Cinema has greatly benefited from recent advancements in technology, especially in the digital arena. As such, the past decade has lent itself to an incredible assortment of sci-fi movies, many of which are nothing short of radical for a movie genre that has been around for over a century.
In addition to intricate philosophical concepts and existential questions, recent sci-fi has been exploring the psychological limits of the human mind as well as society's relationship with AI and environmental apocalypses—both of which seem more possible with each passing year.
8 The Created Turn On Their Creators In Ex Machina (2014)
Ex Machina's visual effects are as grand as they are subtle, but it is Alex Garland's direction and Alicia Vikander's antihero Ava that subvert what humans have come to expect from the future of AI.
The movie depicts posterity as a bleak nightmare in which the created turn on their creators with justified anger, although it's unclear what Ava feels (or if she feels at all). Ex Machina is, according to the NYT, "a movie about men and the machines they make," highlighting the gender differential that powers the story.
7 Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) Explores The Human Desire To Press The Reset Button
Edge of Tomorrow contains several elements that have been popular for a long time, from time travel and alien invasions to the iconic soldier-protagonists of sci-fi. However, the movie is a cliché only in theory, weaving its tropes into a mind-bending adventure through time: living, dying, and repeating them over and over again.
While disguised as a manic explosion of battle sequences and brave sacrifices, Edge of Tomorrow takes a deep look at the innate human desire to press the reset button for multiple chances at life, a la Groundhog Day (1993).
6 Snowpiercer (2013) Is An Easily Digestible Pamphlet Of Social Commentary
Snowpiercer is, literally speaking, a class system concentrated into a single dimension—the train can only be traversed in two ways (forward and backward). By removing directional freedom, the film manages to transform its bold narrative into an easily digestible social commentary pamphlet.
Snowpiercer is one of those rare movies that offer both unadulterated entertainment and depict the complex interaction between social hierarchies. It seems that even the apocalypse isn't enough to make humanity care for each other, but the movie affirms that hope is one human trait that can never be snuffed out by circumstance.
5 Arrival (2016) Describes Alien Linguistics With Great Precision
Arrival is a drastic departure from the rigidity of standard sci-fi. Its lack of focus on technology and hard science allows it to delve into an arguably more significant aspect of alien-human relationships: language. Many movies in the genre either describe rudimentary translation systems or avoid interspecies communication altogether, but Arrival takes a different route.
Villeneuve's masterpiece obtained universal acclaim for its almost-philosophical attempt at explaining extraterrestrial linguistics (and its relationship with time-perception).
4 Her (2013) Is Both A Message Of Hope & A Warning
Artificial Intelligence is already so advanced that many scientists are wary of their potential power, something that Her manages to display with unbelievable tenderness (in a story that revolves around an advanced software program).
Scarlett Johansson's Samantha is never onscreen, but her presence is as palpable as Joaquin Phoenix's overwhelming ennui. Her offers Samantha to Theodore, but twists expectations by revealing that she has feelings for innumerable other OS users. The movie works on two levels: as a message of hope and a warning.
3 Annihilation (2018) Is An Open-Ended Jigsaw Puzzle For Viewers To Solve
Alex Garland's Annihilation permits a whole slew of possible interpretations, but none of them are explicitly confirmed (and that's the point). The storyline is a series of interlocking puzzles, each deriving itself from the previous one, eventually developing into an elaborate jigsaw that viewers are supposed to solve as they see fit.
That said, Annihilation is thematically unorthodox, making its plot somewhat difficult to follow for a sizeable fraction of the moviegoing audience. Lena's self-reflection takes literal form in the film's third, although the nature of its existence is anybody's guess.
2 Inception (2010) Is An Achievement In Cinematic Surrealism
Nolan's Inception was well-received at the Academy Awards, garnering four nominations and four victories (in Cinematography, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing). The movie's kaleidoscopic visuals are jagged and swift, generating a visceral thrill in its audiences.
Despite its blockbuster appearance, the film is incredibly well-constructed, with Rolling Stone and Variety calling it a "wildly ingenious chess game," and "a conceptual tour de force," respectively. To call Inception an achievement in cinematic surrealism is a massive understatement.
1 Under The Skin (2014) Is A Fascinating (& Believable) Thought Experiment
Scarlett Johansson has a flair for the unconventional, with Under the Skin containing an extraordinarily queasy performance as an alien pretending to be human.
Several scenes are distinctly unreal, from men that dissolve in a mysterious substance to the "protagonist's" charcoal-black, featureless skin, all products of a fascinating thought experiment devised by director Jonathan Glazer. It's extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to resist Under the Skin's magnetic pull, explaining why it received unanimous praise from critics.