A severed astronaut’s head in the floating wreckage from a space station. Strange alien spores showing up in your tap water. Robotic heralds announcing the upcoming alien invasion.
These are all staples of dark science fiction movies. And Netflix is a great place to get your fix of the best scifi movies when you have yet another lovely evening to waste away utterly alone. Because we are still in a pandemic. But truth be told, it’s not like you had a lot going on, even before the pandemic. So here you are.
Of course there are the classic dark science fiction and space horror movies like Alien, Aliens, Event Horizon, Predator, Dead Space and many others in the same vein. We’re not going to talk about any of those movies here. We are going to talk about the lesser known scary science fiction movies released on Netflix. Some are Netflix originals and some clearly are not. Some are amazing productions of cinematography, acting and writing. Some of them are pure crap sewage that will give you cosmic-tier hemorrhoids once you get off the couch after watching them.
Just in case you dont have the time to watch a full movie, check out this list of shorter science fiction series to stream.
Our List of the Best Netflix Science Fiction Movies
Our Chaos Jelly research team has curated the best scifi movies on Netflix along with hidden gems, masterpieces and the absolute worst shitty science fiction movies into an easy to digest list for you. We’re not going to spoil much but we’ll tell you what each movie is about and give you some hints about whether or not it is worth your 90 to 120 minutes of time.
What you need to do is figure out how you are going to waste those 90 to 120 minutes tonight based on this list of best science fiction movies on Netflix. Might we also suggest you also Airbnb the Nostromo where Ellen Ripley battled the Alien Xenomorph?
Since Netflix cranks out these puppies faster than a horned up Tribble on Viagra, we’ll keep adding to this list over time. And of course since it’s Chaos Jelly, we’re going to only feature the darkest dystopian scifi movies. Oh, by the way, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter and also click around on the many many many affiliate links we have desperately strewn throughout this page if you see something you like.
Looper
This is an older (2012) movie but it’s pretty good, especially if you are into time travel. The premise of this dark science fiction movie is that crime syndicates in the future have been utilizing time travel to assassinate their enemies by sending them back in time to the present day where contract killers known as “loopers” will subsequently execute them. Looper stars Bruce Willis and Jay Gordon Levitt and there are some pretty intense scenes. No spoilers here, but there is one cringe-worthy violent scene when you will freak out when you realize what is happening in real time across multiple time streams. This scifi movie is a good one to catch up on in the new year.
Worth Watching? | Yes, Absolutely |
Running Time | 118 minutes |
Genre | Science Fiction Thriller |
Setting | Present Day & Dystopian Future |
Mood | Gloomy & Brooding |
When It Grabs You | Right from the Start |
Cinematography | Decent |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 93% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 5 out of 5 |
Bird Box
Buy the novel on Amazon – $10.99
Bird box is definitely “different”. The premise is that a mother (played by Sandra Bullock) and her kids have to survive in a post apocalyptic world where looking at certain invading “entities” will cause the viewer to commit suicide. We don’t want to give too much away but this is a unique survival drama with a horror twist. There are the usual band of survivors that are racing against time to arrive at a destination safely. But the fact that all have to basically be blindfolded in their escape journey puts an interesting new spin to this trope.
Worth Watching? | Sure, there are some edgy scenes |
Running Time | 124 minutes |
Genre | Science Fiction Horror |
Setting | Post Apocalyptic Earth |
Mood | Gloomy / Dystopian |
When It Grabs You | Give It A Little Time |
Cinematography | Very Good |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 64% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 4 out of 5 |
I Am Mother
You know how you used to have that robot nanny fetish? Well then, this movie will bring back those great memories. I Am Mother starts off in an automated bunker presided over by a robotic caretaker after an apocalyptic event. The bunker contains a human child grown from an embryo and cared for by the robot, who teaches her ethics and life skills needed to survive the devastation outside. This is as much a psychological thriller about human nature as it is a dystopian science fiction movie and there are many twists and turns along the way. The cold mechanical physical aspects of Mother contrasting with her caring but at the same time stern attitude towards her human child is pretty impactful. Again. we don’t want to spoil too much so check this movie out. Highly recommended.
Worth Watching? | Hell yeah! There’s a robot! |
Running Time | 113 minutes |
Genre | Science Fiction Thriller |
Setting | Post Apocalyptic Earth |
Mood | Gloomy / Dystopian |
When It Grabs You | Give It A Little Time |
Cinematography | Very Good |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 91% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 5 out of 5 |
Extinction
If you like alien invasion flicks, where a ragtag band of humans are trying to figure out how to survive while being hunted by aliens, then this movie is (maybe) worth your time. The basic premise is that a father keeps having these recurring nightmares about aliens invading. Of course, his wife thinks he’s crazy. And then of course, actual aliens invade. Look, at least at only 95 minutes running time this scifi thriller is not that much of a time suck, even if the Rotten Tomatoes score is only 32% (yeesh!)
Bottom line, if you have an hour and half to kill, maybe while you’re waiting for Uber Eats to deliver your a pizza during a heavy thunderstorm, give it a shot. Fair warning, this is not one of the best science fiction movies on Netflix.
Worth Watching? | Umm.. ok, if you like alien invasion movies |
Running Time | 95 minutes |
Genre | Alien Invasion |
Setting | Present Day Earth |
Mood | Horror |
When It Grabs You | Right Off the Bat |
Cinematography | Kinda crappy |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 32% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 3 out of 5 |
Doom: Annihilation
At Chaos Jelly, space horror is our jam. Demons on other planets. Strange eldritch runes on spaceships. Scientists who are screwing with the laws of physics and open up apertures to distant hellscapes. We love all that shit. Some of our favorite movies are Event Horizon, Hellblazer: Bloodline, and even Dead Space.
Doom: Annihilation is absolutely nothing like those masterpieces. In fact, the storyline, CGI and acting completely suck open ass. But they had us at scientists mistakenly opening portals to demons in space, not gonna lie. We watched the shit out of this trash on Netflix. I mean they have space marines fighting demons in space. C’mon dude!
Worth Watching? | Only If You’re Bored Doing Your Taxes |
Running Time | 95 minutes |
Genre | Science Fiction Horror |
Setting | Outer Space |
Mood | Space Horror |
When It Grabs You | Right Off the Bat |
Cinematography | Bad, just bad |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 46% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 3 out of 5 |
The Midnight Sky
The Midnight Sky is a dystopian science fiction movie on Netflix about the duality of climate change devastation on Earth coupled with space exploration and planetary expansion. George Clooney plays a curmudgeon of an astronomer who is living in a research station in the Arctic. The plot revolves around him desperately trying to warn a returning space vessel which has been exploring one of Jupiter’s habitable moons from returning to an irradiated and dangerous Earth. There’s some good interstellar action and there is a desperate urgency to Clooney’s character. This movie is worth checking out, but keep your expectations low.
Worth Watching? | Yes |
Running Time | 118 minutes |
Genre | Science Fiction Thriller |
Setting | Post Apocalyptic Earth & Outer Space |
Mood | Gloomy & Brooding |
When It Grabs You | Give It A Little Time |
Cinematography | Very Good. C’mon you think George Clooney would act in a crappily filmed movie? |
Rotten Tomatoes Score | 50% |
Chaos Jelly Score | 4 out of 5 |
Comments 1