Stories are all about asking life's questions - questions about humanity, the heart, and
the world all around us.
And science fiction is the story genre that asks the biggest questions of all.
Well, the movies on this list dare to ask the really big questions - and some of them
throw a few explosions and mind-bending twists in for good measure.
It's one of the most successful movies made in the last several years - and you've probably
never even heard of it.
The Chinese film The Wandering Earth came out in 2019 and was a smash, becoming the
second-highest all-time box office grosser in the history of Chinese cinema.
The story takes place in the not-too-distant future of 2061, when the sun has begun expanding
and threatens the Earth's existence.
What's a group of action astronauts to do?
Why, strap a bunch of fusion-powered rocket boosters - known as "Earth Engines" - to the
planet's surface and blast it into a new solar system over four light years away.
Think back to the goofy fun of all those world-saving epics from the late '90s, and you'll start
to get a sense of what you're in for with The Wandering Earth.
Did you like Armageddon?
Well, you'll probably like this, but it's got the added benefit of having 21st century
special effects and stunts.
Make some popcorn and strap in for the ride of your life.
Even though Into the Forest, starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood, takes place in
a near future with some advanced-looking technology, it's easy to imagine the events of this film
unfolding right here, right now.
The movie's story focuses on two sisters - Nell and Eva - who live in a house in the woods
with their father.
One day the power goes out, but rather than being a local, temporary inconvenience, it
becomes clear that the outage is a widespread technological meltdown.
What ensues is a harrowing tale of trauma, loss, and survival.
While the sci-fi elements melt into the background, the drama ratchets way up as the story continues.
Nell and Eva must see if they can work together to forge a new path as the outage continues
and their world changes forever.
Even more unsettling is the knowledge that no matter how far our technology progresses,
we're one big blackout away from defending ourselves from creeps by wielding a big, wood-chopping
axe.
Your life is what you make of it - and if you don't really like what you're doing day
in and day out, your existence can feel pretty pointless.
That's the problem faced by Aaron and Justin, two down-on-their-luck brothers who've struggled
to succeed ever since leaving Camp Arcadia, a sort of cultish, off-the-grid youth group
they used to belong to.
After receiving a video tape from the camp, they decide to head back and see if they can
turn their lives around - and maybe figure out why they both have different memories
of their experiences there.
If you're wondering where the science fiction is hiding in this movie, don't worry... it
won't take long for you to discover that some very weird stuff is going down at Camp Arcadia.
Time loops, mysterious creatures, and unsolvable physics problems abound; and the brothers
must figure out whether or not they should try to leave... or if they even could if they
wanted to.
The Endless will bend your mind in the best possible way, and it might force you to ask
the most essential question of all: are you killing time, or is time killing you?
With 1999's The Matrix, the Wachowskis reimagined what sci-fi movies can be.
And the siblings have continued to push the envelope with every new release in theaters.
That ambition and commitment to big ideas is on full display in Jupiter Ascending, a
2015 film starring Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, and Eddie Redmayne.
If you've ever wondered what the Wachowskis' take on Star Wars would be, this is it.
Let's not try to summarize the story of Jupiter Ascending - it twists and turns enough times
to get any viewer pretty confused.
But what this movie really has going for it are incredible visuals, often comprised of
practical effects and stunts.
Not only that, but the film also features an amazingly detailed galaxy full of aliens,
creatures, and royal dynasties, not to mention plenty of spaceship action.
Though this movie may not have spawned a new franchise, it's a sci-fi spectacle that you
won't soon forget.
What's the worst thing that could happen to you if you were pregnant during an overpopulation
crisis and the dystopian government had instituted a one-child policy?
Why, giving birth to septuplets, of course!
That's the plot that sets up What Happened to Monday, a sci-fi mystery thriller starring
Noomi Rapace as the seven sisters that make up the Settman family, each of them named
for a day of the week, and pretending to be the same single woman when they leave their
apartment.
When the Monday of the movie's title goes missing, the other six sibs have to work together
to figure out what happened to her, all while trying to stay undetected and safe.
Spoiler alert: it doesn't go very well!
As the movie continues, you'll learn more and more about not just the Settman sisters,
but also the strange sci-fi world they're trapped in.
While the movie's setting isn't too different from our own, taking place in a near future
crammed full of security cameras and wearable tracking technology, it's unsettling to see
how little it would take for the movie's Earth to be what replaces our own.
When you're waging war, you generally want to stay hidden for as long as possible.
And it might just help you get the drop on the other guy.
But what happens when you're fighting an enemy you can't see... or hear... or shoot?
That's the dilemma faced by the heroes of Spectral.
During a military operation in Moldova, U.S. troops encounter a group of invisible combatants
that decimate their numbers with brutal efficiency.
Is this a group of enemy soldiers, outfitted with incredible new stealth technology?
Or could it be a herd of otherworldly ghouls?
If so, who you gonna call?
Why, you call DARPA scientist Dr. Mark Clyne, duh!
When Clyne arrives in Moldova, he breaks out some special spectral goggles to help his
team finally see what they're up against.
"They're everywhere."
As the team attempts to figure out the mystery of these murderous apparitions, the movie
continues to hit you with explosions, chase scenes, and intense sci-fi military action.
If you're a fan of action thrillers, Spectral has you covered.
It's not hard to make the argument that humanity sure has made a mess of this whole planet
Earth thing.
We won't get into the specifics, but if you've paid any attention to the news in the last
five to five thousand years or so, you're probably aware that, as a species, we're not
the best at making good, long-term decisions.
But would a machine do any better?
I Am Mother asks that very same question, and - like all good science fiction movies
- it doesn't quite give you the answer you think you want.
In a future where humanity has been wiped off of the planet's surface, a young girl
is born inside a bunker and raised by a robot artificial intelligence, appropriately named
Mother.
As Mother raises Daughter, we learn more and more about the world the young woman is going
to inherit... until, that is, Daughter's bubble is popped with the arrival of a mysterious
woman who begs her way into the bunker from the outside world.
The woman, played by Hilary Swank, tells Daughter that everything she's been taught about humanity's
demise is a lie... or is it?
The drama that ensues will have you on the edge of your seat - and might make you want
to unplug your smart speaker, just in case.
What happens after you die?
Is there an afterlife, or just a whole lot of nothing?
And if you knew for sure that there was somewhere else to go that wasn't here, would you hurry
up and try to get there faster?
The somber, thoughtful sci-fi movie The Discovery imagines a world where we've gotten an answer
to that question: there definitely is an afterlife, and as a result, people around the world begin
ending their own lives en masse just to get there.
With a stacked cast including Robert Redford, Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Jesse Plemons, and
Riley Keogh, The Discovery explores deep questions about what kind of meaning life actually has
if this is all just a precursor to living large in the great beyond.
"You were supposed to be the last person I ever spoke to.
You don't get to just change that."
As the characters of the film begin to discover the true nature of the afterlife they've found,
the very nature of their reality starts to come into question.
Don't watch this one alone.
When it comes to technology and science, just because you can do something certainly doesn't
also mean that you ought to - especially when the cost to human lives might outweigh the
benefits.
That's one of the questions tackled by Advantageous, a film from 2015 that imagines a near future
where the technology to transfer someone's consciousness into a new body is going from
science fiction to science fact.
Single mom Gwen is fired from her job selling cosmetic procedures, and her daughter's spot
in a prestigious school is put into jeopardy.
With no money and no prospects, she approaches her old boss about acting as a guinea pig
for a new mind-transferring procedure they're developing, all in the hopes that a younger,
more appealing body will allow her to get her old job back and keep her daughter well
taken care of.
Of course, if you've seen literally any movie before in your life, you know things don't
go according to plan.
But the film still raises those all-important questions: How far would you go to protect
the ones you love?
How much would you sacrifice?
And after all is said and done... was it worth it?
Released in Spain in 2018, Mirage follows a woman named Vera.
During an electrical storm that hits her neighborhood, she discovers that she's able to communicate
with a boy named Nico who's living 25 years in the past.
When she warns Nico about his own impending death and tells him how to avoid it, she wakes
up the next day to discover that her entire world has changed.
Her husband is with someone else, her daughter has never been born, and - worst of all - everyone
thinks she's crazy now that she remembers a completely different reality.
Like The Butterfly Effect - but far more compelling - Mirage explores how people and events are
all connected, and how they can change everything in ways we may never truly understand.
While its original Spanish title During the Storm might be a bit catchier than Mirage,
the film is a satisfying sci-fi drama no matter what it's called.
Thanks for watching.
Click the links in our video to watch more from Netflix Film Club.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel to get the latest exclusive videos.
Plus hit the bell so you don’t miss a single one.