Best Science Fiction Movies and Shows on Netflix, Hulu, and More
If you love robots, aliens, genetically modified humans, or time travel, look no further than this list of the best science fiction movies and TV shows available on all of the top streaming services—Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and more.
Best Science Fiction Movies
I AM MOTHER (2019)
Starring: Hillary Swank, Luke Hawker, Rose Byrne, Maddie Lenton
Rating: 10/10
Available on: Netflix
Surprisingly intense and suspenseful, I Am Mother is highly recommended for those who enjoy science fiction movies and shows like Ex Machina, Black Mirror, or the Terminator franchise.
A young girl, Daughter, is raised in an automated bunker by a robotic A.I. known as Mother following humanity’s near-extinction. While Mother warns her of the world’s danger, Daughter is lured outside by her own burning curiosity and a wounded woman calling for help (Swank).
Find it on Netflix here.
See You Yesterday (2019)
Starring: Eden Duncan-Smith, Dante Crichlow, Astro
Rating: 8/10
Available on: Netflix
When two young New York geniuses unlock the keys to time travel, they decide to go back in time and prevent their brother’s death by a police officer.
With similar themes to The Butterfly Effect, the film follows their attempts to correct the mistakes of the past…while possibly making things far worse.
Find it on Netflix here.
Self/less (2015)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Goode
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Netflix
Following his terminal diagnosis, billionaire Damian Hale employs a professor to help him survive. Through groundbreaking technology, his subconscious is moved to a healthy, artificially-grown body.
While starting his life anew, Hale begins to experience vivid hallucinations of a woman and child he doesn’t know. His search for answers reveals that no one, including himself, are who they seem.
Find it on Netflix here.
Spectral (2016)
Starring: James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Emily Mortimer, and Bruce Greenwood
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Netflix
With an intriguing plotline and fast-paced action sequences, this military thriller is a solid addition to the Netflix Originals science fiction movies catalog.
Humanoid apparitions, invisible to the naked eye, attack a European city. Armed with hyperspectral goggles, a special Delta Force ops team is tasked with saving the world from these deadly anomalies.
Find it on Netflix here.
District 9 (2009)
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Hulu
This documentary-style alien thriller begins with video and news footage of a stranded extraterrestrial ship. Authorities place the beings on board, known as Prawns, into a “camp” called District 9.
As the years pass, the district grows neglected and run-down; the Prawns are also considered criminals leeching off society.
Following violence between the aliens and nearby civilians, the government arranges for the Prawns’ relocation to a new district—led by an agent who discovers shocking truths about the alien race, and his own government.
Ray Bradbury fans may really enjoy this one as shares many similarities to Bradbury’s stories such as humanity’s greed, self-centeredness, and oftentimes dangerous imagination.
Find it on Hulu here.
A.M.I. (2019)
Starring: Debs Howard, Philip Granger
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Amazon Prime (rent or buy)
Still mourning the loss of her mother, high school student Cassie downloads a new phone app and quickly develops a disturbing bond with the A.I. The app then convinces her to seek revenge on the people who’ve hurt her.
A.M.I. is an entertaining tech sci-fi that will appeal to slasher fans, too.
Rent or purchase it on Prime here.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Amazon Prime (rent or buy)
After Evan discovers he can time-travel by reading his old journals, he resolves to prevent the many traumatic events in his childhood that still plague his friends and himself as adults.
Each attempt to fix the past, however, results in a more horrific present than before.
This Best Science Fiction Film nominee is suspenseful, clever, and unexpectedly heartbreaking.
Rent or purchase it on Prime here.
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt, Takeshi Kitano
Rating: 8/10
Available on: Amazon Prime
Based on the manga by Masamune Shirow, and now adapted into an anime, Ghost in the Shell showcases a near-future world where A.I. and humanity quite literally exist as one. Humans are routinely “upgraded” via robotic improvements.
Mira Killian (Johansson), the first human to have their brain transplanted into a completely artificial body, becomes a super-soldier dedicated to stopping the world’s most deadly terrorists and criminals by any means necessary.
Find it on Prime here.
Inception (2010)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Available on: HBO Max
Assemble a crew, execute a job, and live happily ever after. These are the monotonous makings of a heist movie.
However, Nolan somehow pulls off the impossible, and refreshes the entire dynamic with Inception.
One of the most uniquely balanced, high-concept pieces of art in film history, Inception luminously delves into the inner workings of the mind while keeping audiences completely enthralled.
With an all-star cast and an all-time cliffhanger ending, Inception is undoubtedly one of Christopher Nolan’s best films.
Find it on HBO Max.
Best Science Fiction TV Shows
Another Life (2019 – )
Starring: Katee Sackhoff, Justin Chatwin, Samuel Anderson, Blu Hunt
Rating: 10/10
Available on: Netflix
When communication attempts with a Mobius-shaped UFO that landed on earth fail, a group of scientists is sent into space to find the ship’s origin and make first contact.
Find it on Netflix here.
Westworld (2016 – )
Starring: Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Aaron Paul, Evan Rachel Wood
Rating: 10/10
Available on: Amazon Prime
Based on the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same name, this sci-fi western series takes place at a theme park where guests are encouraged to play out their wildest desires and fantasies—no matter how bad or illegal—with “hosts,” androids that look, sound, and act like humans. Hosts must do whatever guests demand, short of harming other humans.
As the main character, a host named Delores, gains sentience, the park operators can no longer wipe her memory of each day’s events…nor the emotions she begins to experience in response to them.
More hosts soon follow, and a gripping “robot revolution” begins.
Find it on Prime here.
Devs (2020 – )
Starring: Sonoya Mizuno, Alison Pill, Nick Offerman, Zach Grenier
Rating: 9/10
Available: Hulu
Lily, a tech at computing giant Amaya, questions her boyfriend’s mysterious disappearance following his initiation to the company’s secretive team, Devs.
Fast-paced, clever, and philosophical, Devs requires—and commands—the viewer’s full attention through every last episode.
Find it on Hulu here.
Snowpiercer (2020 – )
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs
Rating: 10/10
Available on: HBO Max
In the future, the world is sent into a deadly ice age after scientists try (and fail) to stop global warming.
Consequently, humanity’s sole survivors live aboard the Snowpiercer, a train run by a mysterious magnate no one ever sees. If the Snowpiercer stops, then its passengers will die.
Meanwhile, a class war brews inside the train as the “have-nots,” sick of being confined to the dark and cold tail car by wealthier passengers, begin a revolution.
Part climate-fiction, part apocalyptic this show grips onto you from the beginning.
Find it on HBO Max here.
Pandora (2019 – )
Starring: Priscilla Quintana, Oliver Dench, Raechelle Banno, John Harlen Kim
Rating: 9/10
Available on: Amazon Prime
Jax, a young woman who loses her parents following an attack on her colony, leaves her home planet. She then enrolls at the Earth Space Training Academy to learn how to defend the galaxy.
Her real motivation, however, is to investigate her parents’ deaths when the formal investigation is allegedly inconclusive.
Although declared a dud by many critics due to poor CGI, Pandora is character-driven and entertaining, particularly for fans of other C.W. fare.
Find it on Prime here.
The Mandalorian (2019 – )
Starring Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Nick Nolte
Rating: 10/10
Available on: Disney+
Din Djarin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, must retrieve Grogu (the adorable source of the “baby Yoda” memes) after the fall of the Galactic Empire.
Following a change of heart, Din Djarin decides to protect Grogu and take him to the Jedi. But first, the pair must evade capture by an Imperial remnant.
This Emmy-winning series delighted old and new Star Wars fans alike, and with good reason. Boasting stunning visual effects and compelling storylines (and, as expected, tons of action), The Mandalorian undoubtedly assuaged fan fears that the Disney takeover would ruin the beloved franchise.
Find it on Disney+ here.
Rick and Morty (2013 – Present)
Starring: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer
Rating: 10/10
Available on: HBO Max
An adult animated series created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon on adult-swim about the infinite adventures of Rick, a genius alcoholic and careless scientist, with his grandson Morty, a 14 year-old anxious boy who is not so smart.
Together, they explore the infinite universes, causing mayhem and running into trouble.
Rick and Morty has amassed a cult-like following for the fans who love the shows dark humor and sci-fi plots.
Find it on HBO Max here.
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