25 Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix

There's never been a better time to be a fan of sci-fi movies — especially if you're one with a Netflix account. Though more and more streaming services make their debut every day, the one with the big red "N" logo remains a dazzling source of genre greatness. Whether you love futuristic military stories, speculative drama, or dystopian thinkers, Netflix has a flick for you. 

Wading through all the offerings Netflix presents takes precious time away from actually watching good movies, however. We here at Looper understand that struggle, so we've taken the time to assemble this list of stand-outs. These are the 25 best sci-fi movies available on Netflix, from space-faring sagas to post-apocalyptic fables.

Updated on January 18, 2023: Like all streaming services, Netflix rotates films on and off its platform. We'll keep you in the loop by regularly updating this list of sci-fi favorites to reflect the streamer's current offerings. Be sure to check back every month for the very best in Netflix sci-fi.

In the future of "Advantageous," based on director Jennifer Phang's short film of the same name, women are losing jobs and becoming infertile at alarming rates. Single parent Gwen tries to give her daughter, Jules, a comfortable life but has trouble as an older woman once she's let go at an advanced tech company that prefers youth. However, if Gwen is willing to undergo the company's new procedure — one involving human consciousness — Jules' future would be secure. "Advantageous," co-written by Phang and star Jacqueline Kim, is anchored by solid performances and eschews big budget effects for quiet, serious contemplation about misogyny, race, and financial inequality.

• Starring: Jacqueline Kim, Samantha Kim, James Urbaniak
• Director: Jennifer Phang
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 91 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

For anyone feeling superhero fatigue, "Code 8" makes for an incredibly refreshing take on superpowers. Directed by Jeff Chan, the movie has a fully realized world that depicts the interaction of powers, oppressive governments, and organized crime syndicates. Connor Reed (Robbie Amell) uses his electric powers as a construction worker, but when his crew is forced to disband, he finds himself struggling to pay for his mother's cancer treatment. Desperation pushes Robbie into working for a gang known as the Trust, and his world is soon turned upside down.

• Starring: Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, Sung Kang
• Director: Jeff Chan
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%

"Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters" is the first of an animated trilogy featuring the famous kaiju in the villain role. Thousands of years after nearly destroying all humans, Godzilla reigns on Earth. The survivors of his wrath are forced to live on a spaceship, where they search for a new planet to call home. Joining them are two different alien races who tried to ally with Godzilla, but were also driven off-world — the King of the Monsters doesn't need help to rule. The humans and aliens decide to work together to retake the Earth from its monstrous master. Fans of anime and Godzilla should both enjoy this take on the classic kaiju.

• Starring: Yûki Kaji, Kenta Miyake, Mamoru Miyano
• Director: Hiroyuki Seshita, Kobun Shizuno
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 89 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

This Netflix original combines elements of post-apocalypse stories with the promise of space travel. As the Earth's atmosphere becomes increasingly inhospitable, more and more people are abandoning the planet for a colony on Jupiter's moon Io. Sam Walden (Margaret Qualley) believes that there's still hope for the atmosphere to be saved, but her faith is somewhat shaken after meeting a man named Micah (Anthony Mackie), and together the two of them attempt to reach the last shuttle to Io.

• Starring: Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie, Danny Huston
• Director: Jonathan Helpert
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 33%

It doesn't get much better than Steven Spielberg adapting Philip K. Dick. Based on a short story by the acclaimed sci-fi author, "Minority Report" is set in a world where humans with precognitive abilities allow law enforcement to stop crime before it ever happens. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) leads the budding Precrime program, but when the precogs determine that he will murder a man he's never even met, he'll go to great lengths to clear his name and tear down the unit he helped to build.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Year: 2002
• Runtime: 145 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson), an aspiring filmmaker and tech-savvy teen, is preparing to leave home for college. When a family squabble erupts, Katie's dad Rick (Danny McBride) decides to haul his kin across the country on a road trip, rather than send Katie to school on an airplane. But while they're traveling, a war breaks out between robots and humans. The Mitchells must band together to save the day in this colorful, heartfelt film, which also earned accolades for its LGBTQ+ representation.

• Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph
• Director: Michael Rianda
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

The titular creature of this environmentally conscious film is a "super pig" who becomes close to Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), a young farm girl who raises Okja alongside her grandfather. Okja is part of an experiment by the Mirando Corporation, who are looking to breed oversized animals for enormous profit. Okja quickly becomes a pawn between corporate interests and animal rights activism, with little Mija caught in the middle. This hybrid fantasy-sci-fi film delves deeply into our relationship with animals and the food industry, as seen through the eyes of an innocent.

• Starring: Ahn Seo-hyun, Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Director: Bong Joon-ho
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 118 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

A woman with amnesia is trapped inside a pod that's slowly running out of air in this taut sci-fi thriller. Elizabeth (Mélanie Laurent) has no idea what's happening, or that her name is Elizabeth — she only knows that she needs to get out before she suffocates. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember the administrator code she needs to be released. Why is she in this pod? Why can't she remember anything? The answers are as complex as they are surprising. Genre great Alexandre Aja expertly directs Laurent, who gives a harrowing performance as Elizabeth.

• Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi
• Director: Alexandre Aja
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 101 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

A pair of teen science prodigies in the Flatbush neighborhood of New York develop backpack time machines in "See You Yesterday." The film's hook is the deadly serious reason C.J. keeps going back in time — to prevent the death of her brother at the hands of the police. Of course, the more times she goes back, the more chances there are for things to go wrong. The film is carried by the charismatic Eden Duncan-Smith as C.J., as well as her castmates Danté Crichlow as her bestie, Sebastian, and Astro as her brother, Calvin. Sci-fi frequently takes on heavy topics, and director Stefon Bristol, adapting his short film of the same name into feature length, navigates the heaviness expertly.

• Starring: Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Astro
• Director: Stefon Bristol
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 87 minutes
• Rating: TV-MA
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Director Boots Riley's "Sorry to Bother You" is a savage indictment of capitalism and systemic racism. The film takes place in an alternate universe where LaKeith Stanfield's Cassius Green and his girlfriend, performance artist Detroit, are living a life of financial struggle. Green takes a telemarketing job that seems to solve his money problems — he finds great success thanks to his ability to use a spot-on "white voice" — but leads to something much more bizarre and unsettling. "Sorry to Bother You" is one of those films where it's best to go in knowing as little as possible and let the film's substance and visuals carry you along to its surreal, brutal conclusion.

• Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler
• Director: Boots Riley
• Year: 2018
• Runtime: 110 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Oblivion" director Joseph Kosinski returns for this adaptation of the George Saunders short story "Escape from Spiderhead." The movie is set in a futuristic prison that gives its inmates the option to volunteer for chemical research in order to earn an early release. The mind-altering substances given to the inmates induce extreme feelings of pleasure, love, and terror. Slowly the inmates begin to question the real purpose behind Spiderhead prison and whether or not they'll ever be released from it.

• Starring: Miles Teller, Chris Hemsworth, Tess Haubrich
• Director: Joseph Kosinski
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 107 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 39%

A man-made drug called Synchronic is causing massive problems in New Orleans. Two paramedics, Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan), have a first-hand view of this, as they respond to calls of inexplicable deaths and accidents involving the drug. Soon enough, Steve discovers it has properties beyond just getting a user high: It allows them to travel through time. The concept of time travel contained in a pill is intriguing, and Mackie does a good job capturing Steve's growing understanding of how it works, even as his body deteriorates.

• Starring: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan, Katie Aselton
• Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%