Some people say that truth is stranger than fiction, but the world of science-fiction
always comes through to remind us just how much weirder things could truly be. To help
guide your next streaming adventure into realms unknown, here's a look at some great sci-fi
movies you won't want to miss.
It might be hard to hold out hope when the entire world around you has been evacuated,
but the protagonist of IO, Sam Walden, absolutely refuses to give up her hope for a better future.
The film picks up after an apocalyptic event has rendered Earth's atmosphere too toxic
for human habitation, and most survivors have since moved to the moon of Jupiter that gives
the film its name. Meanwhile, the movie's protagonist, Sam, is the daughter of a renowned
scientist who actively warned people against abandoning the planet, and she believes in
his legacy so much that she stays behind to try to salvage the Earth.
Sam's situation soon becomes complicated by the arrival of a devastating storm, a fellow
straggler named Micah, and a rapidly-approaching deadline to catch the final shuttle to leave
Earth for the colony. Sam must soon decide whether her commitment to Earth will be stronger
than her survival instincts. Despite being set in such a grim environment, IO is a beautiful
story about the resilience of humanity.
Premonitions are always eerie, but especially so when they involve the death and destruction
of everything you ever cared about. In Extinction, Peter enjoys a pretty ordinary life with his
wife and daughters until he starts seeing visions of a future in which he and everyone
else in the world become slaughtered by aliens.
"What if I'm meant to be seeing these things, or having these dreams? What if something
bad is coming, and this is like a sign?"
"Stop."
Peter's visions begin coming to life when Earth is suddenly attacked by deadly invaders,
forcing him to rely on those scattered premonitions to save his family. Michael Peña leads a
fantastic cast, and Extinction keeps the twists coming until the end. Buckle up for a major
thrill ride when you queue up this one.
If you loved I Am Mother, Orbiter 9 is the perfect companion film. The Spanish-language
sci-fi/drama centers on a young woman named Helena, who has spent her entire life onboard
a space shuttle. She's been raised by a computer after her parents sacrificed themselves so
that she could live on the spaceship when the Earth became depleted of oxygen. She comes
face to face with another human for the very first time when a robotics engineer named
Alex boards the ship to do repairs and forms an instant romantic connection with Helena.
We soon learn that things are not what they seem, kicking off a heartfelt and thrilling
sci-fi story. Orbiter 9 reminds audiences that some of the best fictional stories are
grounded in the complexities of human reality.
In Revolt, Bo is an elite American soldier serving in Kenya who wakes up in a shoddy
jail cell with no memories of how he got there after being injured in a skirmish with aliens.
He befriends his fellow captive, a French doctor named Nadia, and the two quickly discover
that the extraterrestrial machines he faced before have virtually wiped out all of humanity,
and now they're systematically hunting down anyone left alive.
The trouble is, there's a reason Bo has survived while so many others have not, and it has
absolutely nothing to do with his sense of valor. Let's just say that there are some
electrifying twists in store when you press play on this action-packed sci-fi thriller.
There's nothing quite like a good body-snatching sci-fi/horror film to give you the shivers.
The 2019 film Assimilate is an unnerving new take on the trend, centering on two YouTube
vloggers who set out to prove that something is amiss when some of their neighbors and
friends start behaving in odd ways after being bitten by a mysterious insect.
They discover that after one of the creatures bites a person, it becomes a murderous copy
of them and aims to take their place. As the infection starts to spread out of control,
the few still-human survivors can only hope to last long enough to share their footage
with the rest of the world.
If you ever wondered what it might be like to see a first-person shooter game become
a full-length feature film, look no further than Hardcore Henry. The 2015 action pic puts
the audience behind the eyes of Henry, a man who wakes up as a cyborg with computerized
prosthetic limbs and no memory of how he got there.
What results is a breathless extended chase scene filled with wild fight sequences that
we only see from the perspective of our protagonist, who has superhuman capabilities and zero hesitation
about using them against others. To say that the action is intense would be an understatement,
but there are also a lot of clever questions about morality sprinkled into the story that
only ramp up the entertainment factor of this one-of-a-kind film.
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell features the return of franchise favorite Burt Gummer and his
filmmaker son Travis Welker. This time, they're leaving Perfection to investigate reports
of their least favorite monsters showing up in a distant Canadian territory.
This sixth entry into the long-lived sci-fi franchise is just as campy and fun as all
of the other entries that precede it, but the stakes are even higher for Burt in this
fight. He learns early on that he's been infected by a parasite from a previous graboid venom
encounter, so he'll need to get up close and personal with one of these new graboids if
he hopes to survive it all again.
Time loop stories have become increasingly popular in recent years, and ARQ is a tight
and tense addition to this thriving sci-fi sub-genre. The film follows two characters
named Renton and Hannah as they repeatedly wake up to encounter a group of gun-toting
home invaders who violently demand that they turn something Renton has stolen from his
employer over to them. We soon learn that Renton is responsible for creating the ARQ,
a perpetual motion machine that has actually created a time loop — and he's trapped in
it.
"Get up Hannah."
"What? Why?"
"They're coming."
"Who?"
Eventually Hannah and Renton begin working together to prevent his dangerous creation
from falling into the wrong hands, but there are still several dark secrets ahead for them
both. With its claustrophobic setting and twisty narrative structure, ARQ is packed
with surprises and will leave you thinking long after the credits roll.
From the mind of Jeff Nichols, the writer-director of 2012's Mud, comes Midnight Special. It
and Knives Out star Jaeden Martell take center-stage as the goggle-sporting Alton, a kid whose
untold powers make him a target of interest for both a cult and the federal government.
His father and a friend try their best to protect him from this unwanted attention,
but it's up to Alton to lead the charge on finding out what he needs.
"I need to go where I belong."
"Where you belong?"
With an all-star cast that also includes Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, and
Adam Driver, Midnight Special features a masterclass of stunning performances and is dripping with
spectacular visual effects. At the same time, the film is also an elegantly simplistic story
about the preciousness of true love and radical acceptance.
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