5 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of 2026 (So Far)

Many great science fiction films were set in the year 2026, including the incredibly influential "Metropolis." We might be living in the future already, but that isn't stopping filmmakers from looking even further and seeing where humanity could go from here. Or when it comes to some of the best sci-fi movies of 2026, it involves gazing into the past and adding some neat high-concept twists to eras that have already passed us by.

What kind of sci-fi films work best in this day and age? In the past, many science fiction properties foretold wondrous technology, like flying cars, that would improve everyone's lives. Of course, dystopias have long been a popular subgenre as well, and it can often feel like we're currently living in a dystopia of our very own. Do we want science fiction movies to reflect the current state of the world, with all its problems, or offer pure, unbridled escapism?

2026 has had some stellar science fiction so far that has run the gamut of emotions and perspectives. Things may not always look great here in the real world, but at least we can turn to sci-fi to fill us with either hope or horror — and a bit of insanity for good measure. 

Who's going to save humanity? It probably won't be super soldiers or mythical aliens from outer space. It'll be ordinary people just trying to do their best, and the unrelenting optimism of "Project Hail Mary" undoubtedly makes it one of the best sci-fi movies of 2026. 

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is the sole survivor of a mission to save Earth's sun. Despite being light-years away from Earth, Grace meets a friendly rock-based alien named Rocky (voiced by James Ortiz) who needs to save his own planet. The two work together to figure out what's going wrong with their respective stars.

"Project Hail Mary" preaches a message of tolerance for others and the importance of listening to those with more knowledge than you. But aside from guidelines that those in power could afford to implement, "Project Hail Mary" has everything modern audiences seemingly want out of today's popcorn entertainment. 

The visuals are spectacular. The humor, particularly due to the myriad misunderstandings between Grace and Rocky, is great without being cringeworthy. And it's the kind of interstellar journey we don't see on the big screen all that often. In recent years, modern sci-fi cinema has become synonymous with superhero projects. "Project Hail Mary" blew everyone away at the box office because audiences are hungry for something different. We want to believe in something hopeful again, and this film scratched a necessary itch for many. 

"Hope" drew an incredibly divisive response at the Cannes Film Festival, probably in large part because it's not really the type of film that's often shown there. It's a wild action sci-fi movie with aliens wreaking havoc and insane action set pieces. It's more akin to something like "Mad Max: Fury Road" than 2026 Palme d'Or winner "Fjord." But if you're willing to go on a bizarre journey, then "Hope" might be right up your alley.

"Hope" opens with something causing massive devastation to the small Korean coastal town of Hope Harbor. Police chief Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is always two steps behind where the creature's just been, and this portion of the film is positively thrilling. It feels like a modern update of "Jaws," in which you see the destruction but not the monster itself. Then the creature finally appears — and as several major critiques of the film have noted, the CGI looks unpolished and crude compared to modern Hollywood blockbusters. But if you're willing to overlook that, you'll recognize that "Hope" is easily the most ambitious film of 2026.

"Hope" throws everything at its audience. There's action that actually feels grand instead of being confined to a soundstage. The movie can be surprisingly funny at times, and easily has the most hilarious monologue of any 2026 movie. And the ending has to be seen to be believed. "Hope" is a film you can't help but respect for where it's willing to go. There are probably folks out there who would consider this one of the worst sci-fi films of the year, but it ticked all the right boxes for us.

It feels like with "The End of Oak Street," director David Robert Mitchell took a bunch of defining Steven Spielberg qualities (dinosaurs, kids in peril, parents going through divorce), put them in a blender, and came out with one of the most fun experiences you could have in a theater all year. It genuinely recaptures some of those old-school 1980s-era Amblin vibes and not just because the film is set in 1982 itself. It just feels like the kind of movie that doesn't get made all that often.

The Platt family have a pretty normal life in the suburbs, although Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) seem like they're on the fast track toward divorce. But any immediate plans for the future get upended when the entire neighborhood is mysterious transported back to prehistoric times with dinosaurs running amok and eating their friends. Looper's review of "The End of Oak Street" praised the film for managing to stay grounded despite its absurd premise. 

There's a lot going on in "The End of Oak Street," and not all of it gets explained. But you're constantly rooting for the Platts thanks to how the film establishes their dynamic before the craziness unfolds. "The End of Oak Street" doesn't hold back as far as brutality, and there's one moment in particular that'll leave your jaw on the floor. If nothing else, "The End of Oak Street" proves there are a lot of ways to incorporate dinosaurs into movies outside of the "Jurassic Park" franchise. 

"Redux Redux" debuted at South by Southwest in 2025, but it received a proper wide release in 2026, making it one of the best sci-fi flicks of the year. And it's very much a more grounded type of science fiction as it makes great use of the multiverse in a way you don't see too often.

Mourning her daughter's death, Irene (Michaela McManus) has a device that allows her to travel to different realities and kill her daughter's murderer in as many timelines as possible. The result is a tragic meditation on grief and an expert entry in the revenge subgenre. There's no shortage of films where someone is out for revenge, and at the end when they kill whoever wronged them, they still don't feel better. Here, Irene kills different versions of the murderer, losing a bit more of her humanity each time, but she can't seem to break out of the cycle. 

The multiverse is a hot commodity right now. It's predominantly used by superhero movies as an excuse to cram in cameos from past franchises. But here, the multiverse is refreshingly lo-fi. Each reality is only slightly different from the last. We're not here to be amazed by spectacular VFX or wait for Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to show up. "Redux Redux" shows how even if you had an infinite number of possibilities to make things right, it wouldn't bring any real sense of closure. 

Artificial intelligence used to be confined to the realm of science fiction, but now AI is a genuine, real-world threat. Even the people behind AI are beginning to express concerns that it could harm humanity in multiple ways. That still doesn't mean we'll wind up with Skynet at some point, but it does mean that "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die" has arrived at the perfect time.

Gore Verbinski has always been something of a maximalist filmmaker, and he brings those sensibilities to this gleefully delightful sci-fi flick. A man from the future (Sam Rockwell) travels back in time to recruit a bunch of eclectic patrons to help him in his crusade. His target is a rogue AI that has turned humanity in his time into a bunch of phone-addicted zombies, who would rather live in a virtual reality than the real one. The parallels to our own world should be clear — we don't even need AI reaching the singularity to know what it would be like if everyone stayed glued to their screens. 

But "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die" is the furthest thing from a lecture. It's a rip-roaring good time filled with dark comedy and fight scenes that feel like they were ripped straight out of a goofy video game. From time travel to aliens to the multiverse, the best sci-fi movies of 2026 utilize every device possible to comment on the world around us and deliver a thoroughly entertaining time.