9 Underrated, Forgotten, and Experimental Sci-Fi Films You Should Watch Now
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When you think of the best sci-fi films ever made, what comes to mind? Inception? 2001: A Space Odyssey? Blade Runner? There are so many fan-favorite classic, modern, and cult sci-films that are beloved by fans who can recall their favorite titles by memory. Still, there are just as many sci-fi films that are too experimental, underappreciated and don’t get the recognition they deserve.
Some of these films had plots or themes that were too trippy to be appreciated or were so indie and low budget that no one knows about them. Others were released decades ago, were a little ahead of their time, and forgotten. All of these films are critically acclaimed and yet also financial bombs.
These films are not perfect, but their drawbacks never outweigh their creative ambitions in the least. Do you think you’ve seen all the great sci-fi films ever released within the last 20 years? Check out this list of 9 underrated, forgotten, and experimental; sci-films and make sure!
1. Upgrade (2018)
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Written and directed by Leigh Whannel, the co-creator of the Saw and Insidious horror franchises, Upgrade is an experimental cyberpunk/vigilante film. It also serves as a commentary on human beings slowly obsoleting themselves the more they trust technology. Logan Marshall-Green delivers an inspired lead performance as a quadriplegic given mobility through next-gen technology.
While critically acclaimed, Upgrade still bombed financially. The film is a dread-inducing treatise on how humanity is voluntarily or unwittingly erasing itself while A.I. becomes incrementally more advanced. The shock twist ending will live in your brain rent-free for a while after seeing it. This is one of the most underrated sci-fi films in decades.
2. Another Earth (2011)
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Another Earth is a slow-burn drama and low-budget sci-fi film that is virtually unknown to most general audiences. Writer Brit Marling stars as a teenage science prodigy, Rhonda, who causes a deadly car accident at the same moment that a parallel planet Earth appears in the sky. After serving a jail sentence, Rhonda makes a series of choices that change the life of a survivor of the car crash. The film explores themes of regret, survivor’s guilt, redemption, and the theory of alternate universes.
3. Predestination (2014)
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Predestination is one of the most high-concept and narratively complex sci-fi films ever made. A time-traveling agent personally engages in a series of mind-bending paradoxes that begin to wreak havoc on history and the mission of the agency that initially sent the agent. Sarah Snook (HBO’s Succession) and Ethan Hawke deliver stunning performances in an experimental sci-fi film that requires a lot of suspension of disbelief and attention from the viewer. You may need to watch it more than once to truly appreciate it.
4. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
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This film is based on a Philip K. Dick novel. Keanu Reeves gives a riveting performance as Bob Arctor, an undercover cop who sacrifices everything in a privacy-obsolete surveillance and dystopian police-state of a near-future America. The film is a commentary on police states, the human need to exchange liberty and privacy for the premise of security, and addiction culture.
The film is animated via a surrealistic and visually trippy technique called rotoscoping. The film also features standout performances from Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Rory Cochrane. Don’t let the trippy visuals deceive you into giving up on the film or overlooking its serious narrative theme.
5. Coherence (2013)
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Coherence is an ultra-low-budget drama and sci-fi film made with improvising actors, a plot outline and no script, no crew, and in the home and neighborhood of the filmmaker. The film is about a dinner party mysteriously thrust into chaos regarding alternate realities and doppelgangers after a comet passes overhead. The film deftly balances personal drama while exploring the ideas of how humanity would confront alternate realities and the consequences.
6. Strange Days (1995)
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Written by James Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Strange Days is a neo-noir and sci-fi film set in the waning days of 1998 before New Year’s 1999. Ralph Fiennes stars as Nero, a black-market dealer of a high-tech device that allows users to record the memories of others, as well as experience their recorded emotional and physical sensations, and watch it like a video.
Critics were divided and the film was a commercial flop that almost tainted Bigelow’s career. The film has since become one of the most underappreciated cult sci-fi films with savvy fans who know it exists. Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, and Angela Bassett also star in the film.
7. Colossal (2016)
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This is one of the most experimental black comedies, Kaiju, and sci-films ever made, it stars Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis in starring roles in a film most people are unaware exists. Hathaway and Sudekis star as Gloria and Oscar. They are emotionally immature alcoholics who discover that they have the ability to remotely control a Kaiju-sized monster and robot, respectively, that are causing destruction in South Korea via their emotions and physical movements. Hathaway and Sudeikis deliver attention-grabbing performances in a film that became obscenely underrated and completely forgotten a few years after release.
8. Primer (2004)
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Primer is one of the least known and underappreciated sci-films of the last 25 years, and with good reason. It is a low-budget psychological suspense and sci-fi film about two inventors who accidentally create a time travel device. They also deal with the consequences of the paradoxes they create while using it. The film is low on action and explores high-minded themes about time travel and philosophy regarding human nature.
The film was directed, written, produced, scored, and edited by one of the leads, Shane Carruth. Carruth is an engineer and mathematician who does not dumb down his screenplays for his audiences. Primer is a slow burn full of technical science jargon and experimental concepts that will be challenging to follow for short-attention span viewers, but worth it for those who embrace the film’s experimental narrative approach.
9. High Life (2018)
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Robert Pattinson is an A-list actor known for the Twilight films, portraying Batman, and starring in Tenet. Pattinson is also regarded for continually starring in indie, arthouse, and experimental films. High Life is a sci-fi and psychological thriller released in 2018, yet many sci-fi film fans may not even know it exists.
It’s about a group of criminals drafted as expendable astronauts in a deep space project. The astronauts are controlled by a morally bereft scientist who enables their anarchic and savage tendencies as order and control breaks down. The film can be unpleasant to watch as it examines the hesitancy of humanity to morally evolve as it simultaneously advances technology.
The Best Sci-Fi Films Could Be The Ones You Haven’t Seen or Hesitate to Watch
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Many sci-fi fans are bandwagon jumpers who check out a film once it becomes a cultural darling. True sci-fi fans take chances and are willing to watch films that challenge them and take them outside of their comfort zones.
You’ve seen your favorite sci-fi film scores hundreds of times by now. Check out the films on this list and potentially find a new sci-fi classic to cherish.
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Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
