Indendepent sci-fi reigned supreme in 2020, at least as far as critics are concerned. Audiences didn't have much of a chance to voice their opinions through ticket sales in theatres this year, and quite a few of the most-anticipated blockbuster titles have been delayed until 2021 thanks to Covid-19.
Still, streaming services and VOD offer ample opportunity for sci-fi fans to check out what's new in the genre. The highlights of 2020 tend to share one major theme: extraterrestrials. The bottom of the barrel titles are varied in their plots, but they all rely too heavily on superhero cliches and post-apocalyptic futures.
Best: Color Out Of Space - 86%
After just over two decades, cult director Richard Stanley returned to the big screen with Color Out of Space, a visionary adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft short story of the same name. When a meteorite crashes into the Gardner's new rural Massachusetts home, the alien forces within the rock transform the surrounding area into a phantasmagorical nightmare.
Nicolas Cage and Joely Richardson play the heads of the family, Nathan and Theresa Gardner, who are ill-equipped to handle the mutating, noxious effects of the extraterrestrial invasion. Despite a few low moments, Color Out of Space signals a strong return for Stanley.
Worst: The New Mutants - 32%
The much-anticipated 13th and final installment in the X-Men franchise brings the saga to a disappointing end, even though it stars some of Hollywood's leading young actors. The basic premise of The New Mutants centers around five burgeoning mutants who are being held against their will in a secret facility.
In its attempts to blend horror, sci-fi, and angsty teen drama, The New Mutants falls apart. Not even Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, or Charlie Heaton can keep this jumbled Marvel movie together.
Best: Save Yourselves! - 88%
Imagine a scenario where a couple leaves Brooklyn for a weekend to disconnect from the outside world at a remote cabin, only to miss out on the news Earth is being attacked by aliens. As the invaders close in the Millenial couple, their bond is put to the challenge.
This is the premise of Save Yourselves!, an unconventional sci-fi comedy whose success on sincere performances from Sunita Mani and John Paul Reynolds as the couple, Su and Jack. A slow-burning, yet fulfilling, apocalyptic feature, Save Yourselves! keeps the joke going from start to finish.
Worst: 2067 - 31%
An Australian flick starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and True Blood's Ryan Kwanten, 2067 takes all of the post-apocalyptic tropes of the genre and combines them with time travel. The result, unfortunately, is an unoriginal and convoluted film.
Smit-McPhee's character Ethan Whyte is a working-class tunnel laborer who is tasked with going 400 years into the future to save humanity, and Kwanten's character Jude Mathers is a friend who follows Ethan into the future. While some critics find the world-building in 2067 impressive, other vital aspects of the film are lacking.
Best: Sputnik - 89%
Cold War paranoia meets Ridley Scott's Alien in the Russian hybrid film Sputnik. Set in 1983, the movie follows an astronaut who returns to earth with an uninvited passenger: an alien parasite growing inside him.
Held against his will in a research facility, the astronaut is observed by a female neurophysiologist who develops romantic feelings for the ill-fated man. With its grotesque body horror sequences and political undercurrents, Sputnik manages to exceed the expectations of the oversaturated space horror subgenre.
Worst: Superintelligence - 30%
Melissa McCarthy's talent is completely wasted in Ben Falcone's poor attempt to merge sci-fi and rom-com. Superintelligence sees the home security system owned by McCarthy's character Carol transform into an autonomous artificial intelligence that becomes obsessed with observing Carol's life.
This smart home software turned spy is far from a good-willed AI: it's a nefarious computer system intent upon destroying the human race. As it goes with these half-baked plots, it's up to Carol to change the evil program's mind by winning back her old boyfriend.
Best: The Vast Of Night - 92%
It's not until the final moments of The Vast of Night that viewers catch glimpses of the unidentified flying object described by callers dialing into the radio show at the center of the film. Set in 1950s New Mexico, this quiet and captivating movie focuses its attention on a teenaged switchboard operator and radio DJ, who both realize something strange is going on when they pick up a bizarre frequency.
After multiple callers describe lights in the night sky, the pair venture out into the dark to see what's happening for themselves. Instead of suffering from a low budget, director Andrew Patterson uses limited funds to his advantage, leaving most of the film's implications up to the imagination.
Worst: Freaks: You're One of Us - 0%
The only redeeming part of Freaks: Your One of Us, a German superhero film, is the leading performance from Cornelia Gröschel. She plays a waitress and mother, Wendy, who discovers she possessed latent superhero powers.
When Wendy finally accepts her superstrength, she ventures on a journey of self-discovery. The result is a stereotypical underdog story whose sci-fi underpinnings are ultimately lackluster.
Best: Possessor - 93%
Brandon Cronenberg's second feature film secures his sci-fi and horror legacy. Possessor also pushes Brandon out of his father David's shadow, taking the Cronenberg predilection for mind-bending body horror into new territory.
Stripped of its layers, Possessor is an assassin thriller about a futuristic hit job gone wrong, yet one that incorporates themes of technology, identity, and detachment. Andrea Riseborough plays the hitman, and Christopher Abbott her latest victim, whose body she literally possesses through a brain-implant.
Worst: The Last Days Of American Crime - 0%
What does it take to eradicate crime forever? According to The Last Days of American Crime, a Netflix release, the panacea is a signal that manipulates humanity's synaptic responses in order to make everyone law-abiding citizens.
As if that isn't enough to indicate why this is the worst sci-fi film of the year on Rotten Tomatoes, here are a few other regurgitated elements thrown into the movie's plot: a Detroit setting, a heist to end all heists, hackers, FBI informants, and a bold escape to Canada. At two and a half hours long, The Last Days of American Crime is a difficult and dragged-out pill to swallow.