From sprawling space sagas to intimate tales of love and loss in impossible worlds, science fiction has given us some of cinema’s most enduring treasures. This is the genre that dares to ask “what if?” – and then paints the answer in dazzling, sometimes unsettling detail. Our hand-picked list of 25 must-see sci-fi films from the last century takes you from the farthest reaches of the galaxy to the innermost corners of the human heart. Some will blow your mind, some might break it a little – all are worth the journey.
Artificial Intelligence (2001)
A collaboration born of two masters: Stanley Kubrick, who dreamt it, and Steven Spielberg, who finished it. In a future reshaped by climate change, humanoid robots – or “mecas” – serve human needs. But when one childlike machine learns to love, his quest becomes a haunting parable about what it means to be real.
Avatar (2009)
James Cameron’s lush, eco-conscious epic needs no introduction. Follow Jake Sully’s journey into the world of Pandora, where the vibrant Na’Vi resist relentless human exploitation. A rare blockbuster where visual effects, story and emotional heft all hit the mark.
Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)
Tom Cruise relives the same doomed day of alien warfare over and over – until Emily Blunt’s battle-hardened soldier shows him the way forward. Smart, funny and as addictive as the best video game.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up to Ridley Scott’s classic is a brooding meditation on memory, mortality and the blurred line between human and machine. Gorgeous to look at, even better to think about.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Teen angst meets time travel in Richard Kelly’s cult masterpiece. Jake Gyllenhaal, a giant rabbit called Frank and the promise of the world ending in 28 days – what’s not to love?
Dune: Part One (2021)
Villeneuve again, this time tackling Frank Herbert’s “unfilmable” novel. The result? Majestic, deliberate world-building, where politics, prophecy and sandworms collide.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
An Oscar-sweeping multiverse adventure where Michelle Yeoh’s laundrette owner discovers infinite versions of herself. Chaotic, heartfelt, and utterly original.
Ex Machina (2014)
A tense, intimate three-hander between a young coder, a reclusive tech genius and an unnervingly human AI. It’s beautiful, chilly – and quietly terrifying.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman weave a romance through the corridors of memory itself. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet give heartbreaking turns in a tale of love, loss and selective forgetting.
Her (2013)
In a soft-hued future Los Angeles, Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with his operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Sweet, strange, and unexpectedly moving.
Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan sends Matthew McConaughey through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. A cosmic adventure rooted in the simplest, strongest force: love.
Children Of Men (2006)
Alfonso Cuarón’s harrowing vision of a sterile future Britain feels chillingly plausible. Clive Owen’s reluctant hero navigates a collapsing society in one of cinema’s great single-shot sequences.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Two hours of near-continuous chase scenes, led by Charlize Theron’s Furiosa. Under the dust and engine roar lies a fierce feminist rallying cry.
Metropolis (2001)
Osamu Tezuka’s manga reimagined as an animated epic. A towering city, rigid class divides and an android girl caught in the middle.
Minority Report (2002)
Spielberg again, this time predicting a future of surveillance and “pre-crime” policing. Tom Cruise runs – a lot – but never from the film’s thorny ethical questions.
Nope (2022)
Jordan Peele blends UFO thrills with Hollywood satire in this eerie tale of siblings facing down a predator in the clouds.
Paprika (2006)
Satoshi Kon’s dream-hopping masterpiece, where stolen tech turns nightmares into reality. Visually dazzling and mind-bending.
Arrival (2016)
Amy Adams plays a linguist racing to communicate with alien visitors. Villeneuve keeps the tech low-key, the emotions high, and the reveals deeply satisfying.
Snowpiercer (2013)
In Bong Joon-ho’s icy apocalypse, the last survivors circle the globe on a train – until a rebellion begins in the tail cars.
Under The Skin (2013)
Scarlett Johansson is otherworldly in Jonathan Glazer’s hypnotic, unsettling tale of a predatory alien roaming Scotland.
Wall-E (2008)
Pixar’s silent opening act is a masterclass in visual storytelling. The lonely little waste-collector robot becomes an unlikely environmental hero.
2046 (2004)
Wong Kar-wai blurs time, love and memory in this languid sequel-of-sorts to “In the Mood for Love.”
Melancholia (2011)
Lars von Trier’s devastating vision of depression personified as an approaching planet. Kirsten Dunst is unforgettable.
Mars Express (2023)
French animation at its finest: a detective duo – one human, one robotic – unravelling conspiracies in a Martian megacity.
