30 Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix To Inspire And Terrify You

Science Fiction is one of the most diverse, versatile genres that gives you goosebumps seeing the amazing visuals and screenplay. Sci-fi movies provide something to be aspired of as well as feared of, making it one of the best genres to watch. Here are the best Sci-fi movies on Netflix that would make your present feel more and more like a fiction.

 

*Disclaimer: The movies listed in the blog are available on Netflix on a temporary basis.

 

1.Ex Machina

Director: Alex Garland

Stars:  Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac 

 

A top sci-fi movie whose overall design is brilliant, Ex Machina is a story about a young programmer named Caleb who is invited to be part of a strange scientific experiment. During the strange experiment, he meets Ava who he had to assess on her artificial intelligence. The visual impacts around the Ava character are consistent, and the human characters are trustworthy and intriguing, with solid exhibitions by everybody included. Ex Machina achieves that rare combination of eliciting both strong thoughts and feelings, and it deserves to be known as the best sci-fi movies on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking: 7.7/10

 

 

2. Her

Director: Spike Jonze

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson

 

Her is a beautiful, unusual romantic sci-fi movie on Netflix whose protagonist falls in love with a computer's voice, an offbeat coupling. The movie shows that affection cannot be treated as just white or black, there are some grey areas too that just requires two people to create its magical, maddening stew. "Her" won the 2014 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay which is a story that explores the modern world and its evolving nature that also indulged risks and intimacy. Having an IMDb ranking of 8, Her is one of the best science fiction movies.

IMDb Ranking:  8.0/10

 

3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Director: Gareth Edwards

Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk 

 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is an impressive science fiction movie, but decidedly darker and grittier than the other entries in the Star Wars franchise. The supporting characters in this good movie to watch on Netflix are a refreshingly diverse ensemble, with Chinese martial artists Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang playing blind warrior monk Chirrut Imwe and his assassin bestie, Baze Malbus. You can also call this best sci-fi movie on Netflix as an ultimate Star Wars fans film.

IMDb Ranking:  7.8/10

 

4. Prodigy

Director: Alex Haughey, Brian Vidal

Stars: Richard Neil, Savannah Liles, Jolene Andersen

 

This awesome thriller movie of all time would make you go back to the Silence of the lambs and let you wonder what would happen if Hannibal Lecter was a kid. Well, Prodigy answers this in a very thrilling way. Prodigy is a snappy and simple watch with two staggering lead performances. It's emotional, interesting, and when Neil and Liles are occupied with their skirmish of minds, it's abnormally hypnotic. Prodigy succeeds as a confined thriller, and as an intelligent sci-fi drama.

IMDb Ranking:  6.2/10

 

5. Anon

Director: Andrew Niccol

Stars:  Clive Owen, Afiya Bennett, Morgan Allen 

 

Anon is a 2018 science fiction movie in which Clive Owen plays a detective who must find a killer with no digital footprint in a world that is under constant surveillance. A top sci-fi movie whose virtuals cannot be described in any words. Like any best sci-fi movie, it takes a theme and explores it to its fullest extent and uses that theme to comment on contemporary realities. Even though you cannot compare it to movies like Truman show or Gattaca, this science fiction movie is a chilling resemblance.

IMDb Ranking:  6.0/10

 

6. Stardust

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller 

 

Based on a fantasy love story this is one of the best sci-fi movies to be streaming on Netflix right now. The whole lot of Stardust takes place in Stormhold, a magical and surprisingly sunny world which is populated by witches, lightning smugglers, and bloodthirsty nobles. In this sci-fi movie, young Tristan sees a star fall into Stormhold and promises to retrieve it for the woman he loves which brings him into the greatest adventure of his life. It might look a bit overstuffed, but it is one of the best sci-fi movies. 

IMDb Ranking:  7.7/10

 

7. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Director: Rian Johnson

Stars:  Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill

 

This big-budget sci-fi movie on Netflix is full of big close-ups, top shots, elegant camera tracks that pull out amazing in-world sound, leaving all the people watching thrilled and excited. This star war movie is the middle chapter of Johnson's famous trilogy. "The Last Jedi" opens and closes with scenes of Resistance bases under attack, in the middle of which the film's focal concern is the diminishing fuel level on a bearer send under moderate movement interest by Supreme Leader Snoke. No douth this is one of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking:  7.2/10

 

8. V for Vendetta

Director: James McTeigue

Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves 

 

V For Vendetta is a classic suspense movie that also lists in the best mystery movies list. The movie is about a tale of revolution in the face of a corrupt fascist government which was a variant from the original love letter to anarchism that Moore had penned. Nothing like the source, this movie one of the good things to watch on Netflix. V for Vendetta isn’t really about Sutler and the rest of his fascist cronies, it is basically about V and Evey, and the strange seduction that characterizes their relationship.

IMDb Ranking:  8.2/10

 

9. Armageddon

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck

 

Armageddon is one of the best sci-fi movies in which Michael Bay's style of direction adds so much power to the story. The story of this sci-fi movie revolves around how the NASA astronauts ruled out an escape plan when they observed that a large asteroid would hit the Earth in the next 18 days and destroy life. The visual of this sci-fi movie is amazing along with mindblowing music to support the intense scenes. Armageddon is so captivating and skillfully done that it will remain with you forever after watching it.

IMDb Ranking:  6.6/10

 

10. Thor: Ragnarok

Director:  Taika Waititi

Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett 

 

Whenever you need an epic getaway with bleak dystopian, know that you'll hit off the laughing gas after watching Thor: Ragnarok (Best sci-fi movie of Netflix). Marvel knows how to make entertaining movies, so you won't be surprised after watching this science fiction movie. Thor finds through the course of this story, the ingredients of a successful superhero life are - family issues, old and new friends and monster demons to fight - combined with the courage and will to run towards life's problems. This charming underlying lesson makes it a winning addition to this best sci-fi movie on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking:  7.9/10

 

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11. Jurassic Park

Director:  Steven Spielberg

Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum

 

Jurassic Park is one of the classic sci-fi movies in all-time boasts about the Academy Award-winning special effects, lots of frightful moments, and some good laughs that would entertain you to the fullest. Exceptional direction by Steven Spielberg, BGM by John Williams, breathtaking visuals and dazzling screenplay. Jurassic Park exceeds at every aspect from jaw-dropping visuals to scientific accuracy to an instinct of survival. This best science fiction movie deals with all types of terrifying yet intriguing realism. 

IMDb Ranking:  8.1/10

 

12. Deep Blue Sea

Director: Renny Harlin

Stars: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson 

 

With amazing visual effects and long lasting scary images of sharks, this sci-fi movies builds it's own place in the mind of the audience even if it has a comparatively low IMDb ranking. The plot shows the result of researchers involving sharks in their assignment to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease which leads to the judgment day where the sharks eventually become a threat. Falling in the genre of a horror movie as well, Deep Blue Sea is an ultimate science fiction movie to watch.

IMDb Ranking:  5.9/10

 

13. Okja

Director:  Joon-ho Bong 

Stars:  Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Seo-hyun Ahn

 

Okja is a good sci-fi movie that serves as a wake-up call to the so-called humans and pleads them to stop treating animals as a commodity that can be bought, sold, experimented upon and consumed. The sci-fi movie was worth watching it carries all sort of emotions and shows how two-faced society can be. The movie shows a little 10-year-old girl named Mija who is the caretaker and constant companion to Okja - a massive animal. But, when the family that owned Okja transport it to New York, Mija sets out a rescue mission.

IMDb Ranking:  7.3/10

 

14. Moon

Director: Duncan Jones

Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott

 

One of the best mystery movies on Netflix which tells us the story about a sole Astronaut working in a lunar station since 3 years who meets with a fatal accident just before he returns home. Moon is set in a future world that has solved its energy crisis by mining fuel from the moon. Led by mysterious reasons the Astronaunt starts to feel uneasy which leads to the fatal accident.

IMDb Ranking:  7.9/10

 

15. Turbo Kid

Director: François Simard, Anouk Whissell

Stars: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside

 

Tubro kid is about a young solitary scavenger obsessed with comic books who faces his fears and becomes a reluctant hero when he meets a mysterious girl named Apple in a post-apocalyptic future. Sound's intriguing isn't it? Well, this sci-fi movie accomplishes everything it myopically sets out to. This best sci-fi movie on Netflix is an ultimate fan movie because it monotonously aggregates previously existing sci-fi/fantasy tropes. 

IMDb Ranking:  6.7/10

 

16. Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Stars: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones 

 

Following up on 2004's Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Folden Arny is one of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix that would blow away your mind. The director Guillermo del Toro brings dazzling art and high entertainment with this science fiction. Loaded with full-on action scenes, the sci-fi movie gives us full drawn characters. When we talk about the storyline of this good thing to watch on Netflix, it shows how hellbound and his team join forces to defeat the evil prince of Nuada who wants to bring back the Golden Army to life. This sci-fi movie on Netflix has more drama and humour that most fantasy movie will ever have.

IMDb Ranking:  7.0/10

 

17. Embers

Director: Claire Carré

Stars:  Jason Ritter, Iva Gocheva, Greta Fernández 

 

Suppose one day you wake up in an unfamiliar place along with a stranger, what will you do?  What if everyone in the world suffered from the same malady? Embers, the amazing introduction highlight film by Claire Carré, is likely best depicted as a "piece of life" which is a collection of 5 post-apocalyptic stories that are scattered all over the globe. You'll definitely love watching this sci-fi movie on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking:  5.3/10

 

18. Donnie Darko

Director: Richard Kelly

Stars:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell 

 

Donnie Darko is one of that psychological science fiction that has a darkly funny look at the life through a teenage boy who is trying to navigate through High School only to discover that the world he lives in is not exactly what he thinks it on the surface. During the whole movie, Jake Gyllenhaal is trying to save the world with a bunny figured man who only he can see. With this storyline, Donnie Darko sets up a lot of cartoonishly plausible moods. It's this mix of genres and tones that transformed Donnie Darko into a certified faction marvel—especially among youthful wannabe film buffs who were simply starting to dunk their toes into more peculiar waters.

IMDb Ranking:  8.1/10

 

19. Cube

Director: Vincenzo Natali

Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett

 

Canadian Sci-fi thriller movie directed by Vincenzo Natali where six people are awakened to be trapped in a cube with each having a special skill to band together and survive the endless maze of deadly traps. Watch this best sci-fi movie on Netflix for all the terrific direction and explore human nature and instinctive urges for survival vs. humanitarianism.

IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

 

20. Pandorum

Director: Christian Alvart 

Stars: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet 

 

Pandorum is one of those sci-fi thriller movies on Netflix that provide some intense, memorable chills to people who belong to the fan club of Sci-fi thriller movies. In this movie there's a constant, unrelenting feel of terror, tension, and dread, thanks mainly to the movie's overwhelmingly dark, metallic, deliberately unsettling sets. During the whole movie, alien creatures threaten to jump out from every dark corner, and the soundtrack's alarming use of screeching noises adds to the general unease. Strike it off soon from the must-watch list and enjoy this sci-fi thriller movie. 

IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

 

21. Inception 

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page 

 

Whenever you ask anyone for their suggestions about the best sci-fi movie on Netflix, there is one name that cannot be missed, Inception. With a rating as high as 8.8 on IMDb it an intense, imaginative and entertaining movie which will make you stick to your seat to the very end. The plot is about a person entering the dreams of people to steal information which leads to redemption for his alleged role in his wife's murder by performing the impossible, an Inception. No more saying anything more other than that Inception rewards the attention it demands. 

IMDb Rating: 8.8/10

 

22. Gravity

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harri

 

This Alfonso Cuarón’s Academy Award-winning best science fiction movie of all time, indeed, will make you feel as though you are trapped in deep space alongside Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It is a sci-fi thriller which will end up making you question about a lot of things. For the whole generation of Sci-Fi Movie lovers, Gravity is nothing less than the movie released in 2001-Space Odyssey. It would make you awe at the glorious space vistas and knuckle-gobbling tension at what's happening in the foreground. To sum it up, there are sci-fi movies, and then there is Gravity. Take the ride.

IMDb Rating: 7.7/10

 

23. Bright

 It's a brilliant integration of fantasy and the modern day world. The movie presents racial diversity and racial discrimination in a very realistic manner. It has a very good storyline and the effects were amazing. The plot of this best sci-fi movie on Netflix is set in a futuristic Los Angeles and revolves around two police officers named Ward and Jakoby. Ward is a human being and Jakoby is an Orc. A brilliant movie and a very good thing to watch on Netflix.

Director: David Ayer

Stars: Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace

IMDb Rating: 6.4/10

 

24. Spectral

Spectral is one of those sci-fi movies on Netflix that is sure to become your favourite sci-fi military action movie to date. The movie feels like Ghost Recon meets Final Fantasy and If you're into those two, you will most likely enjoy this movie. This great movie on Netflix is sure to keep you on edge and make you watch this sci-fi movie again and again.

Director:  Nic Mathieu

Stars: James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Greenwood 

IMDb Rating: 6.3/10

 

25. Star Trek Discovery

Are you a Star Trek fan? If yes then the Star Trek Discovery is a must watch for all the fans and even for those who have not watched it ever. This series follows the journey of the Starfleet which is basically to discover new worlds and new life forms and one Starfleet must learn that is to majorly understand all things alien, they must first understand themselves.

Director: Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman

Stars: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp 

IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

 

26. Altered Carbon 

A new series that came up with its 1st season in 2018 itself blows your mind with its far-fetched thinking and writing. The show is set in the future where consciousness is digitized and stored. Amongst this whole scientific and creepy chaos and unimaginable future, a prisoner returns to life in a new body and he must solve a mind-bending murder to win his freedom. The prisoner, Bancroft was killed, and the last automatic backup of his stack (memory) was made hours before his death, leaving him with no memory of who killed him and why. While police ruled it a suicide, Bancroft is convinced he was murdered and wants Kovacs to find out the truth. Well, where else would you see a person solving their own murder in all seriousness and not as a ghost?!

Director:  Laeta Kalogridis

Stars: Chris Conner, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Kinnaman 

IMDb Rating: 8.2/10

 

27. Beyond Skyline

Just like the first movie, Beyond Skyline is also an awesome sci-fi movie on Netflix. Action and visuals are good. The plot of this movie revolves around on how Detective Mark Corley plans out a rescue operation to the alien spaceship for his estranged son. The movies also cooperated an alliance with the band of survivors when the alien ship crashed in southeast Asia and them storms to take back the planet for once and for all. One should binge watch Skyline followed by Beyond Skyline for an exciting experience over the weekend. 

Director: Liam O'Donnell

Stars: Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Jonny Weston 

IMDb Rating: 5.3/10

 

28. Oblivion

Oblivion is a horribly underrated sci-fi movie on Netflix. A black horse, with Tom Cruise as the spearhead. The movie kinda feels forced with vast backstory but soon catches up as Tom cruises us through vast landscapes. A lot of questions were unanswered in Oblivion but the delivery was great and it does not make you feel bored even for a moment. One to watch at least twice to pick up on the subtle visual clues in the backdrops. The audience experience events through the main character of Jack, played by Cruise. 

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Stars: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough 

IMDb Rating: 7.0/10

 

29. Salvation 

This sci-fi series on Netflix is great and it makes you stick to your sofa when you are watching it. The way they handled the suspense in this movie, that was a great direction with fine editing. It's a perfect blend of a potential existential crisis with people fighting against heart and head. Feels a little like now with the acceleration of climate change. The forces of power quibble among themselves for position while the planet moves into catastrophic times.

Director:  Elizabeth Kruger, Craig Shapiro, Matt JL Wheeler

Stars: Santiago Cabrera, Jennifer Finnigan, Charlie Rowe

IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

 

30. ARQ 

This best sci-fi movie on Netflix doesn't waste any time, pun intended, getting started. It twists and turns, repeating itself and progressing further along the timeline, offering up more information each pass, without getting stuck covering the same ground. We would definitely recommend it if you like time travel movies and can suspend your disbelief. 

Director: Tony Elliott

Stars: Robbie Amell, Rachael Taylor, Shaun Benson 

IMDb Rating: 6.4/10

 

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FAQs

Q: What are the best sci-fi movies on Netflix?

A: The best sci-fi movies on Netflix right now is Inception, Gravity, Donnie Darko, Turbo kid, Moon, Ex Machina, Thor, V for Vendetta and so forth. 

 

Q: What are some good Indian movies on Netflix?

A: There are many movies on Netflix which are good cinema like Masaan, Manorama Six feet under, Pink, Shahid, Special 26 and so on. To know more read Best Bollywood Movies on Netflix You Can't Afford To Miss Out.

 

Q: What is Netflix and how does it work?

A: Netflix is an online platform/website which screens the top-notch series of movies, documentaries and tv shows based on monthly subscription packs.