Sci-Fi Dramas on Netflix
Last updated December 11, 2023
Donnie Darko
2001 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsWriter-director Richard Kelly's trippy, mind-bending feature debut stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled Midwestern teenager plagued by incessant sleepwalking, family drama and visions of a menacing 6-foot-tall, doomsday-prophesying rabbit. Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle also star in this dark and intriguing psychological fantasy that swiftly earned a cult following.
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Equilibrium
2002 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with an emotion-suppressing drug, and "sense offenses" are punishable by death. When an enforcer skips a dose of the medication, it stirs in him a desire to revolt.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsA humanoid envoy from another world lands in Washington, D.C., with a warning to Earth's people to cease their violent behavior. But panic erupts when a nervous soldier shoots the messenger, and his robot companion tries to destroy the capital.
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The Host
2013 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsWhen an alien race implants a parasite soul named Wanderer into Melanie Stryder's body, she resists the takeover. Soon, Melanie and Wanderer become reluctant allies as they go on a quest to track down the men they love in this sci-fi thriller.
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Atlas Shrugged: Part II
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsThe second installment of the Atlas Shrugged trilogy finds the world's economy in dire straits, prompting corporate protagonist Dagny Taggart to search for a solution amid the rubble of a long-abandoned factory.
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Upside Down
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAdam lives on a poverty-stricken world, while Eden is from its affluent twin planet, and their love sparks an interplanetary incident. Social stigma, family and government forces work to keep them apart, but they'll stop at nothing to be together.
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Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
2011 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAyn Rand's controversial bestseller is the basis for this potent drama about Dagny Taggart, a fiercely independent railroad tycoon determined to use innovative technology and enterprising partners to revive her business, no matter the personal cost.
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Slaughterhouse-Five
1972 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsKurt Vonnegut's multilayered novel makes it to the big screen as a haunting elegy involving Billie Pilgrim, who survives the horrific firebombing of Dresden during World War II and subsequently lives out simultaneous lives in the past and present.
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Upstream Color
2013 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA woman is abducted and hypnotized with material harvested from a flower. When she falls for a man, the two realize they have been subjected to the same process. Together, they search for safety as they struggle to reassemble their wrecked lives.
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The Road
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsSet in a postapocalyptic future, this end-of-days tale follows two survivors, a father and son, who navigate an ash-covered wasteland in search of a better life -- with only a sliver of hope that salvation awaits them at the end of their journey.
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The Man from Earth
2007 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsRenowned sci-fi writer Jerome Bixby penned the script for this thought-provoking film starring David Lee Smith as John Oldman, a college professor who reveals to his colleagues that he's actually a centuries-old caveman. And so begins a captivating philosophical meditation on immortality, the last work from screenwriter Bixby, who earned career accolades for his contributions to such genre-defining shows as "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone."
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAfter learning that his ex-girlfriend had an experimental medical procedure to purge all memories of him, a man decides to do the same with her. But during the operation, he realizes he doesn't want to lose what's left of their relationship.
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Fire in the Sky
1993 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhile driving through the countryside with his friends, Travis Walton is struck by a bolt of energy beaming from the sky and then disappears for days. When he returns, he claims he was abducted by aliens and spent the week on their ship.
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The Penitent Man
2010 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsDr. Jason Pratt is at a crossroads with his life. When one of his clients, the mysterious Mr. Darnell, walks into his office and paints him a repentant tale of future economic and moral collapse, Jason's eyes are forever opened.
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Special
2006 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsEnrolling in a drug study to spice up his humdrum life as a low-paid meter reader, Les Franken begins taking an experimental antidepressant, which proves to have a few unexpected side effects. Convinced that he's actually developing special powers that can be used to fight evil, Les decides to quit his day job and focus on being a superhero despite his doctor's professional opinion that his abilities are all in his mind.
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Millennium
1989 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAs investigator Bill Smith sifts through the wreckage of two jumbo jets, cryptic clues from flight attendant Louise lead to a startling discovery: Louise has come from the future to repopulate her dying civilization by abducting doomed passengers.
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The Freedom of Silence
2012 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsIt's the year 2030, and the government has outlawed Christianity. Enter Zach Thompson, a brave man who teams up with a friend to hack into the government's computer system to reclaim religious freedom for Americans.
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Iceman
1984 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsWhen a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal is thawed out of the ice during a scientific expedition and begins to function again, anthropologist Stanley Shepard winds up in a desperate fight to keep his new friend from becoming the center of a media circus.
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Fetching Cody
2005 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsDistraught over his drug-addicted girlfriend, who's overdosed and fallen into a coma, small-time dope peddler Art uses a time machine to journey into the past in a desperate gamble to change her future.
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Alien Visitor
1995 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsA gorgeous female alien is erroneously sent to Earth from the planet Epsilon. Landing in the Aussie outback, she meets an outgoing surveyor, and the duo traverses the continent -- with the Epsilonian berating him for humans' ecological recklessness.
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Lunopolis
2009 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn a classic sci-fi thriller setup, two independent filmmakers uncover a powerful secret organization controlled by aliens living on the moon. With Earth's future at stake, the pair gathers proof of government ties to the extraterrestrial conspiracy.
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Silent Running
1971 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn a ruined future in which huge, orbiting spaceships preserve the last remaining trees from pollution and overcrowding on Earth, everyman botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) receives an order to destroy the trees. He refuses, but his actions set him up against his superiorsand fellow crew members. Special-effects titan Douglas Trumbull directs this cult-status gem known for its innovative effects and powerful social themes.
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The Man Who Fell to Earth
1987 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsIn this reimagining of the sci-fi classic, humanoid alien John Dory's (Lewis Smith) ship crashes on Earth. When our science can't fix the craft, Dory enters the business world and rises to the top of the tech industry. His race to complete the repairs is dogged by sinister government agents, and nearly cut short altogether by his attraction to a single mother (Beverly D'Angelo). Wil Wheaton, Annie Potts, Bruce McGill, and Robert Picardo co-star.
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Zenith
2010 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsIn a hellish future where human beings have become stupefied by the state of permanent happiness they have been genetically altered to experience, Jack (Peter Scanavino) offers relief via drugs that cause his customers the welcome phenomenon of pain. But when Jack receives a mysterious videotape of his dead father, he sets out to unmask the dangerous conspiracy that has created this dystopian world. Vladan Nikolic helms this innovative drama.
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Stranded
2002 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsSpace travel's biggest accomplishment is about to be its biggest disaster when a team of astronauts on the inaugural mission to Mars crashes onto the surface of the Red Planet, losing contact with Earth. With no other recourse and help millions of miles away, the crew is forced to make unimaginable choices in order to stay alive. Will they be able to survive as the minutes -- and oxygen -- slowly slip away?
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