The 19 Best Sci Fi Movies to Stream on Netflix Right Now

Mobile Suit Gundam (1981)

When Earth becomes overpopulated, humans take the long journey to colonize other planets. Wars between colonies eventually obliterate the original population in the Blue Planet. A young soldier named Amuro Ray pilots a massive robot fighter to take part in the war in space.

Mobile Suite Gundam may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but the same is true in every film. That being said, it’s the movie you cannot afford to miss if you like sci-fi wrapped in anime. It simply stands among the most important and revolutionary movie in the genre.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

This is one of director James Cameron’s best movies ever. It defies the paradox of time traveling, and nobody cares. Thanks to this, Arnold Schwarzenegger will forever be known as The Terminator. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t offer the first of the film series, which actually is quite important to understand the nature of the storyline.

Judgement Day is set 11 years after the first installment. John Connor has become an even more important target by a new type of Terminator called a T-1000 sent from the future. To protect humanity’s hope, T-800 (Arnold) is assigned to be John’s personal security detail.

Spawn (1997)

Al Simmons makes a pact with the devil. He is allowed to come back to Earth only if the resurrected version of himself becomes the leader of Hell’s army. The deal is done, but Simmons – now called Hell Spawn – breaks the promise and wants to do good instead.

Some (if not many) say that Spawn came out much sooner than it should have. Had the production released the film ten years later, it would’ve been more enjoyable compared to recent superhero films. The main reason is, of course, uniqueness. Superhero films tend to be bright, visually fantastical, and often too clever for their own sake. Spawn, on the other hand, has a noir violent appeal without sacrificing everything else.

Gattaca (1997)

In the near future, the technology for eugenics has advanced a great deal. Although the practice of genetic discrimination is a violation of the law, it is okay to use genotype profiling to identify a person’s qualification or competence for a profession. People born naturally are considered susceptible to diseases and mistakes, and so they are more suitable for menial jobs. Individuals “created” through science are better candidates for important positions. But biometrics can sometimes be wrong.

I Am Legend (2007)

A virus is believed to be the cure for cancer. When it is deployed, the effect turns nearly all people on Earth into zombie-like creatures, except Robert Neville who remains a full human. It is a story of survival with a touch of horror and some sci-fi action. The film is supposed to be based on a novel by Richard Matheson, although the storyline is not really faithful to the source. Still, I Am Legend is an entertaining take on a classic novel of the genre.

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Everybody knows meteors can be dangerous, but no one is able to predict what the substances contained in the rock will do to humans. In Monsters vs. Aliens, the gunk transforms Susan Murphy into a beautiful giant. To make matters worse, the whole incident happens on her wedding day in the church. She is taken to a secure government facility, which apparently is full of other monsters, and they can’t come out until the world needs saving.

The Book of Eli (2010)

A nuclear tragedy has destroyed much of the world. A large group of people with a printing machine are willing to try to preserve human knowledge. They need someone to reprint and deliver books. Eli is on a journey to redistribute important literature. You can expect some impressive fight scenes and pleasing visual effects along the way.

Advantageous (2015)

The story revolves around a woman, who after some persistent effort, has reached a respectable position in her field of work. Humanity, however, despite having gone a long way in terms of technology development, is still bound by the bigotry of race and gender.

Much like a lot of other movies of the genre, Advantageous delivers a sci-fi premise, but the real story concerns human. In a world where reality and fantasy seem to intermingle with no borders, every act bears more intense consequences when made by a mother affecting the life of a child.

What Happened to Monday (2017)

An effective method to control the population in a dystopian future is by enforcing the one-child-per-family law. For every birth that involves more than one child, euthanasia is in order. One grandfather is trying to save seven identical girls from the procedure. The girls may look the same, but each has a different personality, putting the effort at risk.

Mirage (2018)

A blend of horror and sci-fi, Mirage offers a twisting storyline which involves changing someone’s fate to prevent his or her untimely death even if it means losing a family. When couple David and Vera, along with their daughter Gloria move to a new place, they discover the presence of a ghost in the house. Vera urges David to change to a completely different person and live an entirely different life – where he is married to someone else and Gloria is nonexistent – all in an attempt to cheat death.

Fast Color (2018)

There has been no rain for eight years. Somewhere in the arid desert, Ruth is trying to find her way back to her mother. Ruth is an oddity of nature, blessed (or cursed) with seizures that trigger earthquakes. Due to this peculiarity, researchers are hunting her down and want to draw blood from her body for study. As the struggle continues, the story reveals that Ruth comes from a family of superpowerful people.

One of the most interesting parts of Fast Color is how it portrays individuals with extraordinary abilities. It offers a fresh look of superheroes; a different perspective to wielders of unusual powers from other popular comic-based movies.

Synchronic (2019)

Every film that has a time-traveling element in it must be categorized as sci-fi, and Synchronic is no exception. A paramedic is on a mission to investigate a series of unexplained deaths. In the process he uses himself as a test subject for a new drug, which apparently makes him capable of time traveling. It certainly sounds like fun if there are no other effects, but time traveling is always problematic no matter what the method.

Sweetheart (2019)

You’ll be following the journey of Jenn, whose boat has capsized. Now stranded with few resources to rely on, she has to deal with a deep-sea creature, which for some reason has to come to the surface for prey. There are other survivors to complicate the plot, but the main highlights are the fights with the monster.

Throughout 88 minutes of Sweetheart, you’ll be pleased to see constant new twists and a few drops of tropes in a story of survival. The blend of sci-fi and horror is well-crafted and in just the right ratio to deliver an exciting ride. If there is a list of sci-fi “underrated greats,” Sweetheart should be categorized as such.

The Midnight Sky (2020)

George Clooney directs and stars in The Midnight Sky. In a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, one scientist is determined not to abandon his lab in the Arctic despite the increasingly toxic radiation level. Instead of saving himself, the scientist wants to warn the crew of a spaceship about the danger of entering Earth’s atmosphere. To send the warning signal, he must travel northbound to a radio tower.

The Swarm (2020)

Virginie is having a difficult time with her locusts breeding business. The insects are not breeding quickly enough in large quantities to make good money. A breakthrough comes when she realizes that her locusts have developed a taste for flesh and blood. As long as she can supply the insects with their favorite diets, they are breeding like crazy. At some point, there are just too many to handle.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

A home robot is about to become obsolete. Rather than accepting a bleak fate of oblivion, the robot crafts a plan for its own survival by sending all humans to space. The Mitchell family suddenly find themselves on the run from the menacing threat.

Once again, the sci-fi element makes a good premise for the human story. Family members should be able to put aside their differences when the challenges ahead call for unity. On the robot’s part, it reinforces the fear that someday AI will take over and make their creators irrelevant.

Blood Red Sky (2021)

As it turns out, a vampire film can be science fiction. In Blood Red Sky, a group of villains are trying to hijack a plane, but they don’t know that one of the passengers is related to Count Dracula somehow. The premise is simple yet promising enough to be enjoyable. More than 50 million people have streamed the film, making it the most commercially successful German-made Netflix presentation ever.

Army of the Dead (2021)

When a zombie apocalypse happens in Las Vegas, a group of unaffected people takes advantage of the situations to rob a big casino. To have even the slightest chance of success, they must obtain considerable firepower because the zombies are intelligent, always hungry, and most importantly, not as sluggish as those you’ve seen in The Walking Dead.

AI Love You (2022)

The title says it all. It tells the story of a building’s Artificial Intelligence, which has feelings for a woman who works in the office. The AI finds a way to possess the body of a man so now he (or the AI) can impress the woman with all the knowledge about everything she likes. It is sci-fi and rom-com in one package.