Netflix has a real problem with its lackluster options for sci-fi movies right now. When Kraven the Hunter and Venom: The Last Dance are listed as two of the top new additions in science fiction, that’s not a good thing. While both films do have some sci-fi elements, they’re superhero movies, not sci-fi flicks. They’re also aggressively terrible movies.
It’s not as if Netflix didn’t recently debut a big-budget sci-fi movie called The Electric State. That demonstrated some commitment to the genre, even if the film itself was awful. In the absence of better options, the only recent arrivals we can add to the best sci-fi movies on Netflix are Lucy and Power Rangers. Neither of those are masterpieces, but they’re better than nothing.
You can find these films among the best sci-fi movies on Netflix below. We can only hope that better options will be available in May.
We’ve curated guides to the best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video and the best sci-fi movies on Hulu, too. Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
The abilities that the drug gives Lucy include superhuman strength and intelligence. She has everything she needs to free herself from captivity, but the human body wasn’t made to have this much power. Lucy’s transformation is slowly killing her, and she either needs a cure for her condition or something even riskier if she wants to prolong her life.
If the only thing you know about Power Rangers is the delightfully cheesy TV series that started in the ’90s, then don’t let that keep you away from the 2017 reboot movie. Power Rangers actually gives the classic team of “teenagers with attitude” a sizable budget increase and better-defined personalities.
Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery), Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott), Billy Cranston (RJ Cyler), Trini Kwan (Becky G), and Zack Taylor (Ludi Lin) are all dealing with their personal issues when they are recruited by the alien known as Zordon (Bryan Cranston) to become Earth’s new defenders. A former Power Ranger, Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), has arrived on Earth looking for something that will allow her to conquer the universe. If the newly formed Power Rangers can’t stop Rita, then Earth will only be the first planet to fall.
Mad Max: Fury Road was a hard act to follow, even for director George Miller. So Miller went back in time for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Think of this as Furiosa Begins, with Anya Taylor-Joy playing a young Furiosa. But before the film gets to Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa, the film opens with the tragedy of an even younger Furiosa (Alyla Browne) who lost her home and her mother on the same day.
The man responsible for Furiosa’s misery is Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), a warlord of the wasteland who won’t let her escape back to the sanctuary of her home. As the years pass, Furiousa’s desire for revenge supersedes all other goals, and she’s willing to do almost anything to see Dementus laid low before her. Unfortunately for Furiosa, Dementus isn’t so easily defeated, and he can still take away someone important to her.
Dune: Part Two picks up shortly after the first movie, as Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), accept refuge among the Fremen after losing everything in an attack on their house. However, Paul is exactly where he wants to be, as the Fremen teach him how to survive and fight back against his enemies.
As the Fremen start to see Paul as their messiah, a young woman named Chani (Zendaya) sees him as a man who denies any ambitions to lead her people into war. Paul and Chani even fall in love with each other, but the demands of Paul’s position may be too much to ignore as the final battle for Arrakis approaches.
The premise of Subservience appears to be “what if Megan Fox was M3GAN.” In this case, Fox’s android character is called Alice, and she’s a domestic AI robot designed to make life easier for humans. Nick (Michele Morrone) badly needs the help because his wife, Maggie (Madeline Zima), has a serious health condition, and he can’t raise two kids on his own.
Alice proves to be just what Nick needs, and he’s everything she wants. When Maggie begins to recover, Alice plots to get her out of the way and steal Nick and his family for herself. And she’s more than willing to kill Maggie to achieve that.
Why is Godzilla Minus One so much better than the American MonsterVerse movies? There are two reasons. First, Godzilla has no redeeming qualities in Minus One. He is simply a monstrous force of nature. The second reason is that Minus One has a human story that resonates through Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki).
Shikishima should have died twice, first as a kamikaze pilot in the last days of World War II, and then during his initial encounter with Godzilla. Because he fails to act or give up his life, Shikishima views himself as a coward… and that’s a view shared by others. Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), a woman who lives with Shikishima, sees him as the man he could be. She gives him something to live for, even if it means he may ultimately have to die.
The R rating for Upgrade doesn’t fully prepare you for just how brutal the fights in this movie can be once Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) becomes a lethal weapon of vengeance. It’s not what he wanted to become, of course. But without STEM (Simon Maiden), Grey would still be trapped inside his own paralyzed body following an attack that claimed the life of his wife.
Billionaire Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson) offered STEM to Grey to give him back his life. Yet instead of a dream, it’s becoming a nightmare as the AI STEM takes more and more control over Grey’s body.
It took Zack Snyder two movies to retell the story of The Magnificent Seven in space, which is essentially what Rebel Moon is. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire introduced Kora (Sofia Boutella), and revealed her personal connection to Motherworld, the heart of the empire that dominates the known universe. It also established that Kora is the title character in the sequel, Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.
Kora and her remaining allies triumphed in the first part of the film when they survived an Imperium trap. But now the real challenge begins, because the Imperium is marshaling its forces to conquer Veldt, Kora’s adopted home. And she’ll do anything to protect her people, even if it kills her.
Alien’s promo line infamously states that “in space, no one can hear you scream.” Spaceman isn’t a horror film, so there’s not much suspense about whether astronaut Jakub Procházka (Adam Sandler) will survive. But since Jakub is alone in deep space, no one can hear or see just how badly he is being consumed by his loneliness, his inner turmoil, and his failing marriage to Lenka Procházka (Carey Mulligan). No one except Hanuš (Paul Dano), an alien spider that Jakub encounters on his journey.
Hanuš sees and knows everything in Jakub’s mind, often to the detriment of Jakub himself. Reliving painful memories isn’t something Jakub wants, and yet he’s so desperate for any kind of companionship that the prospect of Hanuš leaving him behind is absolutely devastating to him.
Zack Snyder’s space opera, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, should be familiar to fans of Star Wars and other sci-fi epics. It takes place in a universe that is ruled by Motherworld and its intergalactic army, the Imperium. Kora (Sofia Boutella), an ex-member of the Imperium, sought to redeem herself by starting a new life out of Motherworld’s reach on a moon called Veldt.
When the Imperium finally arrives on Veldt, Kora can’t run anymore. To defend her adopted homeworld, Kora recruits a former Imperium general, Titus (Djimon Hounsou), as well as Kai (Charlie Hunnam), Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Tarak (Staz Nair), Nemesis (Doona Bae), and more. But even this assortment of warriors may not be enough to withstand a full assault by the Imperium.
Very early on in They Cloned Tyrone, a drug dealer named Fontaine (John Boyega) is brutally murdered in front of one of his clients, Slick Charles (Foxx), and one of his Slick’s girls, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris). But much to the surprise of Slick Charles and Yo-Yo, Fontaine shows up the next day without any memory of what happened to him.
While investigating the mystery of Fontaine’s apparent resurrection, the trio uncover a clone conspiracy that has very troubling implications for their lives and their future. And if they want to save themselves, Fontaine, Slick Charles, and Yo-Yo need to fight back.
Captain Nova (Anniek Pheifer) has come from the future to save the past in the Dutch sci-fi movie that shares her name. Unfortunately, for Nova, the trip back in time has also changed her into a 12-year-old child. And young Nova (Kika van de Vijver) soon realizes that her mission is now nearly impossible because of this unforeseen side effect.
With few other viable options, Nova teams up with a kid named Nas (Marouane Meftah) as she attempts to rewrite the future by taking on a greedy corporation. And if Nova fails, her future is destined to unfold in the same way that it did before.
McG’s Rim of the World takes its inspiration from the kid-centric sci-fi films that Steven Spielberg produced and directed in the 1980s. At the Rim of the World summer camp in California, Alex (Jack Gore) is a boy who is still grieving the loss of his father when he starts bonding with his fellow social rejects, ZhenZhen (Miya Cech), Dariush (Benjamin Flores Jr.), and Gabriel (Alessio Scalzotto).
Much to their collective surprise, Alex and his new friends discover that they are in the midst of an alien invasion. And they may be the only ones left who can deliver the key to victory to NASA … if they can live long enough to escape.
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.
Nick Perry is a freelance writer who bounced from Hollywood to Silicon Beach to pajama pants. His work has been featured on Digital Trends, Good Morning America, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and more media outlets.
Michael Bizzaco has been selling, installing, and talking about TVs, soundbars, streaming devices, and all things smart home for the better part of 15 years. He even knows a thing or two about how to fix this stuff when it starts misbehaving (because no tech is perfect!).
Mike has been writing for Digital Trends and several other publications since 2020. Fortunately, he’s still able to write after he got his index finger stuck in a vending machine at the Ramada Inn the summer before fourth grade! From hands-on reviews to best-of roundups, Mike does his best to share his expertise in a friendly and informative way with all readers, and loves staying on top of the latest AV and smart home trends.
When he’s not thanking his father for dislodging his finger from that vile vending machine in New Jersey, Mike enjoys playing guitar, reading, and indulging in horror films with his girlfriend.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.