Science fiction has always been a genre that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible, imagining futures and alternate realities that challenge our perceptions and make us think. And in 2023, sci-fi movies continued to innovate and inspire, delivering some of the most exciting, thought-provoking, and flat-out entertaining films of the year.
From big-budget blockbusters to indie gems, this year’s crop of sci-fi movies had something for everyone. We got long-awaited sequels to beloved franchises, original stories that introduced us to fascinating new worlds, and mind-bending films that left us questioning the nature of reality itself.
So without further ado, here are the 20 best science fiction movies of 2023 that pushed the genre to new heights:
1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s groundbreaking animated hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse somehow managed to top the original in every way. Across the Spider-Verse expanded on the multiverse concept, taking Miles Morales on a thrilling journey across dimensions where he encountered even more alternate universe versions of Spider-Man.
With jaw-dropping visuals that combined multiple animation styles, an emotionally resonant story about growing up and finding your place in the world(s), and one of the coolest third act twists in recent memory, Across the Spider-Verse solidified its place as an all-time great superhero movie and one of 2023’s best films, period.
2. Godzilla Minus One
After a string of hit-or-miss Hollywood Godzilla movies, Japan’s Toho Studios took back the reins of their most famous creation and delivered a Godzilla film for the ages with Godzilla Minus One. Set in post-war Japan, the film followed a former kamikaze pilot grappling with PTSD as he becomes entangled in the fight against a giant monster awakened by nuclear testing.
Godzilla Minus One stripped away the franchise’s campier elements to craft a dead-serious, visually stunning meditation on the horrors of war and atomic weapons. With spectacular monster action and surprising emotional depth, it was a triumphant return to form for the King of the Monsters.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Marvel’s cosmic misfits went out on a high note with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a funny, action-packed, and surprisingly poignant conclusion to James Gunn’s blockbuster trilogy. Vol. 3 found the Guardians grappling with their impending breakup while also delving into Rocket Raccoon’s tragic backstory.
Featuring all the irreverent humor, colorful characters, and rockin’ tunes we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but with higher emotional stakes and richer themes of found family, Vol. 3 was a fitting send-off for Marvel’s most lovable a-holes. The film also introduced one of the year’s breakout characters in Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock.
4. No One Will Save You
This low-budget sci-fi horror gem came out of nowhere to become one of 2023’s biggest word-of-mouth hits. No One Will Save You followed a young woman’s harrowing night alone in her rural home as she’s stalked by mysterious alien creatures.
With minimal dialogue and a riveting lead performance from Kaitlyn Dever, the movie wrung maximum tension out of its simple premise. The creature designs were memorable, the scares were earned, and the social commentary on isolation and abandonment cut deep. No One Will Save You proved you don’t need a massive budget to craft effective, thought-provoking sci-fi.
5. Asteroid City
Idiosyncratic auteur Wes Anderson ventured into sci-fi territory for the first time with Asteroid City, and the results were predictably delightful. Set in a 1950s desert town where various characters converge for a Junior Stargazer convention, the film used an alien encounter to explore themes of connection and wonder with Anderson’s signature dry wit and meticulous visual style.
The stacked ensemble cast (including Anderson regulars like Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray) was terrific, and the film’s climactic stop-motion UFO sequence was one of the year’s most awe-inspiring movie moments. Asteroid City proved that Anderson’s singular sensibilities could enrich any genre.
6. They Cloned Tyrone
This wild, ambitious directorial debut from Juel Taylor was a lot of things at once: a satirical comedy, a paranoid thriller, a searing social commentary. But above all, They Cloned Tyrone was a blast – a stylish, fast-paced romp with big ideas on its mind.
The film followed an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and a scene-stealing Jamie Foxx) who uncover a sinister government cloning conspiracy in their neighborhood. While often very funny, the movie had serious things to say about racism, inequality, and the ways those with power exploit the marginalized. They Cloned Tyrone announced Taylor as a major new voice in sci-fi filmmaking.
7. Poor Things
The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos returned with another twisted period piece in Poor Things, a deranged riff on Frankenstein that pushed its premise to wild extremes. The film starred Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a woman who drowns herself to escape an abusive marriage, only to be resurrected by an eccentric scientist who transplants her brain into the body of her unborn child.
As bonkers as that synopsis sounds, Poor Things only got weirder from there, spinning an audacious tale of identity, autonomy, and the lengths we’ll go for a second chance at life. It was a testament to Lanthimos’ singular vision and his cast’s fearless commitment that they made this bizarre story so darkly compelling.
8. Landscape with Invisible Hand
Based on the novel by M.T. Anderson, Landscape with Invisible Hand used a sci-fi lens to offer a biting satire of gig economy culture and income inequality. Set in a near future where an alien takeover has upended the economy, the film followed a teenage artist forced to livestream his romance for an alien audience’s entertainment to make ends meet.
With sharp, darkly funny insights into the ways technology and capitalism can dehumanize us, Landscape painted a portrait of a society not too far removed from our own, where everything, even our most intimate relationships, can be commodified for profit. Leads Asante Blackk and Kylie Rogers anchored the film with authentic, heartfelt performances.
9. The Creator
Rogue One director Gareth Edwards returned to sci-fi with this gripping, contemplative film about an AI uprising in a war-torn future. The Creator followed an ex-special forces agent tasked with hunting down the elusive AI who orchestrated an attack, only to question his mission when he discovers the AI has built itself a child-like android companion.
With its mix of propulsive action and soulful ruminations on the nature of humanity, The Creator felt like the sci-fi movie Terminator: Dark Fate wanted to be. John David Washington delivered a commanding lead performance, Gemma Chan was chilling as the voice of the AI, and the special effects, especially on the AI “child,” were top-notch.
10. Rebel Moon
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon was pretty much exactly what you’d expect from the title and director: a bombastic sci-fi epic with stylized action, eye-popping visuals, and the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. Sofia Boutella starred as the leader of a peaceful space colony who seeks the help of intergalactic warriors to defend her people from the armies of a tyrannical regent.
Was the plot basically Seven Samurai meets Star Wars? Sure. But Snyder’s eye for striking imagery and knack for staging thrilling set-pieces made Rebel Moon a blast to watch on the biggest screen possible. Sometimes you just want to see badass space heroes wield cool weapons in a fight to save the galaxy, and on that front, Rebel Moon more than delivered.
11. Ursa Major
This contemplative, lo-fi indie used a sci-fi premise to explore the human need for connection. Set aboard a spaceship on a century-long journey to colonize a new planet, Ursa Major focused on two crew members who begin an illicit romance, defying the ship’s protocols around relationships. With its minimalist aesthetic, poetic dialogue, and captivating lead performances from Eden Brolin and Chinaza Uche, Ursa Major was a moving, intimate story about love and loneliness at the edge of the universe.
12. Rubikon
An Austrian sci-fi thriller that grappled with weighty moral dilemmas, Rubikon trapped its characters aboard a space station after a toxic fog envelops the Earth, rendering the planet’s surface uninhabitable. As supplies dwindle and tensions mount, the crew must decide whether to risk a return to Earth or stay in orbit, potentially dooming humanity’s last survivors. With its claustrophobic setting, complex character dynamics, and thought-provoking ending, Rubikon was an engrossing slow-burn that left viewers pondering what they would do in an impossible situation.
13. Augmented
Augmented took place in a recognizable near-future where advanced AR technology has transformed every facet of life. The film followed a teenager who receives a powerful new AR implant and discovers a hidden world of corporate conspiracies and resistance fighters literally invisible to the naked eye. Though it treaded familiar cyberpunk territory, Augmented stood out for its inventive visual style, which ingeniously translated AR displays into dynamic cinematography. The film’s vision of a world mediated by technology felt unnervingly plausible.
14. In the Blink of an Eye
This high-concept thriller explored the ramifications of a scientist’s invention that allows people to pause time for everyone but themselves. Though the potential for abuse is obvious, the story focused more on the philosophical and emotional implications of having the power to step outside the normal flow of time. In the Blink of an Eye built to a powerful climax as its protagonist grappled with the morality of playing god and the isolating effects of living in a world where no one else can share your experience.
15. Restoration
Restoration was set in a future where humans can upload their consciousness into new bodies, essentially achieving immortality – for a price. The film centered on a working-class woman who takes a job at a “restoration” clinic to save up for her own procedure, only to uncover a black market where the wealthy steal bodies from the poor. With shades of Gattaca and Altered Carbon, Restoration used its premise to craft a gripping neo-noir thriller that critiqued class inequities and the commodification of the human body.
16. The Trespasser
Filmmaker Kogonada followed up his acclaimed After Yang with this eerie, atmospheric alien invasion story. The Trespasser focused on a family living in a remote cabin as strange occurrences – missing time, ghostly apparitions, impossible transmissions – suggest they’re being visited by extraterrestrial forces. Kogonada kept the sci-fi elements subtle and unsettling, using long takes and pregnant silences to create an almost unbearable sense of dread. The result was a slow-burn chiller that rewarded patient viewers.
17. Goliath
This South Korean kaiju movie put a fresh spin on a familiar genre with its tale of a disgraced scientist who discovers that a mining company’s reckless drilling has awakened a long-dormant giant monster. Rather than the military might of the typical kaiju film, Goliath focused on ordinary citizens banding together to expose the company’s malfeasance and find a way to stop the creature’s rampage. With cutting-edge creature effects and a potent environmentalist message, Goliath was the rare monster movie with brains and heart to match its spectacle.
18. Minor Alterations
This comedic drama used a Sliding Doors-esque premise to imagine the different paths a woman’s life could take after she’s offered an experimental memory-altering procedure. In one timeline, she accepts the treatment and seems to get everything she ever wanted. In the other, she declines and must confront her regrets and insecurities head-on. Minor Alterations playfully explored questions of identity, memory, and the road not taken, with charming dual performances from Geraldine Viswanathan as the film’s divergent heroines.
19. Glitch
In this mind-bending psychological thriller, a rideshare driver starts to suspect his app is manipulating him and his passengers after a series of increasingly surreal and dangerous trips. Glitch kept viewers guessing as to whether its protagonist was losing his mind or caught in a sinister technological conspiracy, using trippy visuals and a unreliable narrator to constantly upend expectations. With shades of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror, Glitch tapped into modern anxieties about the all-consuming influence of technology and algorithms on our lives.
20. Offworld
In a year full of uncertainty and upheaval, we needed the transporting power of great science fiction more than ever. And these 20 films delivered in spades, offering visions of the future that were by turns wondrous, terrifying, and inspiring. They pushed the boundaries of what’s possible on screen and in our collective imagination. They proved that science fiction still has the power to awe us, to unsettle us, and to show us who we are and who we could be, for better or worse.
As we look ahead to the sci-fi movies of 2024 and beyond, these films set an incredibly high bar. But if the genre’s history is any indication, the future of science fiction is in good hands. As long as there are filmmakers willing to dream big, take risks, and use the tools of the genre to grapple with the biggest questions facing humanity, science fiction will remain a vital and necessary art form. The 20 best sci-fi movies of 2023 boldly led the way into that future – and I for one can’t wait to see where the genre takes us next.
