25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of The 21st Century, From Children of Men To Her PDF

23/9/2018 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of the 21st Century, From Children of Men to Her | IndieWire
The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century, From ‘Children of

Men’ to ‘Her’
With themes that range from love to fear to humanity itself, the best sci-fi movies of the 21st
century all share distinctly original visions.
By Chris O'Falt, Kate Erbland, Zack Sharf, Graham Winfrey
May 19, 2017 4:13 pm
VIEW GALLERY
25 PHOTOS
Sci-fi isn’t easily defined, but in determining the top 25 sci-fi movies of the last 17 years, we’ve
done our best. No fantasy-super hero movies here; for an action, horror, or animated movie to be
on this list, it needed to be firmly rooted in sci-fi origins. And let’s get this out of the way: While we
adore these films and consider them among the very best of the century, we decided they didn’t
qualify or were better suited for a different list: “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Gravity,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,”
“Holy Motors,” and “Battle Royale.”
Drum roll, please…
25. “Coherence”
https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/best-sci-fi-movies-science-fiction-film-1201817994/ 1/6
“Coherence”
With one room and $50,000, director James Ward Byrkit showed there are no limits to what’s
possible in the sci-fi genre. A filmmaking lesson in activating offscreen space and building mystery
into the unseen, the story centers around eight friends gathered for a dinner party when a comet
swooshes overhead, kills the electricity, and opens up a portal for the dinner guests to pass into
other realities, which take the form of nearby houses that mirror the one they are in (low-budget
problem-solving 101). Byrkit keeps the rules of his world digestible: They don’t interfere with our
involvement in the drama, which does a great job of presenting the characters with existential
questions that you can’t help but ponder for yourself. — CO
24. “Sunshine” (2007)
“Sunshine”
How does one evaluate a film whose ending undercuts what is one of the most original, exciting
and little-appreciated sci-fi films? Starring Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, and Chris Evans, the third
collaboration between writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle tells the story of group of
astronauts sent on a seemingly one-way mission to save humanity and a dying sun with a nuclear
fission bomb. A criminally underseen gem cut from the “2001” cloth in the way it ponders man’s
place in the greater universe, but contains sharp onboard drama that keeps that film from ever
feeling overly ponderous. Brilliant, but flawed. — CO
23. “Primer”
“Primer”
THINKFilm
Few sci-fi films have packed so much science into 77 minutes as Shane Carruth’s 2004 feature
debut, “Primer.” Carruth was working as an engineer when he wrote the script about four aspiring
entrepreneurs who accidentally use electromagnetic weight reduction to build a time machine, and
he didn’t simplify technical details for the sake of the audience. As the characters make more and
more brief trips back in time, it becomes increasingly difficult, if downright impossible, to follow all
the “timestreams.” Still, the discussions about scientific theory that serve as the story’s foundation
make it feel like you’re watching the real thing. “Primer” also deals with a number of philosophical
and moral questions that add hefty emotional weight. Made for just $7,000, “Primer” won the grand
jury prize at Sundance as well as the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for Carruth, who also
played one of the lead roles, edited and composed music for the film. — GW
22. “Moon”
“Moon”
Sony Pictures Classics
“Moon” is a story of Rip Van Winkle in outer space, one that fully captures maddening loneliness of
space — a key aspect of the genre that is rarely done right as it requires so much access to
internalized thoughts and feelings. The film is a self-assured mood piece as much as it is a strong
sci-fi movie. The delicacy and light touch required to hit these elements is not synonymous with
first-time feature filmmakers, which is why writer-director Duncan Jones was able to quickly blow
past being known as David Bowie’s son. In one of the best performances of his career, Sam
Rockwell plays as a man sent on an extended mining assignment on the moon, and with the help
of his computer GENTRY, sends resources back home to help Earth’s power problems. — CO
21. “Attack The Block”
“Attack the Block”

Screen Gems
Set in South London and cast with young local actors, “Attack the Block” may one day be best
remembered for discovering “Star Wars” lead and soon-to-be Hollywood star John Boyega. If ever
there was a film begging to be rediscovered with the potential to reach a much wider audience, it’s
this one. Edgar Wright’s writing partner Joe Cornish slips into the director’s chair for the first time
and delivers a film that’s fast, fun, and smart. Built around the simple premise of “What if aliens
invaded the wrong part of the city?”, Cornish shows a remarkable ability to direct action and
maintain the film’s energy. The film also has socio-political side that gives it a “Get Out” meets
“Baby Driver” vibe. — CO
23/9/2018 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of the 21st Century, From Children of Men to Her | IndieWire | Page 2
20. “Snowpiercer”
“Snowpiercer”
RADiUS-TWC
In typical Weinstein fashion, the story of the release of this highly anticipated film became about
Harvey being Harvey (delays stemming from a demand of cutting 20 minutes, shifting from a wide
release to a last-minute cockamamie VOD strategy) rather than how Bong Joon Ho’s first English-
language film was visionary. Yet as the Korean director’s body of work continues to evolve,
the greatness of “Snowpiercer” seems to catching on.
The film relishes its conceptual lunacy: a train travels around the world after a failed climate
change experiment has killed off everyone else. Joon Ho has an Almodovar-like playfulness about
cinema and performance – Hollywood stars being yet another tool he knows exactly how to use –
but delivers sharp insight into class divisions, with his signature tinge of political bleakness. — CO
READ MORE: Okja’ Review: Bong Joon Ho Delivers His ‘E.T.’ With Delightful Tale of a Mutant Pig
and the Girl Who Loves Her — Cannes 2017
19. “Donnie Darko”
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“Donnie Darko”
Newmarket Films
A blindingly original mash up of sci-fi, horror, and dark comedy, “Donnie Darko” stars Jake
Gyllenhaal as a troubled teenager in 1988 who’s visited at night by an imaginary friend named
Frank, a haunting figure in a large rabbit suit. Frank tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days,
six hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, and when Donnie returns home, he learns a jet engine has
fallen out of the sky onto his bedroom. It’s at this moment that “Donnie Darko’s” unexpected shift
into sci-fi takes hold of the viewer, never letting go until the movie’s mind-bending conclusion.
Richard Kelly’s feature debut had a disastrous premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where
audiences didn’t know what to make of the bizarre story, but after flopping at the U.S. box office,
“Donnie Darko” became a hit overseas, eventually achieving its much-deserved cult status. The
supporting cast includes Gyllenhaal’s sister Maggie, Patrick Swayze, and Oscar nominees Mary
McDonnell and Katharine Ross. — GW
18. “Inception”
“Inception”
Warner Bros.
If you’re one of the people who got lost somewhere in the middle of Christopher Nolan’s 2 1/2-hour
sci-fi epic “Inception,” you’re not alone. The film follows an “extractor” named Cobb (Leonardo
DiCaprio) who steals secrets for corporate espionage through the use of dream-sharing technology
that allows him to penetrate the minds of his targets. Things get particularly tricky when he’s
assigned a more experimental form of mind control, called “inception,” which involves planting
ideas into the mind of another person. Cobb’s objective is to induce the heir to a corporation
(Cillian Murphy) to break up the company he’s soon to inherit, a tall order that may or may not be
possible. It’s easy to get lost in the dreams within dreams that take us deeper into the make-
believe worlds of the characters, but Nolan’s limitless imagination is too awe-inspiring for us to look
away. The stunning visualizations of cities folding on themselves and action sequences that break
the rules of space-time plunge us into cinematic territory that not even “The Matrix” could conjure.
It’s a world few filmmakers could bring to life without buckling under the weight of their own
imagination, and Nolan is up to the task. — GW
17. “Hard To Be A God”
“Hard to Be a God”
Kino Lorber
Late Russian director Aleksei German put one of the better arthouse twists on the sci-fi genre
with a film that dared to ask, “What would you do in God’s place?” A group of research scientists is
sent on a mission to a planet nearly identical to Earth, but where the inhabitants live in an
oppressive society that invokes the Middle Ages. As scientists, the men are forbidden to interfere,
but when Don Rumata (played by great Leonid Yarmolnik) is recognized as a futuristic god, he’s
driven by a need to save a group of local intellectuals from a murderous tyrant.
German created a bleak world (even by Russian standards), but it’s also a wandering, visually rich
and cinematically exciting journey that takes advantage of sci-fi’s ability to ask some deep
questions and deliver devastating political commentary. — CO
16. “Looper”
“Looper”
Sony Pictures Releasing/TriStar Pictures
There’s a screenwriting adage that when creating a world, the writer needs to have all the rules
clearly defined while not explaining them to the audience; characters should tell us through their
actions. For Rian Johnson’s somewhat complicated time-travel film, it almost feels like there too
many disparate threads to be tied into a satisfying whole and the film can feel unnecessarily
convoluted. But as the film evolves and we settle into its central drama – can Joseph Gordon-
Levitt’s protagonist bring himself to kill his future self (Bruce Willis)? – the emotional core of the film
emerges. With Johnson, who’s now in the process of taking the reins of the “Star Wars” franchise,
it’s clear he’s a thoughtful cinephile from which an original voice and point of view emerged.
Kathleen Kennedy chose wisely. — CO
15. “Ex Machina”
“Ex Machina”
A24
As Quentin Tarantino aptly pointed out, there always was a tension in the collaboration between
great sci-fi screenwriter Alex Garland (“28 Days Later,” “Sunshine”) and director Danny Boyle. Not
that they didn’t get along, but Garland’s distinct worlds weren’t a perfect fit for Boyle’s more
prestige-driven vision. That’s why the prospect of Garland directing “Ex Machina” was so exciting:
Garland unfiltered! That he would arrive a fairly fully formed filmmaker was a bonus we couldn’t
have expected.
“Ex-Machina” is one of the more assured and satisfying films about artificial intelligence, as
programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) and his brilliant and eccentric boss (Oscar Isaac) test if their
android (Alicia Vikander) can pass as human. The cast has a blast with their roles and none more
than Vikander, who gets to play a seductress that messes with her owners’ heads. The real joy,
however, is the way Garland unfolds a mounting sense of paranoia that envelops this world. We
can’t wait to what he does next with “Annihilation,” starring Natalie Portman, due in 2018. –CO
14. “Paprika”
“Paprika”
Sony Pictures Classics
Satoshi Kon isn’t widely known, so many cinephiles may not realize that the animator’s 2010 death
(from cancer, at 47) represented a profound loss. Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky have
been inspired by his cinematic inventiveness; the roots of “Inception” can be found in Kon’s final
film, “Paprika,” about a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. But
where Nolan needed to take pause in order to let his audience catch up with dialogue-driven
exposition, Kon’s film effortlessly slips through levels of consciousness by creating his own totally
understandable sense of time, space, dreams, and reality. If you’re unfamiliar with exactly how
next-level Kon was as filmmaker, Tony Zhou’s video essay about his cutting patterns is extremely
well done. — CO
13. “Edge Of Tomorrow”
“Edge of Tomorrow”
Warner Bros.
Tom Cruise is a public relations officer killed filming the alien invasion, but finds himself in a time
loop that sends him back to the day preceding the battle every time he dies. (Hence the film’s
original title, “Live Die Repeat.”) Cruise teams with a special forces expert (Emily Blunt) who
attempts to train him in the hope he can survive and discover how to defeat the overwhelming
forces. The narrative structure becomes like a satisfying video game in which Cruise and Blunt
must learn to unlock the trick to making it to the next level. The film follows the familiar Tom Cruise
story arc – smarmy man in crisis discovers what really matters – but because of its “Groundhog
Day”-like narrative structure, the film becomes almost a meta-examination of Cruise’s star persona
that is immensely satisfying. Yet, the soul of the film belongs to Blunt. Her character is cut from the
western tradition of a cowboy who carries a deep emotional scar in a stoic strength, and Blunt
crushes in the role. Studying this film should be mandatory for every befuddled studio exec who
can’t see past the woman being more than love interest to the action film’s male protagonist. — CO
12. “Wall-E”
“Wall-E”
Walt Disney Pictures
Set in the year 2805, “Wall-E” follows a friendly, curious robot who’s all alone on Earth. The human
race didn’t die out, they merely abandoned the planet after overcrowding it with too much stuff.
Wall-E stands for “Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class,” and he spends his time rooting
through old junk, until falling hard for a robot named Eve who visits Earth with an unmanned
spacecraft. Wall-E’s attachment to Eve causes him to follow her back to the human starship Axoim,
where the charms of this sweet, robotic love story are tested by more nefarious forces. Endless
automation has turned humans into obese, sedentary blobs who rely on machines for everything.
The revelation that plant life still exists on Earth, however, triggers a chain of events that could see
humans return to their home planet to recolonize it. Though “Wall-E” depicts a dystopia in which
humans’ ugly obsession with technology and consumption has banished them to space, this
brilliantly imaginative sci-fi tale manages a last-minute course correction that proves the human
race always has the capacity for redemption. — GW
11. “Arrival”
“Arrival”
Paramount Pictures
The rare sci-fi outing that wears its heart firmly on its spacesuit sleeve, Denis Villeneuve’s
emotional and rich adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short story uses alien arrival to reveal what it means
to be human. Amy Adams is the marquee attraction, running through a true gamut of emotions that
never cease to be believable, even when the situation is fantastic. Much like “Contact,” the film is
ultimately about an internal journey and the need for communication, though “Arrival” doesn’t
skimp on showing off massive spacecraft and introducing us to a pair of extraterrestrial friends who
scarcely resemble what we’ve come to expect from big-screen alien life. A small story writ large,
“Arrival” is all about the journey. — KE
10. “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes”
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

20th Century Fox
By the time the extremely promising “War for the Planet of the Apes” is released this summer,
concluding Caesar’s (Andy Serkis) trilogy, the series will likely go down as Hollywood’s smartest
franchise reboot. What began with director Rupert Wyatt’s fantastic, character-driven origin story,
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” evolved into Matt Reeves’ profound and heart-pounding
masterpiece. Reeves plants his flag as one the best directors of action in what is essentially a war
film, but beneath the battle scenes is Caeser’s struggle about what to do with the plague-ravaged
human population. That Caesar is one of the most captivating characters in recent Hollywood films
speaks to the groundbreaking mo-cap technology and performance (can we please give Serkis
some awards attention!) that has gone into making this trilogy. — CO
READ MORE: ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ Trailer and Poster: Woody Harrelson and Andy
Serkis Battle It Out
9. “Minority Report”
“Minority Report”
20th Century Fox
Steven Spielberg isn’t the first director you’d imagine for a Philip K. Dick adaptation, but the
alchemy on this film is near perfection. There is no director alive who can more precisely and
efficiently synthesize exposition, complicated action, and character by knowing exactly how to
stage and shoot a scene. That efficiency pays off in the film’s first 20 minutes, quickly establishing
the depth and complexity of Dick’s world as we dive head first into the film’s story. “Minority Report”
features some of the Spielberg’s best action set pieces, inspired by the cars and future technology
to come up with new tricks. Production designer Alex McDowell’s vision of a high-tech future is
visionary without being inhuman, and the film achieves surprising depth in framing how the
surveillance-versus-safety question applies to our post 9/11 world. — CO
8. “World of Tomorrow”
“World of Tomorrow”
Yes, this Don Hertzfeldt film is an animated short, but it also packs more sci-fi goodness and
intellectual, emotional complexity into 17 minutes than most films do in two hours (including many
on this list). It centers on a girl named Emily who is invited on a tour of the future by her adult
clone. The juxtaposition of the purity of Emily’s childlike innocence and the bleak look at what the
world becomes creates a crushing layer of drama, as she’s too young to understand what we do.
Meanwhile, Hertzfeld’s deceptively rudimentary animation style is an array of colorful emotions
pulsing with life. It’s impossible not to well with emotions watching this masterpiece, which tells a
deeply philosophical tale that’s remarkable for its simplicity. It will be held up against Chris Marker’s
“La Jetée” as one the greatest short films in the history of movies. — CO
7. “Her”
“Her”
Warner Bros.
There is always something patently absurd about the premise of a Spike Jonze films, but he
approaches them with such sincerity that any sense of kitschy-irony melts away. In the case of
“Her,” the idea that audiences could become emotionally involved in a love story between a man
(Joaquin Phoenix) and his Siri-like operating system (voiced by pitch-perfect Scarlett Johansson)
would seem like a cinematic bridge too far, but instead it becomes Jonze’s most poignant and fully
realized film since his 1999 debut, “Being John Malkovich.” “Her” is Jonze’s fourth feature, and the
first in which he came up with the story himself; it feels more personal and intimate than his
previous work. The creation of this futuristic world, which borrows perfectly selected aspects of
today’s modern cities, is rendered into one of the most grounded and visually satisfying future
worlds in the modern sci-fi. — CO
6. “District 9”
“District 9”
Sony Pictures Releasing
There’s a tendency to downgrade this film based on how disappointing director Neill Blomkamp’s
subsequent films have been, but nothing can take away from how exciting, smart, and new “District
9” felt when it hit theaters eight years ago. While the use of handheld to create a sense of realism
is cinematic crutch for many genre directors, Blomkamp uses it to create a remarkably realistic
sense of what it must feel like to be invaded from above. That sense of fear is key for the film, as
what the humans do in response reveals the ugliness of what we are capable of when acting out of
fear. Blomkamp is from South Africa and the film is an allegory for apartheid, but its moral is
universal for how fear of the other drains us of our humanity. — CO
5.“Upstream Color”
“Upstream Color”
erpb
We won’t pretend to be smart enough to completely understand Shane Carruth’s examination of

the science of love. Even with the proper philosophical, literary, and scientific background to grasp
all the references, it might still be impossible to fully appreciate the film’s layers. Yet what is
amazing about this groundbreaking work is that because it perfectly fits together in Carruth’s big
engineering-trained brain – and he’s using the formal language of cinema to express himself –
there’s an internal logic that keeps an open-minded audience engaged. Made for $50,000 – which
seems virtually impossible considering the film’s elegance – Carruth is the embodiment of an
independent filmmaker. Not only is he free from working with Hollywood’s sense of story and film
language, he also found a path to self distribute this film and build a devoted audience. In a film
world where everybody is explaining how they are doing something new and groundbreaking,
Shane Carruth is one of the very few walking the walk. — CO
4. “The Host”
“The Host”
Most creature films would be a better fit for a horror list, but the story origins of Bong Joon Ho’s
“The Host,” which was inspired by the deformed fish in the filmmaker’s beloved Han River, makes
this one of the more interesting genre films to incorporate environmental science into its genre
thrills. Joon Ho is not a politically subtle filmmaker, but the joy he takes in creating his symphony of
not-so-bright characters is one of modern cinema’s delicacies. Thankfully, “The Host” became the
biggest box-office hit in South Korean history and led to Joon Ho being able to uncompromisingly
paint on a bigger international canvas with “Snowpiercer” and now Netflix’s “Okja.” -CO
READ MORE: Bong Joon-ho’s ‘The Host’ Is The Defining Monster Movie Of The 21st Century
3. “Under The Skin”
“Under the Skin”

A24
What does it mean to be human? It’s an ambitious question at the heart of many of the best
science-fiction films, but few answer it with the kind of evocative beauty and abstract intrigue
of “Under the Skin.” Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 masterpiece studies humanity through the eyes of a
seductive alien, played by a never-better Scarlett Johansson. The more humanity begins to take
hold of her subconscious, the more her sense of self is rattled. This is not didactic filmmaking; it’s a
full-bodied experience. The shock and discovery of something new settles in as the alien roams
Glasgow, the camera studying her from afar like a stranger in a strange land. Then, Glazer expertly
realizes the unexplainable sensation that overcomes her as humanity seeps in. He creates a visual
and aural understanding of what it means to discover humanity, and how warm and dangerous that
can be. Glazer depicts this awakening with his own transfixing cinematic language: bursts of
kaleidoscopic colors, a percussive score, and set design more akin to an art installation than
traditional cinema. He forces you to confront what humanity is, and whether it’s a sin or a blessing.
The ultimate discovery is cinema at its most singular and essential. It’s science-fiction at its
puzzling and thought-provoking best. — ZS
2. “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind”
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

Focus Features
There’s an ephemeral quality to the visual poetry of Michel Gondry that captures both the beauty
and sadness of being alive. It’s Gondry’s nature as an artist not to stay grounded in reality or in the
confines of narrative, which can result in films that are brilliant but not fully realized. That’s why
Charlie Kaufman’s metaphysical time travel script for “Spotless” is such a gift for Gondry, and
subsequently us. In the story of two lovers — a never-better Jim Carrey and the always-great Kate
Winslet — who chose to forget each other, the sci-fi device melts away and the film becomes a
visual meditation on the memories that can’t be erased. — CO
1. “Children of Men”
“Children of Men”
Universal Pictures
Deciding what would be number one was the easiest part of assembling this list. The virtuoso long-
take filmmaking of director Alfonso Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is the
filmmaking equivalent of Mozart. It’s so jaw dropping in certain sequences that it feels like flexing,
but that uninterrupted camera draws us into the film’s tensest scenes in a way that makes Clive
Owens’ noble struggle against this dystopian nightmare uniquely immersive. This authoritarian
London, where women have stopped giving birth, feels all too real. Interior spaces are almost like
characters themselves, which makes its bleakness so palpable, so relatable – and this film
projected our current refugee crisis eight years early. The pebble of hope, and the film’s narrative
drive, comes in the form of the Kee, played with remarkable grace by Clare-Hope Ashitey, a young
pregnant refugee. For two hours we are right there with Owens in believing nothing else in the
world matters but getting her to safety. Quite simply one of the true masterpieces of 21st
century. — CO
Honorable Mention: “2046,” “Timecrimes,” “Europa Report,” “Godzilla,” “Monsters,” “The Fountain,”
“Solaris,” “Interstellar,” “A.I,” “Beyond The Black Rainbow,” and “The Clone Returns Home.”
Honestly, at one point all of these films were on early drafts of this list. It’s really hair splitting to
determine the difference between #16 and #26.
Comments
MICHAEL PHELPZE NOVEMBER 12, 2017 11:14 PM
Every movie on this list could be put onto one page instead of trying to get
more clicks out of us. When websites do this I never make it past the first
page.
Reply
LANCE PHILLIPS OCTOBER 16, 2017 11:16 PM
I was going to go into depth about my opinion of your choices…but the list
has so many obvious omissions and so many flawed choices it would be a
pointless exercise.
Reply
CHRIS SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 6:09 AM
How AI was left off the list… I could understand the argument for it being
mixed in the top 3, but left off the list??! Come on
Reply
TYLER JULY 9, 2017 11:03 PM
Why is this list so different from the last one published 2 years ago? It is
tough to take it seriously when you swap around movie ranks so drastically
from list to list.
– Timecrimes was number 6 before and now it is off the list?
– Moon went from 5 to 22,
– Edge of tomorrow went from 25 to 13 and
– Primer went from 7 to 23
I’m not really qualified to debate if the ranks are justified or not but the fact
the lists are so different takes away from their credibility in my opinion.
Reply
GAURANG MAY 30, 2017 3:57 AM
Thanks for the nice list.

I think the list should have also included:
– Interstellar (should be in top 5 or top 10)
– Europa Report
– Avatar
– The Martian
– Gravity
“The Moon” should be much higher in the list.
“Under the skin”!!!! OMG… Didnt like the movie at all — its very hard to
even understand the point of the movie. If you are going to include it, it
should be near the bottom of the list.
“Children of Men” is a good movie, but I dont see it as a SciFi movie at all,
more like a fantasy movie. The movie is not about science at all, its more of
societal fiction. So it should not even quality for the list, or if it does then it
should be much below in the list.
Reply
GAURANG MAY 30, 2017 4:11 AM
Also, what about the Star Trek and Star Wars movies? I dont think they
are “super-hero” movies, so they should have been on the list.
Reply
JON MAY 26, 2017 12:13 PM
Good enough list. Assuming Mad Max doesn’t count, my top 5 would be:
05. Eternal Sunshine
04. Inception
03. Her
02. Children of Men
01. Under the Skin
So pretty close.
Reply
RICK MAY 26, 2017 1:37 AM
Children of Men seems far over-rated to me. Everyone seems to love that it
was a long-take, regardless of the quality of the story. While it has some
good points, it is far from great. It also feels so dated that I was surprised it
made it into a 21st C list. I would have guessed it for a late 80s to 90s film.
Reply
JEFF J MAY 25, 2017 2:04 PM
The correct #1 is Moon.

Also, Spacey’s character was GERTY, not GENTRY.
Reply
RICH MAY 25, 2017 12:35 PM
What ever happened to entertaining, real undiluted Scifi? Now we have

these over thought, over cerebral, mish mashes with a few scifi elements.
Give me a good space opera, Kaiju, or alien invasion movie any day. Even
when they reboot a classic, they seem to screw it up. Soo many REAL scifi
films were overlooked on this list. What did make it for the most part is
drek.
Reply
JACK MAY 25, 2017 12:12 PM
To be honest, if we’re picking Tom Cruise movies, Oblivion was really quite
good.
Reply
RICK MAY 26, 2017 1:38 AM
While Oblivion had its faults, it made an attempt to be though provoking

and succeeded beyond a number of others on this list.
Reply
CLIFFARDO MAY 25, 2017 12:42 AM
Can’t believe Blade Runner was not on the list! #1 on mine.

Reply
X TRAPNEL MAY 25, 2017 10:50 AM
Dear God. Read the bleeding headline.

Reply
THESCHU MAY 24, 2017 5:46 PM
Edge of Tomorrow’s original title was All You Need Is Kill. Live Die Repeat
was just the copy line on the poster and in the trailer.
Reply
JOHN KOSTO MAY 24, 2017 2:09 PM
The Edge Of Tomorrow was the most overrated movie I have ever seen. It
wouldn’t even make my top 100 sci-fi movies of this millenium list. The
Fountain and Interstellar should have been in top 10, not just top 25. And
Donnie Darko in top 5.
Reply
DUDEPLZ MAY 24, 2017 2:01 AM
Wowwww really?… These deserve to be on the top, Dark City, The 13th
Floor, Cube, 12 Monkeys, and even 5th Element, Event Horizon,
Terminator, Predator.
Reply
PATRICK MAY 24, 2017 7:30 AM
Dudeplz, you’re trolling right? I mean, the title of the article clearly
states, “of the 21st century,” and every movie you listed came out in the
80’s and 90’s.
Reply
JEFF J MAY 25, 2017 2:07 PM
Dark City is not sci-fi. It is religious fantasy.

The aliens are doing all that stuff because they’re jealous that humans
have souls. Terrible.
Nope, no spoiler alert. I hated that movie *that much.*
Reply
PGLM MAY 23, 2017 11:21 PM
Snowpiercer over something like Prometheus? C’mon, people,

Snowpiercer!?! Suspension of disbelief has a limit when it comes to this
train’s ecosystem.
Reply
P.M. MAY 23, 2017 9:49 PM
I also recommend Melancholia and Another Earth.

Reply
CATE MAY 24, 2017 10:51 AM
Melancholia isn’t really SF, though. He only uses the gas giant as a
metaphor. If you try to look at it through a physics lens it becomes
ridiculous. Then again, if Eternal Sunshine can be on here, why not
Melancholia? I loved Eternal Sunshine, but I don’t think that qualifies
as SF, either.
Reply
DANIEL MAY 23, 2017 5:39 PM
Meh, I don’t agree with this list.
Reply
RYAN MAY 23, 2017 2:11 PM
Props for putting Children of Men so high on the list.
Reply
TINAE MAY 23, 2017 1:44 PM
Monsters in the honorable mentions is really good. I’d have listed it among
the top five. Children of Men is amazing. It feels a lot like it was a comic
book adaptation, the aesthetic reminding of Enki Bilal maybe.
Reply
ANDRADA MAY 23, 2017 6:04 AM
While I thoroughly enjoyed Paprika, “totally understandable” are not

words I would use in correlation with that film. Great work on this list,
there a few I haven’t watched yet and will try to remedy that soon.
Reply
PREDATOR MAY 22, 2017 8:28 AM
All good except for no1. What a boreass movie was that. Probably the worst
scifi movie ever..blaah
Reply
ALASDAIR MAY 21, 2017 11:55 AM
I agree with much of the list (particularly Children of Men at #1), but
Under The Skin was one of the most boring and plotless films I’ve ever
seen. Avoid.
Reply
DUSTIN MAY 21, 2017 1:21 PM
Under the Skin should be number one in my opinion. Different strokes

Reply
AMBER MAY 21, 2017 10:14 AM
Blade Runner, Alien, Akira (animated version) should be here.

Reply
SMILES MAY 21, 2017 11:11 AM
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY. Those are all TWENTIETH CENTURY.

Damnit.
Reply
JARED MAY 21, 2017 9:44 AM
This looks like a list sci fi by someone who does not like sci fi. I love sci fi
movies and have not seen a lot of those. Not mention the movies I did see in
this list were not good.
Reply
MAT MAY 20, 2017 7:17 PM
(Being John Malkovich was 1999 not 2009)
Reply
POWELLPRESSBURGER MAY 20, 2017 5:10 PM
Children of Men was pooooor! Come on!!! If that is the no. 1 the rest of the
list is discredited.
Reply
RICH SB MAY 20, 2017 12:33 PM
“The Man from Earth” should definitely be on this list. The most
shockingly provocative low budget sci-fi movie ever made.
Reply
JOHN MCSWEENEY MAY 20, 2017 8:10 AM
Mad Max Fury Road?, Prometheus?, Elysium?, Oblivion?, 28 Days Later?,

Matrix Films????
The list is missing many major sci fi movies as well as several bad choices.
Reply
MAX OXLEY MAY 20, 2017 3:25 PM
Fury Road & 28DL are dystopia, not sci-fi, and none of the other films
you listed are generally better thought of than the ones on this list (other
than the 1st Matrix, which came out in ’99)
Reply
PLEB MAY 22, 2017 1:24 PM
Children of Men is dystopian too,so is Dawn of the planet of the

apes, Her is utopian/dystopian(it is subjective for this film I guess)
and Paprika and The Host are borderline fantasy.
Reply
ALASDAIR MAY 21, 2017 11:56 AM
I know it’s been widely mocked, but Avatar really should be on the list as
well.
Reply
BO MAY 19, 2017 7:20 PM
I’ve never understood the whole Arrival thing. I walked out of it 15 mins.
into it back when it first opened. I’d walked into it for free to after viewing
another much better film, Elle. I decided to watch it last night to see if I was
correct in my assumptions of it being obvious, simple, maudlin and
sentimental. I forced myself to watch the whole thing and I was right in my
walk out. It’s just so mediocre and manipulative, but people fall for this
kind of stuff so best to acknowledge my gratitude of not being one of them.
Reply
MOVIE JUNKIE MAY 21, 2017 12:45 PM
Arrival wasn’t about the aliens’ arrival it was about her daughters’
arrival and the impact on one’s emotions that knowing the future would
have. The alien contact in the movie was just the “how” she was able to
know the future. It definitely deserved to be on this list. And I agree
wholeheartedly that Children of Men deserves the #1 spot.
Reply
CRIZLIAM MAY 19, 2017 6:52 PM
I love you!
Reply
PETER MAY 19, 2017 6:09 PM
Gravity? lol
Reply
JON MAY 20, 2017 7:28 AM
Not exactly a sci-fi film, since it was intended to be a current-day look at

space junk, and all the technology featured in it was largely real at the
time of filming. I remember it being described as a ‘techno-thriller’ as
opposed to science fiction
Reply
GRAVITAS MAY 22, 2017 6:59 PM
Um, you just defined science fiction.
Reply
JACOB ALLEN MAY 19, 2017 5:39 PM
Interstellar?
Reply
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25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of The 21st Century, From Children of Men To Her PDF

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23/9/2018 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of the 21st Century, From Children of Men to Her | IndieWire

The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century, From ‘Children of

Drum roll, please…

24. “Sunshine” (2007)

21. “Attack The Block”

“Attack the Block”

19. “Donnie Darko”

17. “Hard To Be A God”

15. “Ex Machina”

13. “Edge Of Tomorrow”

10. “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes”

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

We won’t pretend to be smart enough to completely understand Shane Carruth’s examination of

3. “Under The Skin”

“Under the Skin”

2. “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind”

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

LANCE PHILLIPS OCTOBER 16, 2017 11:16 PM

CHRIS SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 6:09 AM

TYLER JULY 9, 2017 11:03 PM

GAURANG MAY 30, 2017 3:57 AM

Thanks for the nice list.

GAURANG MAY 30, 2017 4:11 AM

JON MAY 26, 2017 12:13 PM

RICK MAY 26, 2017 1:37 AM

JEFF J MAY 25, 2017 2:04 PM

The correct #1 is Moon.

RICH MAY 25, 2017 12:35 PM

What ever happened to entertaining, real undiluted Scifi? Now we have

JACK MAY 25, 2017 12:12 PM

RICK MAY 26, 2017 1:38 AM

While Oblivion had its faults, it made an attempt to be though provoking

CLIFFARDO MAY 25, 2017 12:42 AM

Can’t believe Blade Runner was not on the list! #1 on mine.

X TRAPNEL MAY 25, 2017 10:50 AM

Dear God. Read the bleeding headline.

THESCHU MAY 24, 2017 5:46 PM

JOHN KOSTO MAY 24, 2017 2:09 PM

DUDEPLZ MAY 24, 2017 2:01 AM

PATRICK MAY 24, 2017 7:30 AM

JEFF J MAY 25, 2017 2:07 PM

Dark City is not sci-fi. It is religious fantasy.

PGLM MAY 23, 2017 11:21 PM

Snowpiercer over something like Prometheus? C’mon, people,

P.M. MAY 23, 2017 9:49 PM

I also recommend Melancholia and Another Earth.

CATE MAY 24, 2017 10:51 AM

DANIEL MAY 23, 2017 5:39 PM

Meh, I don’t agree with this list.

RYAN MAY 23, 2017 2:11 PM

Props for putting Children of Men so high on the list.

TINAE MAY 23, 2017 1:44 PM

ANDRADA MAY 23, 2017 6:04 AM

While I thoroughly enjoyed Paprika, “totally understandable” are not

PREDATOR MAY 22, 2017 8:28 AM

ALASDAIR MAY 21, 2017 11:55 AM

DUSTIN MAY 21, 2017 1:21 PM

Under the Skin should be number one in my opinion. Different strokes

AMBER MAY 21, 2017 10:14 AM

Blade Runner, Alien, Akira (animated version) should be here.

SMILES MAY 21, 2017 11:11 AM

TWENTY FIRST CENTURY. Those are all TWENTIETH CENTURY.

JARED MAY 21, 2017 9:44 AM