Netflix has an overwhelming amount of things to watch, including plenty of titles that will appeal to science fiction fans. From blockbuster original movies to addictive TV shows, Netflix’s sci-fi range will have you clicking play next before you know it.
Here are some of our top picks for the best sci-fi movies and TV series on Netflix.
Best sci-fi movies and TV shows on Netflix
Dune
It makes sense that one of the best sci-fi novels of all time also turns out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but Dune really goes hard.
Between the all-star cast, including Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Jason Momoa, the incredible visuals and the resounding Hans Zimmer score, Dune is a sci-fi epic in every sense of the word.
The story follows the Atreides family as they arrive on the desolate planet of Arrakis, a coveted hotspot of the rare mineral Spice. After being entrusted with the planet’s spice operation, the Atreides family face threats from every side.
Catch up on Dune on Netflix before the sequel arrives later this year.
The Mitchells vs The Machines
From producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord, The Mitchells vs the Machines is a delightful animated movie with the same level of humour and charm as Lord and Miller’s other films, The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The story follows a dysfunctional family on a road trip to deliver their eldest daughter to college until they are intercepted by a robot apocalypse and must save humanity instead. Talk about a road trip to remember.
Watch The Mitchells vs The Machines here.
Colony
Before Ryan Condal brought us House of the Dragon and after Carlton Cuse gave us Lost, they collaborated on Colony, a sci-fi drama series starring Sarah Wayne Callies and Josh Holloway.
The series is set in a dystopian Los Angeles after an alien invasion divides the city with a giant wall. Following this a group known as the Transitional Authority was established to communicate with the alien group, about which very little is known.
Lost in Space
The TV adaptation of the classic sci-fi film takes things even further off-world. In the future, after a world-ending event threatens humanity, a group of colonists board an interstellar spacecraft to journey to a new planetary system.
This includes the Robinson family who is forced to evacuate the mothership and crash land on a nearby habitable planet that is fraught with danger. Amongst all that, Will Robinson, the youngest child in the family, befriends an alien robot.
The Adam Project
Netflix is kicking off a hefty year of originals with its new sci-fi time travel flick The Adam Project.
Ryan Reynolds stars a fighter pilot from the future who finds himself back in 2022 and must recruit the help of his 12-year-old self to help save the world. It also serves as a nostalgic Suddenly 30 reunion with Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner together on screen again.
Stranger Things
We can’t have a list of Netflix’s best sci-fi titles without including Stranger Things. The supernatural show with a sci-fi horror twist has taken the world by storm for four seasons now (with a fifth on the way) and its young child stars are quickly growing into capable teenagers.
The story takes place in the ’80s where a group of tweens uncover a government conspiracy dabbling with supernatural forces in their sleepy hometown.
Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon remains one of Netflix’s most ambitious sci-fi TV series to date. The show takes place 300 years in the future when humanity has found a way to become immortal by uploading their minds into new bodies. The catch? Only the rich can afford to do it.
Bringing us into this world is Takeshi Kovacs, the only surviving member of a group of interstellar warriors whose mind has been imprisoned for centuries until a rich businessman decides to revive him in order to help him solve a murder.
It gets a little complex at times but Altered Carbon’s world is a fascinating one to get lost in.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror is one of those shows that can be hit and miss, but when it hits, it really hits. The anthology dystopian series takes a terrifying look at where technology could take us with intimate personal stories that will stick with you long after the credits roll.
The beauty of it being an anthology is that if you’re not a fan of one episode the next one might be the one to blow you away. If you need some suggestions of where to start we recommend USS Callister, San Junipero and Striking Vipers as some episodes you cannot miss.
Manifest
Manifest easily has one of the most interesting premises of any TV show. The passengers of an aircraft that goes missing are presumed dead, only for them to reappear 5 years later with no idea anything has happened. It turns out their lives are not the same as when they boarded that plane.
Can the show live up to this premise? Well, it has 4 seasons so far with a final batch of episodes on the way so it must’ve done something right.
Annihilation
Annihilation is one of the most interesting sci-fi films in recent memory.
Directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), the movie stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson and Tuva Novotny as a team of scientists who enter a mysterious supernatural phenomenon known as the Shimmer which is full of mutating dangers.
This one will have you on the edge of your seat for sure.
The 100
If you’re after some teen sci-fi drama The 100 is the show you’ve been waiting for.
After Earth becomes uninhabitable due to radiation humanity moves to live in space on a station known as the Ark. Decades later they send one hundred juvenile delinquents to the ground to see if the Earth is livable again.
Naturally, our teenage friends get up to all sorts of trouble on Earth but they quickly learn they’re not the only ones there. See if you can guess how many of those initial 100 teens make it to the end of the show’s seven seasons.
Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer is one of the best dystopian sci-fi stories so it makes sense it’s now a TV show you can watch on Netflix.
The Snowpiercer, a giant continually moving train is the only hope for humanity after Earth becomes a frozen wasteland. But, just like with anything, there’s a strict class system to the train with passengers split into certain areas of the train.
The TV show follows Andre Layton, the world’s last remaining homicide detective who is called up from the Tail of the train to help solve a murder. Once inside the upper classes, he helps initiate a revolution.
When you’re done watching all of the best sci-fi movies and series on Netflix you might want to move on to some best fantasy titles that offer some added escapism.
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