Most Netflix subscribers face the same problem: spending too much time looking for something great to watch. A running joke on the internet is the average Netflix movie search time tends to be longer than the average movie running time. The problem emerges because the platform’s library is vast, and, for the most part, only new and popular releases are displayed on the home page. Those looking for the best movies on Netflix often must perform some serious excavations.
Thankfully, we are here to help solve the problem. Complaining about being "spoiled for choice" feels childish, so we won’t do that. Instead, we will point your eyes in the right direction.
If you don’t have all day to dig into the various vaults of content, we recommend the following underrated movies for big fans of the sci-fi genre. Not only do they have great characters and clever premises, but they also feature stunning visuals that make the extraordinary science look ultra-realistic.
10 Advantageous (2015)
In Advantageous , Gwen loses her job selling cosmetic procedures for the Center for Advanced Health and Living. It’s implied she was fired because of her age and race, and Gwen starts panicking because she hasn’t secured a future for her daughter yet. Desperate, she agrees to take part in a new groundbreaking procedure that’ll see her that will transfer her consciousness into a new body, allowing her to keep her job by becoming more youthful and racially ambiguous.
A Clever Look at Ageism and Racism in the Workplace
Advantageous uses a brilliant plot to condemn racism and ageism in the workplace, reminding us that people far too often lose their jobs for not looking a certain way. The performances are also outstanding. Jacqueline Kim is superb as the quick-thinking and persuasive Gwen. Her co-star, Samantha Kim, who plays her character’s daughter, gets by on pure natural charisma. Keep the Kleenex handy, as few will remain unmoved by the parental and personal sacrifices.
9 iBoy (2017)
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? iBoy’s protagonist, 16-year-old Tom Harvey (Bill Milner), falls into a coma after being shot by gang members. When he wakes up, he is informed that fragments from his broken smartphone have been embedded into his brain and cannot be removed. He also realizes that he can hear phone transmissions and see digital signals, enabling him to go after the criminals who wronged him.
A Fun Revenge Tale
Masterful action sequences perfectly complement the screenplay's preposterous elements that hinge on the desire for vengeance. Despite having special abilities, Tom encounters obstacles. Still, he keeps pushing, eager to make the evil pay for their actions. Our hero might not be the most charming character to grace the screen, but he has the will to place himself among other great protagonists in the cyborg subgenre.
8 Paradise (2023)
Paradise introduces audiences to a future where AEON, a German-based biotech company, has developed a medical procedure capable of transferring lifespan from one human to another (so long as they have a matching DNA structure). However, there are consequences. Elena, for example, is forced to give up 40 years as debt payment. So, her husband, Max, tries to reverse the decision.
Paradise? Not Quite
This somber elegy makes for an unusually distressing and moving movie. As simple as the premise seems, it is surprisingly rich because it critiques many social ills within society, thrusting its characters into a string of desperate acts. The film examines the exploitation of the poor as lower-class citizens keep getting bombarded with high-paying offers for their lifespans. Oh, yeah, and Max is an AEON agent who was part of the problem. Karma? Find out.
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7 Synchronic (2019)
Antony Mackie loves science fiction, and Synchronic is one of his greatest efforts. Mackie plays Stevie, a paramedic who realizes most of the medical emergencies he attends to are linked to a designer drug. He discovers that the drug can send people back in time. Children enjoy full-time travel, while adults exist as ghost-like figures in the past.
Blending Science and History
Mackie plays Stevie with a larger-than-life ferocity, and the film is a masterwork of modern and period filmmaking, boasting outlandish costumes and crisp, earthy cinematography. Because of what the drug can do, audiences are frequently ushered into wild scenes from the past. Stevie confronts members of the Ku Klux Klan and even encounters prehistoric tribesmen. It is simply a movie that needs to be seen to be believed.
6 Europa Report (2013)
Drawing inspiration from Apollo 11, Europa Report is the fictional story of the pioneer mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's 95 moons. Like the astronauts who went to the moon in real life, the characters here encounter various technical hitches.
The found footage technique usually gets paired with horror, so it’s refreshing to see a sci-fi film that adopts the same format. The plot is overly ambitious, yet everything feels realistic. Space.com described it as "one of the most thrilling and realistic depictions of space exploration since Moon or 2001: A Space Odyssey," while members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America nominated it for a Bradbury Award. Shot with an unflinching gaze, this superb addition to the Hollywood sci-fi of the early 2010s is not to be missed.
5 ARQ (2016)
Some experts predict that the world may run out of oil by 2050, but this is already a reality in ARQ. An engineer, Renton (Robbie Amell), emerges as one of the most sought-after people as he possesses technology that can deliver unlimited energy. Unfortunately, not everyone seeking the technology has altruistic intentions.
The World is in Trouble
ARQ is a sublime film to watch and reflect on, as it reminds us to care for the environment and reinforces the need for gratitude for what we have. A time loop element is also thrown in to spice things up, so we get a film that is comprehensible yet dizzying. Add a note-perfect performance from Robbie Amell and you have a sci-fi flick worthy of repeat viewing.
4 Tau (2018)
In Tau , Julia is a thief who targets people in seedy nightclubs. She gets kidnapped and finds herself in a facility run by a mad scientist. He intends to mine information from her brain to perfect his AI technology, and even though she is an expert at getting herself out of dangerous situations, she struggles to escape as she is under the watchful eye of a robot named Tau (voiced by Gary Oldman).
How Far Should A.I. Experts Go?
With Tau, director Federico D'Alessandro delivers a pulsating AI thriller that engages the mind. The film terrifies as much as films like Saw and Hostel while giving the audience hope the protagonist will make it out in one piece. Julia herself is a fun new take on a classic character archetype, and actress Maika Monroe plays her with the perfect amalgamation of weariness and grit.
3 What Happened to Monday (2022)
What Happened to Monday is set in a future where overpopulation has resulted in a strict one-child policy. Terrence Settman thus finds himself in a quagmire when his daughter dies while giving birth to identical septuplets. Unwilling to lose his cherished granddaughters, he presents them all as one person. Each child is named after a day of the week and can only go outside on their respective day.
The Flaws of Reproductive Policies
An impressive and contemplative work, What Happened to Monday turns a "ripped from the headlines" kind of story reeking of government brutality and cynicism to cast a harsh, revealing light on overpopulation and reproductive policies. Using visual touchstones from some of the greatest sci-fi films and conjuring the lawlessness that always accompanies dystopia, the film meshes social commentary with extended sequences of jarring, explicit violence. Sit tight!
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2 In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
After convincingly playing a DEA agent in Narcos, Boyd Holbrook found himself in another law enforcement role, courtesy of In the Shadow of the Moon. This time, he is Officer Thomas Lockhart, investigating a serial killer who resurfaces every nine years and whose crimes defy all scientific logic.
A Detective Battling Crime and the Complexities of Advanced Science
In the Shadow of the Moon fashions an unsettling exercise in paranoia. The tension piles on almost imperceptibly as Lockhart digs himself deeper into peril. Or is it all in his mind? The twistsand the rest of the assorted elements are neatly done, and the interesting sci-fi concept is ingeniously woven into the overarching detective plot.
1 Anon (2018)
Crimes are rather easy to solve in Anon. The film is set in a futuristic society where everyone gets implanted with a chip that records everything they see. All the police have to do after a crime is review video footage. However, the police are soon presented with a significant challenge after those who once hired a mysterious expert to erase incriminating visuals die.
Tampering With What Works
A triumphant return to the sci-fi genre after a near-decade absence from the ineffable Clive Owen, Anon is pure entertainment. Here, staunch criticism is delivered regarding the nature of people to tamper with things that work to protect their little secrets. Still, there is ample commentary about government surveillance and a lack of privacy.
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