same league.

Godzilla Minus One

Every modern attempt at a new Godzilla film has consistently been weak in the same category: the human element. That is, until “Godzilla Minus One” rolled through town. The film is set in Japan right after WWII and follows a former soldier who rallies a group to face off against the titan as a way to redeem himself from an earlier encounter during the war.

The scenes of Godzilla causing mayhem by land and by sea are gorgeously rendered and often terrifying, but it’s those human moments in between that set “Godzilla Minus One” a cut above the rest.