Netflix has a beastly category of sci-fi movies in Australia — and by beastly, we mean big and seriously attention-grabbing. Let’s not waste any time getting to business then; these are the 5 best sci-fi movies available to stream on Netflix right now.
Dune
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, heir to a noble house thrust into a war for an inhospitable desert planet. He’s joined by an ensemble cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista and Zendaya. Dune Part 2 is due out later in 2023.
Nope
Jordan Peele’s sci-fi Western stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as horse-wrangling siblings attempting to record evidence of a UFO hiding in the clouds above their family ranch. An equal parts stellar and oddball supporting cast of characters includes Steven Yeun as Ricky “Jupe” Park. Nope explores our obsession with spectacle as well as our tendency to ignore the real people at the centre — especially when they’re not white.
Annihilation
Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac, Benedict Wong… The Annihilation cast is stacked, and that’s only one of the many reasons to watch it. Portman stars as Lena, a biologist and army veteran who heads up a desperate mission inside “the Shimmer”, an otherworldly fog that came from a fallen meteor. Nothing is as it seems inside the Shimmer. Lena and her team must survive physical and psychological dangers to uncover the Shimmer’s secrets and make it out alive.
Jung_E
This South Korean sci-fi film is set during a civil war between two factions of spacefaring humans. When a legendary mercenary of the Allied Forces is injured in combat, scientists — led by the mercenary’s daughter — clone her brain to create an android army that will win them the war. Fans of director Yeon Sang-ho’s previous work, which includes Train to Busan and Hellbound, will enjoy Jung_E and its themes of family, memory and artificial intelligence.
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Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s 2014 space epic is still one of the most imaginative and visually stunning sci-fi movies ever made. Set in the near future, when the climate crisis has caused a global famine and humans live at the mercy of dangerous weather phenomenon, a small team of astronauts travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity. With a cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine and Timothée Chalamet, and a memorable score by Hans Zimmer, Interstellar explores themes of love, family, home and our place in the universe.
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