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2022-09-23 20:57:34

The Sci-Fi Agenda Thethinking person’sguideto sciencefictioncinema Movies Articles About Contact The Sci-Fi Agenda is an ongoing curated collection of notable science fiction films in recent times, meaning worth seeing for one reason or another. They range from simple dramas to complex mind-benders, micro to macro, surreal to hyper-realistic, but they all explore compelling ideas, which is what makes them good science fiction in the first place. Movies marked with ★ pass the Bechdel test and those with ★ are from outside the United States. The list is sorted roughly in order of good × interesting. But you should see all of them. Make this your sci-fi agenda. Sort by: Rating Rating Date released Date added Filter: Show all Show all Show only films that pass the Bechdel test Show only films from outside the US Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind MichelGondry, 2004 Former lovers restart their relationship in reverse after mutual memory erase through shady brain firm. Brazil ★ TerryGilliam, 1985 Daydreaming pencil-pusher joins forces with clandestine duct repairman to find mirage girl in Orwellian office maze. Her SpikeJonze, 2013 Semi-depressed personal-card-as-a-service hipster Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with operating system entity. Coherence ★ JamesWardByrkit, 2013 Leaps of labyrinthine logic when already awkward dinner party enters entangled quantum state due to passing comet. The Vast of Night ★ AndrewPatterson, 2019 Two young tech enthusiasts in 1950s New Mexico go hunting tapes after uncovering haunting radio signals with an obscure history. Ex Machina AlexGarland, 2015 Gifted engineer invited by wealthy wizard executive to Turing test humanoid AI at forest tech monastery. The Endless JustinBenson and AaronMoorhead, 2017 Mystery video tape sends brothers back to childhood cult or commune under the spell of strange physics. Moon ★ DuncanJones, 2009 Sam Rockwell battles severe loneliness and weak communications during solo mining mission on the Moon. Arrival ★ DenisVilleneuve, 2016 Grieving linguist faced with exercise in circular comprehension after enigmatic spacecraft appear around the world. Melancholia ★ ★ LarsvonTrier, 2011 Spectacular cinematography of worn out Kirsten Dunst with doubts during own wedding as looming rogue planet nears Earth. Donnie Darko ★ RichardKelly, 2001 Troubled teenager faces fate and flying jet engines and converses apocalyptic rabbit on the philosophy of time travel. District 9 NeillBlomkamp, 2009 Bureaucrat assigned relocation of alien outcasts from Johannesburg ghetto in smart xenophobia allegory. 12 Monkeys TerryGilliam, 1995 Bruce Willis goes back in time to stop eco-terrorists from ruining Earth in brilliant expansion on still short Lajetée. The Man from Earth RichardSchenkman, 2007 Professor claims to be ancient at impromptu farewell gathering with cross-disciplinary group of colleagues and disciples. Upgrade LeighWhannell, 2018 Tech-averse mechanic reluctantly agrees to cybernetic implant for a chance at avenging his murdered wife. Annihilation ★ ★ AlexGarland, 2018 Biologist leads exploratory scientist team into curious and confusing environmental will-o’-the-wisp in search for missing husband. Upstream Color ShaneCarruth, 2013 Strange substance travels through larvae, orchids, pigs and people in poetic weave by the director of Primer. Sorry to Bother You Boots Riley, 2018 Race relations and workplace politics in dark comedy on the logical conclusions of scientific corporatocracy. Gattaca AndrewNiccol, 1997 Natural born swimmer assumes stealth genotype in hope of going to space in brave new world of eugenics. Predestination ★ ★ Michael and PeterSpierig, 2014 Ethan Hawke as bartending time traveler setting lives in motion while on final duty to track down elusive bomber. Last Night ★ DonMcKellar, 1998 Widower’s solitude interrupted by woman looking for lost suicide pact partner during Earth’s last few hours. Primer ShaneCarruth, 2004 Breakdown of spacetime and personal relations after serendipitous revelation in one of the most mind-bending movies ever. The Lobster ★ ★ YorgosLanthimos, 2015 Lone singles end up in remote hotel for relationship conditioning under threat of being turned into animals. Under the Skin ★ JonathanGlazer, 2013 Clever usage of hidden cameras as humanly disguised alien seductress picks up men around streets of Scotland. Timecrimes ★ NachoVigalondo, 2007 Peeping tom becomes own pawn when trapped in cycle of events at high-tech skunkworks lab up the hill. Open Your Eyes ★ AlejandroAmenábar, 1997 Young man car-crashed into facial disfigurement by manic ex-lover ends up in dreamlike state of altered reality in levels. Frequencies ★ ★ DarrenPaulFisher, 2013 Metaphysical love story and fate versus free will struggle in class society determined by frequencies. Anya ★ CarylannaTaylor and JacobAkiraOkada, 2019 Newlyweds in fertility trouble seek aid of enthusiastic geneticist to solve DNA-driven bloodline mystery. Videodrome ★ DavidCronenberg, 1983 One man’s gory pursuit of mastermind behind sensational snuff broadcast that turns out to be neurolinguistic programming. The Double ★ RichardAyoade, 2013 Office worker in a rut gets more excitement than he asked for in doppelgänger drama based on Dostoyevsky novella. Spring JustinBenson and AaronMoorhead, 2014 Young American adrift in southern Italy ends up in primordial romance with secretive lady of fine lineage. H. RaniaAttieh and DanielGarcia, 2014 Fleeting fragments from two Helens of Troy at odds with loss in modern mythology of meteors and motherhood. The Congress ★ ★ AriFolman, 2013 Multi-level metafilm/acid trip on society’s escalation of escapism, based on The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem. Starship Troopers ★ PaulVerhoeven, 1997 Teens sent to wage interstellar war on arachnids in subtle and not-so-subtle satire on fascism and propaganda. Evolution ★ LucileHadžihalilović, 2015 Boys become experiment in wake of unknown sickness in strange seaside village inhabited solely by women. Advantageous ★ JenniferPhang, 2015 Single mother in a future of super-children and rapidly diminishing job count explores the prospects of body sacrifice. The Sticky Fingers of Time ★ HilaryBrougher, 1997 Pulp author covering hydrogen bomb test in the 1950’s gains time travel capabilities and meets present day spawn. Strange Days ★ KathrynBigelow, 1995 Ex-cop uncovers plot around hard currency of illegal cortex recordings in unrestful Los Angeles at turn of the millennium. I Origins ★ MikeCahill, 2014 Eye scientist on crusade against creationism stumbles upon deep discovery and meets mysterious love interest. Another Earth ★ MikeCahill, 2011 Astronomer distracted by duplicate Earth encounter causes tragedy and misses MIT in favor of cleaning up aftermath. eXistenZ ★ DavidCronenberg, 1999 Biotech body horror in a future of increasingly immersive virtual reality where gamers versus realists battle it out. Sound of My Voice ★ ZalBatmanglij, 2011 Covert documentary maker couple infiltrate seclusive sect surrounding charismatic leader claiming to be from the future. Europa Report ★ SebastiánCordero, 2013 Intimate space ship interiors from found footage of manned mission to Jupiter’s moons in search for extra-terrestrial life. Never Let Me Go ★ ★ MarkRomanek, 2010 Trio coming of age at strangely isolated boarding school in alternate history where life extension happened. The Laplace’s Demon ★ GiordanoGiulivi, 2017 Determined research group with entropic breakthrough in their bag visits the island castle of a madman and his deadly contraptions. A Scanner Darkly RichardLinklater, 2006 Shapeshifting surveillance agent in undercover drug lord operation becomes addicted to Substance D in Philip K. Dick story. Cosmos ZanderWeaver and ElliotWeaver, 2019 Three astro-nuts with frictional past camp out in car on observatory all-nighter listening for strange space signals. Cold Souls SophieBarthes, 2009 Captured spirits and soul-searching in Saint Petersburg as Paul Giamatti plays himself on the verge of total theatrical uninspiration. Limitless NeilBurger, 2011 Struggling author rids writer’s block with pilot nootropics and advances into finance while watched by the wrong people. OtherLife ★ BenC.Lucas, 2017 Biotech genius develops total simulation substance with the potential of severe time dilation and struggles to keep it from the wrong hands. Extracted NirPaniry, 2012 Scientist trips down unreliable memory lane of alleged murderer through mind extraction machinery of own invention. Embers ClaireCarré, 2015 Newfound lovers/strangers in desolation wander about on amnesic repeat caused by mysterious global disease. The Quiet Earth ★ GeoffMurphy, 1985 Energy science lab rat tries to trump despair and seek explanations after awakening to a world devoid of people. Travelling Salesman TimothyLanzone, 2012 Mathematicians make computational complexity breakthrough in π-fi chamber play on the ethics of scientific progress. Splice ★ ★ VincenzoNatali, 2009 Biohacker couple of ambiguous moral fiber in sudden parenthood when illicit gene splicing pet project goes awry. Little Joe ★ ★ JessicaHausner, 2019 Triffid throwback in plant-based pastel on the symbiotic merits and morals of genetically modified organisms. Cube ★ ★ VincenzoNatali, 1997 Rational thinking under stress when group of strangers wake up in never-ending cubic deathtrap rigged with math. Realive ★ MateoGil, 2016 Notable designer wakes up in the future after opting out of terminal cancer through experimental and arguably successful cryostasis. The Quiet Hour ★ ★ StéphanieJoalland, 2014 Strong sister and blind brother keep up and out in expertly scored story of survival after alien invasion. Robot Stories ★ GregPak, 2003 Makers and machine love in four-part anthology on the limits and possibilities of human-robot interaction. Stranded ★ ★ MaríaLidón, 2001 Vastly underrated down-to-earth exploration of Mars after pioneer crew crash-lands in crater on limited life support. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Lorene Scafaria, 2012 Collapsing and newfound relations in apocalyptic road movie about earth on the brink of destruction due to asteroid Matilda. Sleep Dealer AlexRivera, 2008 Drone strike surviving village teen hacker meets memory author in Tijuana when looking for fortune in telerobotics. Vanishing Waves ★ KristinaBuožytė, 2012 Surreal erotic encounters as one conscious test subject travels mind of comatose other under not-so-controlled conditions. Cypher ★ VincenzoNatali, 2002 Spiritless accountant goes into corporate espionage and discovers business convention brainwashing scheme. Uncanny MatthewLeutwyler, 2015 Ex-engineer science writer spends week at solitary lab for interviews with prodigal inventor and the AI creation Adam. The Beyond ★ ★ HasrafDulull, 2017 Robotisised astronauts are sent through just discovered wormhole to bring back news of the mysterious unknown. S1m0ne ★ AndrewNiccol, 2002 Director has-been replaces quitting leading diva with computer simulation that keeps outshining his own career. The Box ★ RichardKelly, 2009 NASA engineer and wife go down morally dubious path paved with supernatural occurrences after pushing a button. Self/less TarsemSingh, 2015 Prosperous property developer attempts escape from elderness through supposedly safe mind uploading to younger body. Want thoughtful sci-fi movie recommendations every now and then? Sign up for the newsletter: If you use an RSS reader or want to extract structured data from this website there is a feed updated whenever movies are added. Wield it wisely. Letterboxd user? The Sci-Fi Agenda is mirrored here to help you rate and keep track of films. (The list is also mirrored on IMDb.) This website uses cookies and by visiting you imply you’re cool with it, see the legal page for more info. Got it, hide this notice »