What are the best science fiction movies ?

“Solaris” (2002)
A massively complex, yet remarkably calm film, Steven Soderbergh‘s take on Stanislaw Lem‘s novel has taken some time to emerge from the shadow of Andrei Tarkovsky‘s very brilliant, but very different version.

“District 9” (2009)
With Neill Blomkamp going on to make the facile “Elysium” and the widely derided “Chappie,” a coma patient who woke up in 2010 might well wonder why the hell we all have such continued high expectations for him.

“Primer” (2004)
Made for a fraction of pretty much every other movie here (just $7,000), Shane Carruth’s directorial debut, “Primer,” is a startling and incredibly complex picture that completely re-energised the time-travel movie and immediately leapt to the forefront of the genre.

“Timecrimes” (2007)
That said, “Primer” isn’t quite our favorite time-travel picture of the decade: that honor instead goes to another low-budget spin on the conceit, Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo’s twisty, twisted “Timecrimes.”

“Moon” (2009)
Every generation has a low-key cult sci-fi debut or two that simply have the feel of future classics, and the 21st Century has had several, though none as satisfying and as worthy of revisiting as Duncan Jones’ brilliantly conceived, perfectly executed “Moon.

1. Maniac
Maniac is one of the most complex, challenging shows of 2018. It's a sci-fi comedy drama, loosely based on a Norwegian show of the same name, with The Leftovers' Patrick Somerville showrunning and True Detective Season 1's Cary Fukunaga directing every episode. It's is set in alternative retro-futuristic New York, and stars Jonah Hill and Emma Stone as Owen and Annie, two damaged people who submit themselves to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial for different reasons.

“Her” (2013)
Proving once again that some of the greatest sci-fi happens when the genre cross-pollinates with another, or several others, Spike Jonze’s lovely, intimate film is just as much an indie love story and a journey of self-discovery as it is a traditional sci-fi movie.

The trials involve the subjects entering hallucinatory states, and almost immediately Annie and Owen's start to overlap, suggesting some unique bond between these two strangers.

“Timecrimes” (2007)
That said, “Primer” isn’t quite our favorite time-travel picture of the decade: that honor instead goes to another low-budget spin on the conceit, Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo’s twisty, twisted “Timecrimes.”

“Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” (2004)
We’re already firmly on the record with our endless adoration for Michel Gondry’s superlative investigation of love, regret, and memory (in fact our Oli Lyttelton wrote a lovely piece on the very personal connection he has to the film here).

2. Annihilation
It's tricky to describe Annihilation in any way that does it justice. Part cosmic horror, part sci-fi thriller, part existential meditation on the nature of personhood, director Alex Garland took Jeff VanderMeer's experimental novel of the same name and pushed it to its absolute limits.

“Upstream Color” (2013)
One of only three directors to have two entries on this list (and the budgets for both of his titles combined could comfortably fit 50 times over into those of most all the others), Shane Carruth followed up his spectacularly brainy “Primer” with the spectacularly brainy “Upstream Color,” which broadens its scope, and therefore its reach, to warp the heart as well as the mind

With an all female starring cast made up of powerhouse actors like Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez, and Tessa Thompson, supported by Oscar Isaac doing his best trope-reversed damsel in distress, Annihilation is at once a minimalist art piece and robust creature-feature with tension to spare.

“Children Of Men” (2006)
Not just the best sci-fi movie of the last 15 years, but one of the best movies period, Alfonso Cuaron’s bravura dystopian masterpiece cemented the Mexican helmer’s status as not just a fast-rising star, but as one of our very, very best

3. Altered Carbon
In our review of Netflix's Altered Carbon early in 2018, we called it "a new cyberpunk masterpiece." For sci-fi fans, its accomplishments are almost innumerable. It manages to establish a living future brimming with complexity, from AI poker games held in cyber space to the all important Cortical Stack, a spinal implant that's made society's upper crust all but immortal.

4. Black Mirror Season 4
Since getting a new lease on life after being picked up by Netflix, Black Mirror continues to get darker and more twisted. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the show’s fourth season, which debuted at the very end of 2017. Despite balancing the season with “lighter” episodes such as Hang The DJ, Season 4 made waves with the gruesome Black Museum, as well as Crocodile, a cautionary morality tale about the impact of surveillance, which delivered some of the darkest moments in the show’s history.

Season four also experimented a lot more with tone and format, with the black and white horror episode Metalhead, as well as the feature-length homage to Star Trek, USS Callister. It’s clear that series creator Charlie Brooker isn’t running out of ideas anytime soon, so we dare only dream of the horrors he’ll come up with for Season 5. -- Lucy James

5. Upgrade
While much of the best sci-fi is subtle and thought-provoking, Upgrade delivered the over-the-top B-movie action that is also a vital part of the genre. It's the directorial debut of Leigh Whannell, who is best known as the co-creator of the Saw and Insidious series, and he brings his clear love of horror to this wild futuristic revenge story.

The plot focuses on a paralysed man who gains incredible strength and fighting powers after an experimental chip is implanted into his brain, and Whannell delivers some incredibly exciting, brutally violent action scenes, as our hero uses his new abilities to track down his wife's killers.

Upgrade's trashier aspects might be more convincing than the drama, but Logan Marshall-Green puts in a strong performance as the man coming to terms with his new powers, and the movie is frequently darkly funny too.

Upgrade is complete nonsense, but it's also hugely entertaining, fast-moving fun. --Dan Auty

6. The Meg
What does a giant shark movie really need? The Meg has it all, from a research station full of tasty, tantalizing scientists to the biggest shark ever seen on film. That really is all you need to know about The Meg:

The shark is big, and it is hungry. Oh, and Jason Statham is completely doing a parody of himself at this point, and it totally works.

The Meg delivers on everything you could reasonably expect from it, and you'll gleefully chomp it down. -- Mike Rougeau

7. Sorry to Bother You
On the surface, Sorry to Bother You sounds simple. Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) gets a much needed job as a telemarketer, where he quickly learns to adopt a distinctively funny "white voice" (played by comedian David Cross) to get ahead.