The 30 Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Movies on Netflix Right Now
The descriptor “science fiction and fantasy” constantly serves as an umbrella term for fantasy stories, but if you look closely, each genre contains many.
A sci-fi/fantasy film can become a blockbuster about an alien invasion; a bloody epic of swords and sorcery; or a quiet, thoughtful fable. What all these films have in common is the ability to think beyond the world we see from the window. Here are the 30 best movies you can stream on Netflix right now.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
I wasn’t expecting much from this adaptation of a game with an impenetrable mythology that has previously had a number of pretty dark adaptations. Luckily, the game is unexpectedly delightful: fun, action-packed, and respectful of the franchise without getting bogged down by decades of lore. Chris Pine plays bard Egin Darvis, imprisoned after a botched robbery but hoping to reunite with his daughter, who has since fallen under the influence of ambitious con man Forge (Hugh Grant). Luckily, he gets help from Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a barbarian with a heart of gold who cares about Ejin’s daughter as much as he does. This goes to show that IP movies don’t have to be soulless. You can watch Dungeons & Dragonshere .
Blade Runner (1982)
Back in 1982, Ridley Scott’s influential adaptation of Philip K. Dick painted a vision of the future we still live with today (though the Cybertruck may well put an end to the aesthetic once and for all). The images of a rainy Los Angeles, filled with impossibly tall skyscrapers, floating cars and endless electronic advertising, are so indelible that the style almost outweighs the substantive plot: Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, the LAPD’s Blade Runner, tasked with hunting down and “retiring” replicants, bioengineered humans who were created as workers but have outlived their usefulness. You can watch Blade Runnerhere .
Damsel (2024)
Millie Bobby Brown ( Stranger Things, Enola Holmes ) is practically the face of Netflix these days. In this dark fantasy directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ( 28 Weeks Later ), she plays Elodie, the titular damsel who is offered an arranged marriage by her family. This doesn’t sound all that terrible until she learns that it was all part of an elaborate ritual sacrifice to keep the dragon from destroying the kingdom. Luckily for her, she is much more resourceful than her family thinks. First goal: get out. Second goal? Get even. You can watch Damselhere .
Paradise (2023)
In this German sci-fi dystopia, time is literally a commodity. Max (Kostya Ullmann) works for a technology company, appropriately named Aeon, that buys time (years) from the poor to extend the lives of its rich and powerful clients. He’s great at his job, but that doesn’t matter much when his apartment burns down and he’s responsible for a loan secured by 40 years of his wife Elana’s life. Having suddenly married an older woman, he is determined to get his wife’s time back at any cost. You can stream Paradisehere .
Nimona (2023)
Based on the graphic novel by N.D. Stevenson, Nimona had a rocky road to the screen, enduring delays, company shutdowns, a pandemic and pressure from Disney to tone down its strange themes. Luckily, none of these dramas made it into the finished product (eventually streamed by Netflix). This is a heartfelt, joyful and funny fantasy set in a futuristic world full of medieval trappings. Ballister Baldheart, along with his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, is about to be knighted by the Queen, becoming the first commoner ever to receive the honor. All was well until he was accused of murdering the queen and forced to flee, becoming the criminal the snobs had already mistaken him for. Luckily (or not), he is joined by Nimona, a teenage outcast who has been shunned due to her shapeshifting powers. The two work together to clear Ballister’s name, although Nimona has a lot to teach Ballister about how to live authentically. You can stream Nimonahere .
The Old Guard (2020)
In the Netflix comic film, Charlize Theron plays Andromache, the occasional leader of a group of immortal individuals who are already several centuries old when the film begins. They usually work as mercenaries when there is a good reason, but find that their group is beginning to fall apart in the face of a new threat: modern technology has made it harder to hide their secret, and a pharmaceutical company executive plans to capture them, find out why they are immortal, and then create a marketable product. The film is a solid mix of comic book heroics and mercenary action, with a sequel on the way. Shortly after, director Gina Prince-Bythewood filmed the historical drama The Lady King, also on Netflix. You can watch The Old Guardhere .
Circle (2015)
It’s an alien abduction for the Squid generation of games , set in the aftermath of a mass abduction. The circle opens with 50 people waking up in a dark room. They are on platforms from which they cannot move under pain of death by laser, and quickly realize that they are trapped in a game with simple and specific rules: with hand gestures, they must vote for the next person to die (if not, then someone is chosen at random every two minutes). It’s a disgusting scheme devised by would-be invaders, but it’s also an exploration of our species and leads to some less-than-flattering conclusions about how quickly we’ll throw each other under the bus (er, laser beam). You can stream Circlehere .
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Eschewing the more-is-more approach of the American Godzilla series, writer-director Takashi Yamazaki reminds us that Japanese filmmakers truly know their king of the monsters. This is a prequel of sorts to the original 1954 film. In this film, kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) had several encounters with Godzilla over the years after World War II. This wartime trauma, which harkens back to the original film, gives this film an emotional weight comparable to kaiju. Just as important, the masterful Oscar-winning visual effects make Godzilla scary again, and the action sequences have real weight and stakes. You can watch Godzilla Minus Onehere .
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
While the Japanese version of the franchise returned to Godzilla’s roots for a deeper, more emotionally satisfying story involving that country’s nuclear reign of terror in Godzilla Minus One (also on Netflix), the American spinoff succeeds with little counter-programming. Drawing on the wilder and more unusual elements of kaiju lore, director Adam Wingard and company throw everything at the wall to see what sticks; the result is silly, colorful and generally quite fun – as long as the endless fights with giant monsters don’t give you too many headaches. You can stream Godzilla x Konghere .
The Ring (2020)
I love a good time travel horror movie (a specific but venerable genre that includes films like Time Crimes , Triangle , and Happy Death Day ). In this movie, Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) visited her childhood home in 2019 and discovered that the old cordless phone was still working (never a good sign) and connected her to Yeon-sook (Jung Jeong-seo) living in the house in 1999. They bond over their shared experiences, but things soon go horribly wrong when So-yeon tells another young woman about the future and pressures her to make changes. It’s smart and suspenseful, with a solid high concept. You can stream The Callhere .
Reversi (2024)
Did I mention that I like movies that have a bit of time travel in them? In this spectacular Malaysian import, Beto Kusyairi plays Akida, a police negotiator who loses his wife and son in a tragedy – however, luckily for Akida, he has a genetic propensity for time travel. But each trip to the past shortens Akida’s lifespan a little, and he soon discovers that trying to rewrite history can be at least as traumatic as coping with loss. You can stream Reversihere .
Ultraman: The Rise (2024)
This Japanese-American co-production reboots the beloved franchise of more than half a century with the help of director Shannon Tindle and co-writer Mark Haymes (both brilliant Kubo and 2 Strings ). Professional baseball player Ken Sato returns home to Japan, having inherited the mantle of (you guessed it!) Ultraman from his retired father. The stylish animation is beautiful and there’s plenty of action for the whole family, but it wouldn’t work half as well without the emotional arc: egotistical sports star Sato needs to reconnect with her estranged father, even as he becomes an unwilling parental figure to an orphaned kaiju child. You can watch Ultraman: Risinghere .
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
It may not be exactly what prolific writer and Conan creator Robert E. Howard had in mind, but it’s a lot of fun in a shirtless, sweaty, sword-and-sorcery style. This film started a pretty cool series of sci-fi films in the 80s and also gave Arnold Schwarzenegger his big cinematic break. Long-haired James Earl Jones also gives his second most memorable villainous performance as the evil sorcerer Thulsa Doom. You can watch Conan the Barbarian here .
See you yesterday (2019)
“See You Yesterday” tricks you into thinking you’re signing up for a sci-fi romp – an early cameo from Michael J. Fox seems to underline this. At the very beginning, young geniuses C.J. Walker (Eden Duncan Smith) and Sebastian Thomas (Dante Crichlow) develop a time machine and plan to test it by going back one day and carefully avoiding any changes. Soon after, the Spike Lee-directed film takes a dark turn when C.J.’s older brother is shot and killed by an NYPD officer who mistakes a phone for a gun. CJ tries again and again to save him, but becomes frustrated as each attempt fails in a new way. It’s not exactly a dark film, but in the best science fiction tradition, the high concept at its heart has a more down-to-earth meaning. You can stream “See You Yesterday”here .
Midnight Sky (2020)
There’s a lot of derivativeness in this George Clooney film, but it’s also poignant in a way that’s rare in modern science fiction. This is a very specific regime, but refreshing in its own way. Clooney plays Augustine, a terminally ill scientist in 2049 who becomes one of the very few people left alive on Earth after some unknown event leaves the surface contaminated with radiation. He discovers that a mission from Jupiter’s moon is returning to Earth and makes it his mission to warn them that the planet is no longer hospitable – a mission complicated by the discovery of a young girl whom he feels the need to protect. You can stream The Midnight Skyhere .
Platform (2019)
Okay, the metaphor is a little harsh: in a large tower euphemistically called the “Vertical Self-Government Center”, food is delivered to a shaft that stops at each floor from top to bottom: those at the top eat their fill; those at the bottom get the leftovers. The Spanish-language thriller is extremely violent but inventive, and real-life capitalism cannot be said to be particularly sophisticated in its deprivations. You can stream “The Platform”here .
What Happened on Monday (2017)
Tommy Wirkola, director of David Harbour’s recent Christmas action thriller A Cruel Night and the Coming of Spermageddon , directed this high-concept sci-fi tale about the dangers of overpopulation. In the near future, the one-child policy involves cryogenically freezing spare children until they can become colonists on another planet or until Earth finds more resources, whichever comes first. Think Children of Men , but a little sillier. Glenn Close is responsible for enforcing this policy, and Willem Dafoe plays the grandfather of identical septuplets. He comes up with a plan to keep all the children away from the freezer: they will take turns playing the same person (Noomi Rapace, in several roles). Funny, but fun. You can stream What Happened on Mondayhere .
Rebel Moon (2023)
Zack Snyder, the latest addition to the DC Cinematic Universe, inspires passionate opinions, but his sci-fi sequel Army of the Dead can’t be accused of lacking ambition. It’s a multi-part space opera (it’s unclear exactly how many parts) that combines Snyder’s signature visual style with Star Wars -style action. Sofia Boutella plays a former soldier who rallies warriors from across the galaxy to join a rebellion against the imperial Motherworld on the game’s remote agricultural moon. You can currently watch Part 1 ( Child of Fire ) and Part 2 ( Executioner ), as well as the R-rated director’s cut of the first film . You can watch Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire here .
The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022)
Halloween movies are relevant any time of year, so there’s no reason to put off this seasonal fantasy for the whole family. The Howard family has moved to the town of Bridge Hollow just in time for the holidays, and daughter Sydney ( Stranger Things’ Priah Ferguson) is excited about the town’s holiday spirit. Dad (Marlon Wayans), on the other hand, is a science geek who hates creepy nonsense—Kelly Rowland’s mom is often left to judge. However, the family is forced to try to come together when Sydney accidentally releases a ghost who is amassing an army from the town’s decorations. Oops! You can watch The Curse of Bridge Hollowhere .
Bubble (2022)
Attack on Titan and Death Note director Tetsuro Araki and the all-star creative team at Bubble find Tokyo cut off from the rest of the world when reality-warping bubbles (perhaps shades of Stephen King’s Under the Dome ) rain down on the city. Anime fans were almost certainly looking for a great parkour-filled love story, but anyone who loves animation (or great sci-fi films in general) should check it out. You can stream Bubblehere .
My Father’s Dragon (2022)
Based on Ruth Stiles Gannett’s 1948 children’s novel of the same name and aimed at an even younger audience than the other all-ages animated films on this list, My Father’s Dragon still has a lot to recommend it to just about anyone—along with a higher emotional intelligence than many films made for adults. In the film, a boy named Elmer (Jacob Tremblay) and his shopkeeper mother Dela (Golshifteh Farahani) leave their close-knit small town for a larger city, although the promise of better conditions does not materialize so quickly. Elmer’s patience is rewarded, however, when a talking cat invites him to go on a wonderful candy-colored adventure. The film comes from the director of The Breadwinner , set in modern-day Afghanistan, and Cartoon Saloon, the production company behind animated films such as the beautiful Irish folk tale The Wolfwalkers . You can watch My Father’s Dragonhere .
The Wandering Earth (2019)
The title isn’t a metaphor: this Chinese blockbuster is literally about what happens when the Earth goes off course, and the people who band together to keep it from colliding with Jupiter. It all starts when a rogue red giant threatens to devour the Earth within a century, causing the world’s nations to rally around building giant engines to throw us off course. It’s crazy in the best sense of the word, with special effects that easily surpass those of many American blockbusters. The human element here is also a plus, as the film leaves room for a broad ensemble of interesting characters, suggesting that great things (like not getting caught in Jupiter) happen when people work together. You can watch The Wandering Earthhere .
Space Cleaners (2021)
It doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel, but it does put a refreshing emphasis on the lower classes of the future without going too far into dystopia. I’m not the first to compare Space Sweepers to Cowboy Bebop , but given the recent and rapid failure of Netflix’s live-action version of the cartoon, it’s no exaggeration to say that you’ll find the best embodiment of the spirit of the Bebop family and its space-western milieu here in the game show that bore its name. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with engaging characters and extravagant special effects. It’s also nice to see a less American-centric view of the future. You can stream Space Sweepershere .
The Sound of Block Island (2020)
Strange events occur on Block Island, the most obvious of which is the huge amount of dead fish that constantly wash up on the shore. Even more alarming is the behavior of one of the local fishermen, Tom, who constantly wakes up in strange places and generally loses time. His daughter Audrey (Michaela McManus) works for the Environmental Protection Agency and is sent to investigate a massive fish kill; she takes her daughter with her and is reunited with her brother Tom (Chris Sheffield) along the way. Together, they discover that no ordinary environmental disaster is to blame for the death of all the fish, as the film combines family drama and eerie local events, building to a rather chilling climax. You can stream The Block Island Soundhere .
They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
This genre mash-up from debutant director Jewel Taylor spins a lot of records, and mostly manages to keep them from breaking. John Bodega plays Fontaine, a drug dealer in a Blaxsploitation-inspired world this side of ours. After a run-in with former pimp of the year Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot and killed, but wakes up in his bed the next day, seemingly unchanged. Teaming up with Slick Charles and sex worker Yo Yo (Teyonah Parris), he becomes immersed in the incredible web of scientific conspiracy that the title suggests. The sci-fi genre parody shouldn’t work so well, but the stellar cast and Jule Taylor’s confident direction sell it. You can watch They Cloned Tyronehere .
Dune: Part Two (2024)
The fickle nature of streaming means you can only watch the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s Best Picture-nominated epic on Netflix, so you’ll need to watch it first and then reunite with Villeneuve and company to complete (for now) the journey and descent of exiled Duke Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he joins the Fremen of Arrakis to overthrow the colonial rule of the Harkonnens – or perhaps just to regain your strength. With an epic, fully cinematic scope and stunning performances, especially from Zendaya as the Freeman warrior Chani and Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s absolutely ruthless mother Lady Jessica, this is a sci-fi epic like no other. You can watch Dune: Part Twohere .
Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga (2024)
This Fury Road prequel is every bit as exciting as its predecessor, even if it slows down the action a bit in favor of a little more emotional complexity in and around our titular striker. Anna-Taylor Joy takes over from Charlize Theron as Furiosa, born in the Green Place of Many Mothers, one of the last remaining oases in radioactive post-apocalyptic Australia. When she is taken in by warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), she embarks on a ten-year journey to return home. Even after four decades of Mad Max films, George Miller is still innovating. You can stream Furiosahere .
Okja (2017)
A Korean-language sci-fi fantasy about a girl and her genetically modified pig may not be an easy sell, but the film certainly received more deserved attention when its director Bong Joon-ho won one of the most justifiable Best Picture Oscars in recent memory for Parasite . The darkly quirky film challenges the norms of the American and South Korean meat industry in many ways on its own, but fans of “Parasite” will recognize a blend of dark comedy, action and social commentary that’s hard to ignore. You can stream Okjahere .
Pinocchio Guillermo del Toro (2022)
The Pinocchio director’s passion project has had a long journey to the screen, but it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t worth the wait. Set in fascist Italy between the wars and depicted through stunning stop-motion animation, this beautiful, moving film deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. You can watch Pinocchiohere .
Blame! (2017)
In the future, the City is growing like a virus, endlessly in all directions, people have long lost control over the automated systems designed to manage affairs. The same systems now view humans as “illegals” to be purged, so flesh-and-blood survivors are caught between the city’s murderous defense systems and the need to find food. However, one group of people is searching for a person with a genetic marker that they believe will allow them to gain access to the city’s control systems – the hunt is led by Killie, a synthetic human who may hold the key. You can stream Blame!Here .