As we are now a full 25 years into the new century and the new millennium, what better time to run down what we consider to be the best science-fiction movies of the 21st century? Admittedly, the list below leans more towards hard sci-fi, with a few outliers that are simply too remarkable to pass up. Some outstanding sci-fi films of the last quarter-century that are more character-driven have been omitted. The best example of that would be the sublime love story of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You will find a consistent marker in this group with a brilliant script and dazzling visuals that left audiences' jaws on the theater floor, with beautiful imagery, tremendous character arcs, and a few never-before-seen plot twists. So, without further ado, here they are.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The winner of the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture tops our list, and quite frankly, this was the easiest decision of all. Not only did the writing of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert shine, but along with the Russo Brothers, it is one of the tightest directions for such a wild premise, possibly ever. Fist-pumping action intertwined with a heartfelt family drama working through issues, Everything Everywhere All at Once is pure cinematic greatness, buoyed by an unforgettable Oscar-winning turn by Michelle Yeoh.
Ex Machina
The best thing about Alex Garland's masterpiece Ex Machina is how terrifyingly prescient it has become with each passing year. The story of AI overcoming its human creator has never been more relevant than today and will be in the years moving forward. In what amounts to a three-person play, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander, and Domhnall Gleeson all burst off the screen. The best science fiction movies always leave the audience informed and somewhat humbled by their pertinence and commentary on current, real-world technology issues.
Interstellar
Did anyone ever believe that "Alright, alright, alright!" Matthew McConaughey from Dazed and Confused would lead one of the best hard sci-fi movies of all time? Christopher Nolan's mind-bending trip into the farthest reaches of the galaxy and down a black hole is one of the genre's most sweeping and visually awe-inspiring films. Again, like Interstellar rises above because Nolan dovetails the elite CGI with the touching relationship between a father and his daughter. What a fantastic ensemble, including Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, and Anne Hathaway.
Inception
Christopher Nolan makes this list a couple of times, and Inception is one of his best efforts—and that's saying a lot. Of all of the director's deep dives into the human mind, this dream within a dream within a dream is possibly his most cerebral. Leonardo DiCaprio is luminous as usual, and supporting turns from Eliot Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy take a complex movie into rarified air. Maybe you can tell us: Does that spinning top mean the whole thing was real or not?
Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary novel source material are easily two of the best sci-fi movies of the century. There is something for every sci-fi fanatic over five hours of combined screentime, including extraordinary visual effects, a love story, jarring fight sequences, and proud families at war. Did we leave anything out? Timothy Chalamet's crowning achievement to date takes us on an epic journey to Arrakis for both spice and the hearts and minds of the native Fremen. The Dune films are as viscerally inspired as anything that has arrived in theaters, with another outstanding supporting group of Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Josh Brolin, and Oscar Isaac. Where in the hell was Villeneuve's nomination for Best Director? Another argument for another article, perhaps.
Children of Men
This is one of those entries that isn't a classical science-fiction film, but rubs up against many of the genre devices so well that it could not be excluded. In a broken-down dystopian future world where the human race is on the brink of extinction, protecting the miraculously immaculately produced infant is great dramatic sci-fi. Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine excel in this mesmerizing study of gender roles in a lawless society that will do anything to extend the species. Director Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) frames this relentlessly paced 2006 film with aplomb, and it is impossible not to root for Owen's Theo Faron in a movie that was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Snowpiercer
Most of the masses were introduced to the splendor of director Bong Joon-ho in this thrilling post-apocalyptic film about the struggle between the "haves' and the "have-nots" stuck on a never-ending train ride together. Snowpiercer's otherworldly premise, mixed with a succession of marvelously scripted and gutwrenching action sequences, put the world on notice that Joon-ho was special. He would cement a fact with his triumphant Oscar-winning Parasite a few years later. Nobody knew that Chris Evans could shoulder a film and go tête-à-tête with Hollywood royalty like John Hurt, Ed Harris, and Tilda Swinton. But he is wholly in command, leading a caste system revolution that uses each train cabin as a new and majestic set piece. Many still regard this sci-fi entry as Joon-Ho's best work.
Get Out
Like Bong Joon-ho, most of the world had yet to discover one of the industry's newest directorial talents, Jordan Peele, when Get Out left audiences in shock and awe. Sure, we knew him as one half of the hilarious comedy duo Key & Peele, but don't even pretend like you knew he had such chops behind the camera. The way Peele carefully dissects race relations and societal bias is a stroke of genius carried out on screen by his muse Daniel Kaluuya. This is another entry that isn't typically thought of as sci-fi, but, there are enough devices to be associated with it that Get Out firmly lands in our top ten. The incredible twist ending was just the cherry on top of an incredibly satisfying banana split of cinematic gold.
District 9
A UFO slowly sinks into the sky just a few hundred yards above your city or town. What do you do? It has been explored in movies like Independence Day or The Day the Earth Stood Still, but District 9 is a completely unique take on how mankind would deal with a visiting alien race. We don't get many South African gems like director Neil Blomkamp's examination of an advanced race of mostly peaceful extraterrestrials and humankind's need to subjugate and oppress anything that we cannot fully understand. Wikus van de Merwe's (Sharlto Copley) bizarre metamorphosis into an alien cockroach touches on the brilliant work of Franz Kafka, and Copley is just goofy and shy enough to pull it off.
Arrival
Like Christopher Nolan, auteur Denis Villeneuve gets two spots on our list with the brilliantly rudimentary linguistic study in Arrival. The best part of the Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner-helmed thriller is the reality of how we would even communicate with an advanced alien race should they arrive on our doorstep. Villeneuve's non-linear time devices are astonishing and saddening in how they hit the audience. The emphasis on trying to understand the unknown before being threatened by it is a masterstroke that has yet to be studied in such depth. You will be wiser for enjoying man's search for a lingua franca in this sleek, bold film.