The best sci-fi movies on Hulu
There's nothing new under the sun, but out in the galaxy is a different story. Whether you're looking for good, old-fashioned escapism, postapocalyptic dramas, or a cerebral premise to tickle your intellectual fancy, sci-fi films are designed to deliver. So scroll through this list, all you first-time space explorers and seasoned navigators of dystopian worlds. Because regardless of your level of sci-fi proficiency, you're sure to find something you like on EW's picks for the best sci-fi films currently streaming on Hulu, as of May 2023.
The Hunger Games (2012–15)
Suzanne Collins' best-selling Hunger Games trilogy was a natural fit for movie adaptation, resulting in a massively successful series of four films. Jennifer Lawrence reached superstardom with her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen, a brave teenager living in dystopian Panem, who volunteers to participate in the titular Hunger Games in place of her sister. This deadly competition finds tributes from the various districts squaring off in an arena with the goal of killing each other until only one remains. Over time, Katniss becomes a symbol of the rebellion against the corrupt Capitol. The second film, Catching Fire, is the best in the series, but we recommend a full binge of all four, ahead of the release of the prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, in November. —Kevin Jacobsen
Watch The Hunger Games film series on Hulu
EW grade (for the 2012 original): A (read the review)
Directors: Gary Ross (The Hunger Games); Francis Lawrence (Catching Fire, Mockingjay — Part 1, Mockingjay — Part 2)
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland
Related content: Jennifer Lawrence says she'd 'drink whiskey and get stoned' with Hunger Games costars after events
Slash/Back (2022)
"These aliens messed with the wrong girls," reads the tagline for this underrated Canadian sci-fi adventure. The film centers on pre-teen Maika (Tasiana Shirley) and her friends whose ordinary summer in the Inuit hamlet of Pang is rudely interrupted by an alien invasion. But these girls, as the tagline indicates, know just what to do to ward off the invaders, protecting the home they sometimes take for granted. Slash/Back fits in nicely with other tweens vs. the world properties like Stranger Things and The Goonies, with a dose of horror and cultural specificity to differentiate it from the films to which it lovingly plays homage. —K.J.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Nyla Innuksuk
Cast: Tasiana Shirley, Alexis Wolfe, Nalajoss Ellsworth, Chelsea Prusky, Frankie Vincent-Wolfe, Rory Anawak, Kristian Bruun, Shaun Benson
Related content: 17 TV/movie alien invasions
Elysium (2013)
In the year 2154, Earth has been ravaged by pollution and over-population, resulting in severe class distinctions, with only the wealthy able to live in an orbiting space station with nearly unlimited resources. Dying parolee Max (Matt Damon) tries to reach Elysium in the hope of healing his illness, while Defense Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) does everything she can to prevent earthlings from immigrating to the station. Elysium was director Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to District 9. While his second film didn't quite reach the universal praise of his Oscar-nominated debut, EW's Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review, "Elysium confirms the talent — for razory mayhem and shocking satire, for the crazed spectacle of future decay — that Blomkamp showcased in his amazing first feature." —K.J.
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, William Fichtner
Related content: Elysium: About that ending...
Dredd (2012)
In this adaptation of the Judge Dredd comic book series, the titular Dredd (Karl Urban) serves as a draconian "Judge," a special officer who has the power to serve as judge, jury, and executioner in a decaying city in 2080. Dredd teams up with a rookie with psychic powers (Olivia Thirlby) to take down an influential drug lord (Lena Headey) who is peddling an addictive drug called Slo-Mo. Dredd was well-received upon its 2012 release, with praise for its visceral action set pieces and Urban's steely central performance. The film was written by Alex Garland, who would go on to helm such sci-fi favorites as Ex Machina (2015) and Annihilation (2018). —K.J.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Pete Travis
Cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris, Lena Headey
Related content: Karl Urban is working 'very, very hard' to bring Dredd 2 to life
I Think We're Alone Now (2018)
In this low-budget indie drama, Peter Dinklage stars as a man who assumes he's alone in his small town after a sudden apocalyptic event in which a large portion of the population suddenly disappears. He eventually meets a fellow survivor (Elle Fanning), with whom he shares a reluctant bond, and later learns that they're not, in fact, alone. Directed and shot by Reed Morano (an Emmy winner for directing the pilot of The Handmaid's Tale), I Think We're Alone Now focuses on the human response to cataclysmic events more so than the event itself. "I like the post-apocalyptic genre, but it's been done a million times, and I was looking for something a little bit weird, or just a little bit different tonally," Morano told EW in 2018. "I saw this opportunity to tell a post-apocalyptic story that breaks a lot of the conventions of storytelling in that genre." —K.J.
Watch I Think We're Alone Now on Hulu
EW grade: N/A
Director: Reed Morano
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning, Paul Giamatti, Charlotte Gainsbourg
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Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Denis Villeneuve proved there was more story to be told in the Blade Runner universe with this sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 cult classic. Taking place in the near future, new, obedient replicants have been fully integrated, replacing the rebellious originals that threaten humanity. Ryan Gosling plays K, one of those new replicants who hunts down older models, and comes to discover a powerful secret that has the potential to change everything. Along the way, he meets Rick Deckard, the O.G. blade runner, with Harrison Ford reprising his role. While Blade Runner 2049 fell short of expectations at the box office, the film was very well-received by critics. EW's Leah Greenblatt wrote, "Even when its emotions risk running as cool as its palette, 2049 reaches for, and finds, something remarkable: the elevation of mainstream moviemaking to high art." The stunningly crafted film won Oscars for its cinematography and visual effects. —K.J.
Watch Blade Runner 2049 on Hulu
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto
Related content: Blade Runner 2049 VFX reel breaks down the stunning sci-fi world
Prometheus (2012)
In this prequel to the Alien film series, Noomi Rapace stars as an archaeologist aboard a spacecraft with a team of fellow explorers looking for the genesis of humankind. They travel to a distant moon and come to discover the threatening creatures that could jeopardize their existence — despite the crew members' best (and differing) intentions. Directed by Ridley Scott with a screenplay co-written by Damon Lindelof, there's still plenty to ponder with Prometheus, even all these years later. As EW's Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote at the time, "This is jumbo-size science fiction, with a handsome, impermeable titanium gleam — and a thick coating of creationism lite." The film spawned a sequel in 2017, Alien: Covenant, with another expected in the future. —K.J.
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron
Related content: Prometheus: Have you seen it? Are you confused? Let's discuss!
I'm Your Man (2021)
What if a robot who looked exactly like a human could fulfill your every need? And what if that humanlike robot looked like Dan Stevens? In Maria Schrader's fascinating German-language film, Maren Eggert's Alma ponders this and other moral quandaries. After agreeing to participate in a three-week study in which she is to report her findings of living with the robot, Tom (Stevens), Alma finds herself having conflicting feelings about her new deferential partner. I'm Your Man received widespread critical acclaim upon its release, along with accolades from various organizations. EW's Leah Greenblatt praised Schrader's direction, calling her "too clever and melancholic to let her gentle, off-kilter Man dissolve into breezy happily-ever-afters. Instead, the movie offers something much truer to life: a love story that ends, perhaps, just when it's begun." —K.J.
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Maria Schrader
Cast: Maren Eggert, Dan Stevens, Sandra Hüller
Related content: Dan Stevens was excited to visit the Beast's library while filming Beauty and the Beast
Akira (1988)
Few animated films have packed as much of a punch as Akira, based on the manga series of the same name. The film follows Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang in Neo-Tokyo, which is now thriving after a psychic "Esper" destroyed Tokyo in 1988. Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo, gains the same psychic abilities after a motorcycle accident, leading Tetsuo down a path of destruction that some fear could result in history repeating for Neo-Tokyo. Akira's release in the late-'80s was a watershed moment in animation, especially for anime crossing over to the U.S. As EW's Marc Bernardin wrote in 2001, "Akira was unlike anything Americans had seen before — at least, Americans who hadn't scoured comic book and sci-fi conventions for bootleg videos of Japanese anime." —K.J.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Cast: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Taro Ishida, Tesshō Genda, Mizuho Suzuki
Related content: Spotlight on Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo
Possessor (2020)
Andrea Riseborough is renowned for her ability to shapeshift as a performer, which takes on new meaning in this acclaimed sci-fi horror film. The Oscar-nominated actress plays Tasya Vos, an assassin who uses an innovative machine that allows her to inhabit other people's bodies and carry out her bloody tasks. This has gradually caused difficulties in living her own life as she is plagued with violent memories. She experiences her biggest challenge yet when she possesses a man (Christopher Abbott) who unexpectedly regains control, trapping Vos' consciousness in his body. Director Brandon Cronenberg revealed to EW that he devised the film from his own emotional experience of the press campaign for his previous film, Antiviral (2012). "You end up performing another version of yourself, this kind of media-self that then goes off and has its own weird life online without you," he explained. —K.J.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Related content: Watch the trailer for Brandon Cronenberg's sci-fi thriller Possessor
Little Fish (2020)
A pandemic-era movie filmed before the coronavirus pandemic, Little Fish tells the emotional story of a couple living with the threat of a spreading virus that attacks memories. Olivia Cooke plays Emma, who whose husband Jude (Jack O'Connell) is gradually losing his ability to remember. Through it all, Emma tries to remind him of their love, even when his fate starts to become inevitable. EW's Mary Sollosi wrote in her review that, while the film doesn't quite achieve the highs of 2004's similar memory-wiping romantic dramedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, "that doesn't mean Little Fish isn't a worthy complement, its sci-fi conceit giving its central question a poetic shape." —K.J.
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Chad Hartigan
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Jack O'Connell, Raúl Castillo, Soko
Related content: Little Fish: Read the short story that inspired the movie
Dual (2022)
Sarah (Karen Gillan), a terminally ill woman, agrees to be cloned for the benefit of her loved ones in this sci-fi satire. After she unexpectedly lives, she returns to her regular life only to discover that her boyfriend and mother prefer her "double." When Sarah's double makes it clear that she intends to stay in the picture, the original Sarah decides to challenge her according to the law: a duel to the death. The film, which also stars Aaron Paul, Theo James, and Beulah Koale, was well-received when it premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. While similar to 2021's Swan Song, in which Mahershala Ali plays similarly double roles, Dual is much more biting than its mournful counterpart, with a fun pair of performances from Gillan. —K.J.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Riley Stearns
Cast: Karen Gillan, Beulah Koale, Theo James, Aaron Paul
Related content: Jumanji: The Next Level's Karen Gillan on becoming an accidental action star
Palm Springs (2020)
Essentially an updated Groundhog Day for the 21st century, Palm Springs centers on a pair of Millennials who are sucked into a time loop. Andy Samberg plays Nyles, who has grown carefree after being stuck in the loop for ages, while Cristin Milioli is Sarah, who is experiencing its benefits and downsides for the first time. The duo grows closer (and fall out) through their endlessly repeating days, with Sarah resolving to find a way out of the loop through a dangerous experiment. Juggling the various tones of this high-concept romantic comedy could've resulted in disaster, but the film manages to nimbly toe the line of bittersweet romance and absurdity. The film earned numerous awards in 2021, including the Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, and more. —K.J.
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Max Barbakow
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons
Related content: The 23 best time travel movies of all time
The Congress (2013)
Remember several years back when one of Fred Astaire's most famous cinematic performances was reconstituted for a vacuum cleaner ad? Well, that was nothing compared to what happens to Robin Wright — playing herself — in The Congress, a film with a premise that's only growing closer to possible reality with each passing year. This version of Wright is dealing with the one-two punch that her son has a worsening medical condition just as her film career is drying up when a studio pitches an offer that she, unfortunately, can't afford to refuse: For a fee, she sells her digital likeness, at which point the studio can use it in whatever capacity they wish. Trying to explain where the studio takes Wright's image from that point is...a little difficult. Suffice it to say that the premise of The Congress shows just how far things can go when you sell yourself out. —Will Harris
EW grade: N/A
Director: Ari Folman
Cast: Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti, Jon Hamm, Danny Huston, Harvey Keitel, Kodi Smit-McPhee
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Save Yourselves! (2020)
Indie sci-fi films may not be as rare a cinematic breed as they once were, but to find one that adds an indie rom-com vibe and still successfully balances the scales is a straight-up unicorn of the celluloid. However, Save Yourselves! manages to make it work, thanks to winning performances by John Paul Reynolds (Search Party) and Sunita Mani (GLOW) as a young Brooklyn couple who decide to unplug for a week in the woods and regain their intimacy, only to discover belatedly that Earth is under alien attack. Some have summed up the film in three words — "Hipsters vs. Aliens" — which is as accurate as it is succinct, but it also fails to take into consideration the great manner in which Reynolds and Mani play off each other, as well as how successfully they each hold viewers' attention when they're flying solo in certain scenes. —W.H.
Watch Save Yourselves! on Hulu
EW grade: N/A
Directors: Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson
Cast: John Paul Reynolds, Sunita Mani, Ben Sinclair, John Early, Jo Firestone, Johanna Day
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Prey (2022)
Set in 1719 (268 years before a sleeveless Arnold Schwarzenegger battled his first alien), Prey is a prequel to the Predator franchise and the fifth film released chronologically. The movie follows Naru (Amber Midthunder) a Comanche medicine woman with aspirations of someday becoming as fierce a hunter as her brother. When Naru witnesses a Predator landing in the Great Plains, she interprets it as a call to action and plans to protect her tribe by tracking and killing the invader. The film employs a cast of primarily indigenous actors — and one former professional basketball player, Dane DiLiegro, attacking the role of Predator while wearing a suit so heavy, and restrictive, he told EW he was "essentially shooting this movie blind." His discomfort, endured in service of director Dan Trachtenberg's vision for the film, paid off, making this film and its villain feel, as Trachtenberg describes it, "far scarier, way more alien-creature-like, ferocious and feral." —W.H.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers
Dane DiLiegro, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor
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