The 10 best sci-fi movies on Netflix to watch right now

The best sci-fi movies on Netflix offer a diverse look into the future, and it's fascinating. From kaiju epics like Godzilla Minus One to family-friendly adventures like The Wild Robot, the movies in this list remind us what we love about the best sci-fi movies of all time – they transport us to unfamiliar futuristic worlds while offering valuable lessons about our present.

As one of the best streaming services out there, Netflix’s massive catalog includes some great sci-fi movies. If you're not sure what to pick, thought, we're here to help, and we are positive that there is something for everyone here. Below, check out our list of the 10 best sci-fi movies on Netflix to watch right now, which includes a host of mind-bending, otherworldly, and sometimes emotional stories that expand our minds and hearts.

Did you change your mind about the genre? Check our guides for the best horror movies on Netflix and best action movies on Netflix for something a little bit different.

10. Spaceman

Year: 2024
Director(s): Johan Renck
Available on: Netflix US/UK

In terms of new Netflix originals, Spaceman was a standout in 2024 for the streaming service. Not only does the film give us a modern sci-fi romp but we also have the pleasure of hearing Paul Dano as a space spider, what more could you want? Based on the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař, the film follows the Czech cosmonaut Jakub Procházka, who is six months into a mission to investigate a mysterious cloud called Chopra on the planet Jupiter.

Jakub must grapple with loneliness and his relationship issues with his earthbound family, and we get to experience a relatively relatable story despite its otherworldly setting. While the plot isn't as strong as some of the other entries on this list, Spaceman is touching, has a stellar performance by Adam Sandler, and fully deserves its place on our list of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix to watch right now.

Check out our Spaceman review for more details on this gem.

9. The Platform

Year: 2019
Director(s): Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Available on: Netflix US/UK

This Spanish dystopian thriller is definitely one of the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, and one of the most inventive and unexpected too. The story is set inside of a mysterious industrial platform formed of 333 floors, with two inmates on each floor. Once a day, a moving platform packed with food descends through the middle of the vertical structure, allowing the residents to eat as much as they want for a few minutes. Those who are placed in the first floors know they will survive for at least one month until the distribution changes. Those below are forced to deal with starvation.

The Platform creates its own world of rules and mysteries as the protagonist insists in always doing the right thing, thinking collectively instead of selfishly. Soon, this fascinating plot leads us to explore real-life issues such as the unfair distribution of wealth and the dangers of overconsumption. If you're looking for a challenging watch, this is one for you.

For more information, read our review of The Platform.

8. The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Year: 2021
Director(s): Michael Rianda
Available on: Netflix US/UK

Released in 2021, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is a story of a father/daughter relationship and the subsequent challenges as they grow apart. The technologically savvy Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is an aspiring filmmaker and is about to attend college. Her father, Rick (Danny McBride) is more of a nature man. In a last-ditch attempt to rekindle their lost connection, the family embarks on an epic road trip, that’s until they encounter a technological apocalypse! Cue plenty of hilarious internet gags as The Mitchell family sets about stopping the evil AI virtual assistant PAL (voiced by Olivia Colman).

Having missed cinemas due to the pandemic and ended up straight to streaming, this gem is often overlooked. With an expressive style with its character designs and environment, the results are fun and incredibly inventive, especially when it’s poking fun at dysfunctional families (and how awesome they can be) and our screentime addictions. But whatever you do, just don’t upset the Furbies!

Need more animation in your sci-fi filled life? Check out our The Mitchells vs the Machines review.

7. The Electric State

Year: 2025
Director(s): Joe and Anthony Russo
Available on: Netflix US/UK

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if humans spent all of their time using VR headsets while their robot counterparts did everything for them? Probably not, but nevertheless, The Electric State explores just that. From Marvel's dynamic duo, the Russo brothers, the movie is based on the popular graphic novel of the same name by Simon Stålenhag, and transports viewers to a post-apocalyptic '90s America.

The film follows an orphaned teen whose life is turned upside down when a robot inhabited by her long-lost brother shows up. With her new metallic friend by her side, the teen ventures across the US and enlists the help of an ex-soldier turned smuggler to find her real human brother. Despite being a family-friendly flick, The Electric State deals with issues of division and a lack of human empathy that relate very heavily to our world today.

Read our The Electric State review for our verdict on the robo-tastic sci-fi adventure.

6. Okja

Year: 2017
Director(s): Bong Joon Ho
Available on: Netflix US/UK

Before Parasite and Snowpiecer, the Oscar-winning director Bong Joon Ho delighted audiences with Okja, a story about An Seo-hyun's Mija and her genetically modified super-pig that was sent to her grandfather’s farm as part of a ten-year competition hosted by the Mirando Corporation in a bid to solve world hunger. The pair form an inseparable bond until the pig is declared the winner and is sent to New York for processing. Not letting Okja resign to her consumerism fate, Mija travels to the US and attempts a daring rescue.

As with all his films, Bong is a master of humor and social commentary, blending animal welfare and capitalism greed taking center stage. There's plenty of absurdist performances by Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, in particular as zoologist and TV personality Johnny Wilcox, which adds levity to the film’s complex ideas. But the film never loses sight of the heart, largely driven by Mija and the super-cute Okja. Even more impressive is its $50 million budget, showcasing not every sci-fi film needs a massive budget, thus putting most Hollywood productions to shame.

5. The Kitchen

Year: 2024
Director(s): Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya
Available on: Netflix UK/US

Daniel Kaluuya steps behind the camera to co-write, co-direct, and co-produce this dystopian drama where London has been completely divided into two sections, one owned by the ultra-rich, and another, amorphic community made up of everyone else. A funeral worker named Izi develops a bond with a lonely boy called Benji, as tensions rise between police and the lower classes.

Directing alongside Kaluuya is Kibwe Tavares, a trained architect in addition to his filmmaking talents, and you can feel the fascination with our constructed environments in The Kitchen. The grey, concrete nature of London begets all sorts of situations people have learned to call home, as the city continues to expand and implode simultaneously. More thrilling than looking at a well-designed building, but entertaining in a similar fashion.

4. They Cloned Tyrone

Year: 2023
Director(s): Juel Taylor
Available on: Netflix US/UK

What happens when a gangster (John Boyega), a pimp (Jamie Fox), and a sex worker-turned-Nancy Drew-inspired detective (Teyonah Parris) discover an underground laboratory underneath their neighborhood, leading to the unearthing of a secret experimentation on Black people? Well, you get the hilarious They Cloned Tyrone. Juel Taylor's directorial debut swings for the fences with its genre-bending mystery caper that would make Scooby-Doo and The X-Files proud!

Boyega, Fox, and Parris are on top form as they're led down a conspiracy rabbit hole of strange occurrences and the ultimate revelation that Tyrone is a clone. But that's just half of the story, and to describe what happens next would be considered a spoiler. However, laced with a poignant social commentary on Black culture and its subsequent appropriation by "The Man," this one-of-a-kind adventure should not be missed under any circumstances. It's also one of the best Netflix comedy movies, so give it a chance.

Read more in our They Cloned Tyrone review!

3. Bubble

Year: 2022
Director(s): Tetsurō Araki
Available on: Netflix UK/US

Strange bubbles render Tokyo unlivable by distorting physics, leaving the overgrown city to roving groups of parkour-obsessed young people. During a particularly risque escapade, Hibiki finds a mysterious girl, Uta, who appears tied to all the strange spheres somehow. Coming from director Tetsurō Araki, who oversaw Death Note and the early seasons of Attack on Titan, Bubble is a gorgeously rendered multi-colored escapade combining environmental anxiety with youthful romance.

Given the pedigree, it should be no surprise to hear the sequences involving everyone hopping from location to location are thrilling and fluid. Wit Studio, the outfit behind the first season of Vinland Saga, Ranking of Kings, Spy x Family, and several more hits, takes a rare push into sci-fi, and its a joy to behold.

2. The Wild Robot

Year: 2024
Director(s): Chris Sanders
Available on: Netflix US

One of the best movies of 2024, The Wild Robot is an epic and gorgeous sci-fi movie that already feels like a timeless classic. It's no surprise that it's written and directed by Chris Sanders, who is responsible for two all-time favorite animated movies about chosen families, Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon.

Based on a children's book by Peter Brown, the film follows a service robot (voiced by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o) who is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to survive by communicating with the local wildlife. Roz overcomes her programming, befriends a fox named Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal) and becomes the adoptive parent of a baby gosling (voiced by Kit Connor).

For more, read our The Wild Robot review.

1. Godzilla Minus One

Year: 2023
Director(s): Takashi Yamazaki
Available on: Netflix US/UK

No amount of atomic breath can dislodge Godzilla Minus One as one of the best Godzilla films ever made. Following in the footsteps of Ishirō Honda's 1954 film, Godzilla again serves as a metaphor for the dangers of atomic war and a heart and soul-battle for Japan's future. It follows kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) fleeing from duty. After surviving Godzilla's wrath on a Japanese air base, he returns home to discover his parents had died in the bombs in Tokyo. Filled with survivors' guilt, he tries to reacclimatise to a new life while the threat of Godzilla still looms.

The King Titan himself has never felt so intimidating. While there are many entertaining entries in the Godzilla franchise, Yamazaki's grounded film easily bucks the trend providing plenty of sincerity and emotions throughout. Like its 1954 predecessor, it sides with its human characters as they wrestle through the moral complexities of how to respond to something seemingly unstoppable. Its presentation is stunning in color, fully deserving of its Academy Award for 'Best Visual Effects.'

For more information on our top pick for the best sci-fi movie on Netflix right now, read our Godzilla Minus One review.

After more streaming picks? Check out our lists of the best fantasy movies on Netflix, and the best shows on Netflix.