5 Modern Sci-Fi Masterpieces Not Enough People Talk About

In the 21st century, there have been some major sci-fi movies that enthralled audiences, including the recent blockbuster Project Hail Mary. However, for every critically acclaimed movie like Arrival and big blockbusters like Dune, there are several smaller sci-fi movies that end up as masterpieces in their own right, even though not enough people talk about them. These movies include dystopian sci-fi thrillers, giant monster movies made on a minuscule budget, and time travel movies that break all the rules but still remain highly complex and entertaining films. The good news is that most of these underrated sci-fi masterpieces are still available to discover thanks to streaming.

Here is a look at five underrated sci-fi masterpieces released since 2000 that not enough people talk about.

5) Equilibrium (2002)

Equilibrium was released in 2002 and ended up as a box office failure, only making $5.3 million worldwide. Much of its failure at the box office likely came from its lackluster reviews, which averaged only 40% from critics. However, with an 81% audience score, it is clear that this movie not only became a cult classic but is also an underrated masterpiece.

The movie is a dystopian thriller set in a world where all emotion is forbidden, and all citizens have to take medications suppressing those emotions. The government also set out to destroy all books, art, and music. The lead characters are two Clerics who enforce these laws until one of them begins to redevelop his own emotions. The film used choreography that included gun fu, and while some called it a rip-off of The Matrix, it remained a stylish sci-fi action movie.

4) Monsters (2010)

Gareth Edwards proved what he could accomplish with no money when he directed the sci-fi movie Monsters in 2010. The movie starred Scoot McNairy as a photographer sent into a quarantined zone on the United States/Mexico border, where humans have been battling monsters for years, to save the daughter of his employer. When he gets there and finds her, the two have to find a way back home despite monsters hunting and killing all humans.

What was most impressive was that Edwards made the movie for $500,000, and that is because he created his own CGI for the movie rather than hiring a team, and he made something that looked like it cost tens of millions of dollars. The film was a success, making over $5 million worldwide and earning a 75% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. Edwards used the success to catapult himself to direct sci-fi blockbusters like Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Jurassic World Rebirth.

3) Timecrimes (2007)

In 2007, Nacho Vigalondo directed Timecrimes, a Spanish-language sci-fi thriller that involves a time loop that changes the rules of the genre. The film sees a man named Héctor and his wife, Clara, at their home in the forest. However, when he finds a woman in the forest unconscious, a masked man attacks him. The movie then proves to be a time loop where the same man continues to travel back in time only to find himself confronting himself.

The film then sees more and more versions of Héctor show up, and he has to find a way to stop these anomalies from appearing. It has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and a 79% from the audience, although most negative reviews complained it was a hard movie to follow. That complex plot makes it such a cult favorite for sci-fi fans.

2) Moon (2009)

Moon is Duncan Jones’ debut film, and the son of rock star David Bowie delivered a masterclass of sci-fi cinema with Sam Rockwell starring in an almost one-man show. The plot sees Rockwell starring as a man serving a three-year mission on the moon by himself. However, when he almost dies in an accident, he encounters a duplicate of himself and begins to question his own reality.

With a $5 million budget, Moon made $9.8 million at the box office and has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score and an 89% score from the audience. Jones won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, and it earned him the chance to make a bigger budget sci-fi movie with Source Code.

1) Predestination (2014)

Michael and Peter Spierig directed the 2014 Australian sci-fi thriller Predestination. The film stars Ethan Hawke, who re-teamed with the directors of his vampire movie, Daybreakers, for this time-travel sci-fi movie. Hawke stars as a time-traveling agent who is sent on one last mission before his retirement so he can help stop a terrorist. However, this is one of the most confusing time travel movies ever made.

As with most films in the sci-fi subgenre, the time-traveling in this movie creates a paradox that changes everything. There is also a major twist at the end that changes everything the viewers watched up to that point, making it a perfect movie to rewatch multiple times. It is a true sci-fi masterpiece, and more people need to be talking about it.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

3 Cancelled Sci-Fi Movies We Deserved To See