There are many contenders for the best sci-fi movie of 2021, with this year seeing a number of stellar entries into the ever-burgeoning movie genre. Science Fiction is historically built upon imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. From Fritz Lang's timeless Metropolis to the more contemporary visions seen in Minority Report's story, science fiction films explore typically dystopian visions of technology running amok and the potentially disastrous consequences of humanity's scientific advances. Naturally, the best sci-fi movies in 2021 were just as diverse and provocative.
On the surface, it would seem 2021 continued long-established genre trends, with sci-fi thrillers such as Mark Raso's Awake and Everardo Gout's The Forever Purge painting portraits of a bleak and savage near-future. Some new titles this year, such as The Suicide Squad and Boss Level, go even further, reveling in the almost limitless and often absurd bounds of the science fiction film arena. Other new signposts for the genre, such as the Hugh Jackman-led Reminiscence or I'm Your Man, spin tales of obsession and enforced inertia akin to Solaris, although even these stories hail from dystopian futures where technology still reveals humanity's darker side.
Yet despite primarily exploring grim alternate realities, the best sci-fi movies of 2021 also intertwine genuine themes of love and companionship into their narratives. Apple TV+'s Finch boasts an endearing ensemble of characters pulling in a common direction, while movies such as Little Fish and Free Guy offer compelling (yet very different) sci-fi-themed stories of love triumphing in the face of adversity. As a result, here are the best eight sci-fi movies of 2021 ranked.
8. Finch
In a year awash with violent and overly complex science fiction movies, Miguel Sapochnik's Finch sets itself apart simply by delivering a family-friendly film that is comfortingly traditional in its approach. Finch centers on its titular robotics engineer living in a post-apocalyptic world, who, faced with his own mortality, builds a sentient robot to take care of his beloved dog Goodyear after he dies. Despite being an unabashedly sentimental sci-fi road movie, Finch is held aloft by its core premise of genuine love for dogs, giving its protagonist ample impetus to weather the film's more mundane scenes. Finch is also undoubtedly helped by Tom Hank's enduring quality, with his charming portrait of a genius survivalist smoothing the otherwise potentially prickly concepts of terminal illness and humankind's extinction in a family-centric film. Sapochnik's Finch does not attempt to break new ground in the sci-fi genre, but its willingness to incorporate the fuzzy, emotive elements of its forebears such as E.T. and The Iron Giant means it ranks as one of the most emotive sci-fi offerings 2021 has to offer.
7. In The Earth
Director Ben Wheatley's In The Earth delivers a timely slice of pandemic-inspired sci-fi-horror that quickly descends into abject terror as a team of scientists are overcome by hallucinations in an English forest. In The Earth's psychedelic elements are as jarring as they are mesmerizing, with Wheatley's dazzling kaleidoscopic visuals quickly pulling audiences into the feverish, mushroom-induced nightmare that the film's main characters also have to endure. Yet In The Earth is not content to simply be a visually stunning sci-fi offering, with the film's narrative similarities to contemporary, post-pandemic Western culture adding an extra layer of credence to the paranoia that envelops In The Earth's main cast. While In The Earth's ending can be seen as a simplistic choice by director Ben Wheatley, his latest offering is nonetheless a grueling and enthralling blend of horror and sci-fi that amounts to a wholly unique viewing experience.
6. Little Fish
If In The Earth attempts to summon the specter of the global Coronavirus impact, then Little Fish looks to expel it with a touching portrait of a pandemic love story that illustrates the strength of human connection in trying times. Little Fish's premise is a succinct one in which a couple fights to hold their relationship together as a memory loss virus spreads and threatens to erase the history of their love. Yet despite its insular idea, Little Fish soars as a spectacle that celebrates humankind's resilience, backed up by career-best performances from Jungleland's Jack O'Connell and Olivia Cooke as Jude and Emma, respectively. Little Fish is undoubtedly tough viewing that pulls audiences through the emotional wringer, but the film's heartfelt look at the human spirit and concept of the soul mark it as an unmissable sci-fi entry in 2021.
5. Oxygen
Oxygen's wholly claustrophobic premise does little to detract from the Netflix original film's spectacle, which continually widens in scope even as Mélanie Laurent's Elizabeth Hansen remains trapped in a cryogenic unit. Alexandre Aja's movie combines classic sci-fi elements such as rogue artificial intelligence, deadly viruses, and cloning before repurposing them in a series of reveals that cement Oxygen an instant classic of the science fiction genre. Oxygen also utilizes its singular setting to maximum effect, with Hansen's increasingly frantic attempts to escape her intuitive prison delivering a thriller in the mold of David Fincher's taut movie Panic Room, but without their decidedly Earthly narrative restrictions.
4. The Matrix Resurrections
While The Matrix Resurrections may lack the sheer originality of its predecessor, it remains a towering return to Lana Wachowski's iconic portrait of a dystopian simulation. Fundamentally, The Matrix Resurrections succeeds due to understanding its own source material's enduring popularity, with almost the entirety of the film acting as a clarion call to the nostalgia of the original Matrix trilogy. Yet The Matrix Resurrections is, in many ways, much greater than the sum of its narrative parts, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss' enduring love for their characters resonating in every scene the pair share. Wachowski's bold casting decisions also reap rich dividends in the context of The Matrix universe, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Morpheus and Jonathan Groff's Agent Smith giving fresh (and surprising) impetus to already established key characters. The Matrix Resurrections, therefore, is an earnest, genuine attempt to improve The Matrix's established canon that delivers heapings of fanservice and breathtaking action sequences in equal measure without ever threatening to devolve into the disappointment that The Matrix Revolutions became.
3. A Quiet Place Part II
The hushed horror delivered by its predecessor is utterly recaptured by A Quiet Place Part II, with the film's prelude sequence adding substance, lore, and emotional depth to an already enthralling apocalyptic world. John Krasinski's second foray into the taut world of A Quiet Place is simply stunning, with Cillian Murphy and a more mature Millicent Simmonds' riveting character arcs more than compensating for the loss of Krasinski's stoic character Lee Abbott from the first movie. A Quiet Place Part II is an uncomfortably intimate piece of science fiction horror whose entirely visual-driven plot creates a unique viewing experience within the genre that simply cannot be missed.
2. Free Guy
Free Guy is a breath of fresh air that sheds the bounds of typical dystopian storytelling in favor of high-concept, high-octane fun that hinges on the classic sci-fi idea of multiple realities. Stripping away Free Guy's layers of gaming Easter eggs, dazzling visuals, and Deadpool-Esque Ryan Reynolds jokes do little to detract from the sheer enjoyability of the coming of age story at the movie's core. Whereas movies like The Matrix and The Truman Show offer bleak versions of a reality oft-unseen by their protagonists, Free Guy emulates its main characters by quickly becoming a self-aware send-up of other self-important science fiction entries. Disney's Free Guy may well be an unabashed crowdpleaser of a film, but it also translates as a very polished slice of sci-fi fun that becomes more nuanced with each subsequent viewing.
1. Dune
Denis Villeneuve's sprawling sci-fi epic is a stunning cinematic achievement, particularly when viewed through the prism of failure that accompanied David Lynch's previous attempt at translating Frank Herbert's novel to the big screen. Whereas Lynch's Dune felt rushed, however, Villeneuve's version is a love letter to its source material, deliberately and painstakingly painting Herbert's vast cosmic world while enrapturing a new generation of fans with its narrative. Dune's events essentially boil down to little more than a prologue in the context of the overarching storyline, yet Villeneuve's first offering of Arrakis (among other planets) is so enticing and extravagant it simply demands attention. Box Office-darling Timothee Chalamet lends genuine charisma and star status to the notoriously complex character of Paul Atreides, while Stellan Skarsgård's Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is as vile as he is riveting. Put simply; Dune is a film concept executed to perfection that feels satisfyingly dense despite its incomplete story and marks Denis Villeneuve's latest offering as the best sci-fi movie of 2021.