From apocalyptic asteroid adventures to mind-bending creature features, Netflix has a wealth of great sci-fi films available to stream.
Here are 10 of the best stellar titles to watch on the platform in the UK.
Don’t Look Up (2021)
Adam McKay’s all-star satire on fake news, conspiracy theories, a broken public sphere and the entire modern world is a lively end-of-everything affair.
A storming performance by Mark Rylance as problematic tech billionaire Peter Isherwell and Meryl Streep’s utterly self-absorbed President Orlean ensure that chaos ensues as Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio scientists try – and fail – to convince them that the meteor they’ve discovered in the night’s sky spells doom for humanity.
Annihilation (2018)
You might think a scary bear might not sound too chilling a prospect, but that’ll mean you probably haven’t seen Annihilation. Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac are among the cast stepping into the shimmer – an environmental disaster zone where the laws of the natural world are turned on its head.
A very weird creature feature.
Attack the Block (2011)
A pre-Star Wars John Boyega and pre-Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker join forces to rid a south London estate of an alien invasion.
Director Joe Cornish gained inspiration for his turf war saga after watching Signs, and wondering what would pan out if the action was transferred to an estate in the UK capital.
Arrival (2016)
Amy Adams shines in Denis Villeneuve’s astonishing alien adventure. Don’t expect much in the way of Independence Day-style landmark-blasting here. This is a movie that uses its interstellar visitors to get its audience to think out-of-this-world thoughts over how universal our thoughts on time and communication are.
Cloverfield (2008)
A monster movie filmed from the ground perspective, Matt Reeve’s blockbuster spin on the found-footage genre eschews military daredevil-ism usually seen in big-budget destruction derbies and instead follows a friendship group attempting to survive a night in a New York City that’s being laid to waste by a giant creature from the deep.
It’s a clever, well-polished concept: just one story from potentially millions of others who face overwhelming horrors in the city’s last moments, which is played out via the recordings made by the friends as they flee the giant foe.
Ad Astra (2019)
James Gray’s story about father-son issues gone interplanetary drags far more than it should considering its incredible visual beauty. Perhaps that’s to be expected, considering there’s rather a lot of dead space between Earth, where Brad Pitt’s astronaut Roy McBride starts his journey, and Neptune, where his father went missing years before, but whose suspected presence is feared to threaten the survival of humanity.
But even if the plot might get too abstract for some viewers, it’s worth watching for the set pieces – including the opening space elevator tumble and a Moon-based low-gravity car chase.
Jumanji: the Next Level (2019)
The Rock, Jack Black, Karen Gillan and Kevin Hart reprise their riotous roles as kids-playing-video-game-characters in a deadly battle within a console.
It’s not exactly a thought-provoking ride, but it is 125 minutes of brainless fun, with the cast wringing all the smouldering intensity and body-swapping skills they can get out of their characters as they level up.
Chappie (2015)
Neil Blomkamp followed up District 9 and Elysium with this 2015 Johannesburg-set vision of the future. The titular character is a stolen police droid given the powers to think and feel for itself by Dev Patel’s Geppetto-esque scientist.
The authorities, naturally, do not approve.
The Adam Project (2022)
Ryan Reynolds meets his 12-year-old self, in the guise of Walker Scobell, and finds they have to find a way to get over their mutual dislike in order to save the world.
The pair and supporting cast, including Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana, appear to have a good time with a self-aware script that makes it clear its characters “watched too many movies” about the perils of meddling with multi-verse time-travelling.
A Quiet Place II (2020)
John Krasinski returns to the director’s chair – and, in a flashback opener at least, as father figure Lee – for this near-silent thriller.
Emily Blunt’s Evelyn joins reluctant forces with former pal Emmet (Cillian Murphy) as they fight to survive against invading aliens with a keen ear.
So, there we have it, our list of 10 best sci-fi movies on Netflix. Do you agree with our picks? Or have we missed a crucial choice off the list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.