This article highlights the top sci-fi films of the last six years, including 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines', 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', 'Godzilla Minus One', 'Dune: Part Two', and 'Poor Things'. It discusses their unique qualities, themes, and impact on the genre.
If there's one genre that has had an absolutely exceptional run over the course of the last six years, it's science fiction . These stories take premises of space exploration, speculative future societies, and hyper-advanced technologies, and turn them into stories that have plenty of thought-provoking things to say about contemporary society.
Whether it's a space opera, a kaiju creature feature, a time travel film, or some other kind of story altogether, a well-made sci-fi film has the potential to be one of the most successful and beloved genre films of its time. Indeed, from 2021 until the present, there have been some undeniably masterful sci-fi films of all sorts.
From family films like The Mitchells vs. the Machines to more mature blockbusters like Dune: Part Two, these films have re-defined what the genre is capable of doing in the modern day. However, even a year with over a dozen sci-fi masterpieces is bound to have one that stands out above the rest.
Every year, one particular sci-fi film comes out that puts all the others to shame, one that's particularly likely to be remembered as a classic of the genre many decades from now. 6 2021: 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines' Sony Pictures Animation has been putting out some genuinely incredible work since they took the world by storm with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. In 2021, with the world still right in the midst of a global pandemic, they proved that they still had the sauce with The Mitchells vs. the Machines, one of the most near-perfect sci-fi movies of the last six years.
With some of the most stunning and vibrant visuals of any animated film in recent memory and an ensemble of instantly endearing characters, it's still a must-see for families of science fiction fans five years after its release on Netflix. It feels like a family film designed entirely for post-COVID tastes, a hyperkinetic romp that, for better or worse, never seems to care about slowing down.
It's a cautionary tale against the dangers of AI whose themes have aged like fine wine, bolstered by a standout voice cast and a perfectly-plotted story full of heart and humor. Though movies like Dune and Spider-Man: No Way Home also re-defined 2020s science fiction, this family masterpiece directed with unparalleled energy and joy by Mike Rianda remains the best sci-fi film of the year. 5 2022: 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Every awards season, there's at least one movie that seems to come out of nowhere.
Back during the 2022-23 awards season, it was actually the eventual Best Picture Academy Award winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once, that became that film. Mega-ambitious and packed with absurdist humor, this indie darling was never exactly the sort of movie that screamed"awards;" but if its tremendous success throughout the whole season is proof of anything, it's that the world is ready for more of these kinds of fresh, innovative stories that aren't afraid to be unabashedly quirky and unique.
Everything Everywhere is also one of the best action movies of the last six years, a martial arts extravaganza mixed with elements of fantasy, family dramedy, and—of course—pure multiverse-traveling science fiction. Multiverse stories have been all the rage since the end of the MCU's Infinity Saga, and Everything Everywhere is arguably the best of the bunch.
Exquisitely action-packed and supported by Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan delivering two of the most memorable performances of 2020s cinema thus far, it's a beautifully emotional and irresistibly funny existentialist comedy whose high ambitions never stop it from being silly and having fun with itself. Though more conventional sci-fi films like Nope and Prey were also phenomenal, they were no Everything Everywhere. 4 2023: 'Godzilla Minus One' Back in 1954, Godzilla gave birth to the kaiju genre itself, reflecting Japan's post-WWII mentality of nuclear paranoia and government distrust.
Since then, the franchise has been through transformation after transformation, constantly reinventing itself and exploring all sorts of other thematic concerns. But in 2023, the series went back to its roots with Godzilla Minus One, which may very well be the best Godzilla film since the original. A riveting redemption story and a WWII film in equal measure, it also happens to be one of the best disaster movies of the last 40 years.
Rarely has the grandfather of all kaijus been this scary, but what really sets Minus One apart from its peers is just how incredibly well-written, well-directed, and well-acted the human element at the core of its narrative is. It's emotionally stirring first and action-packed second, proving just how complete of a cinematic experience a well-made Godzilla film can be. From Poor Things to Asteroid City, 2023 had no shortage of fantastic sci-fi spectacles.
But every now and then, every sci-fi fan craves a movie that's as big, loud, and destruction-filled as the genre could possibly get, and Godzilla Minus One should be able to satisfy that craving and then some. 3 2024: 'Dune: Part Two' For the longest time, after David Lynch's controversial adaptation and Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed attempt to get a new one off the ground, it seemed like it was impossible to turn Frank Herbert's Dune into a movie worthy of its legacy. Along came Denis Villeneuve, taking one of the most important works of sci-fi literature in history and making one of the best sci-fi duologies of the 21st century thus far.
Dune from 2021 was a solid enough introduction to Villeneuve's vision of Arrakis, but it's Dune: Part Two that may very well be the best sci-fi film of the 2020s as a whole. It is, at the very least, one of the best sci-fi blockbusters of all time, a perfect marriage between the timeless essence of Herbert's work and Villeneuve's sharply unique creativity and artistic vision.
You could combine most of the other great 2024 sci-fi films, such as Alien: Romulus and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and still not get even remotely close to the kind of generation-defining achievement that Dune: Part Two is.
Far more than just being refreshingly faithful to the source material while adding plenty of its own spice, it's an enthralling story of politics and religion in its own right, a testament to just how layered and complex the genre can be when placed in the right hands. 2 2025: 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie' Based on the 2007 cult classic web series Nirvana the Band the Show and its subsequent 2017 television adaptation, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a masterclass of low-budget comedy and sci-fi filmmaking.
Parodying Back to the Future in ways that could have only been achieved with a legitimately faultless understanding of fair use laws, this future cult classic can already be counted among the most perfect sci-fi movies of the 21st century. Blending an emotionally stirring story about friendship and artistic passion with hilarious time travel elements, 2000s nostalgia, and several sequences that should be able to make anyone go"how the hell did they get away with that?
", Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a celebration of the joy and magic of filmmaking itself. What Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol achieved here is not only one of the greatest Canadian films in history, but also a testament to just how far a good idea and enough passion can take a smart enough sci-fi filmmaker.
As great as films like Bugonia and Resurrection were, Canadian artistic ingenuity is what won cinephiles over last year. 1 2026: 'Project Hail Mary' Based on one of the best sci-fi books of the last 10 years, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Project Hail Mary is every bit as much of a hard science fiction masterpiece for the ages. Sci-fi films concerned with scientific accuracy haven't exactly been abundant over the course of the last six years, but as long as we get one as instantly iconic as the pop culture phenomenon that is Project Hail Mary every now and then, hard sci-fi fans should be more than satisfied.
It's already one of the highest-rated sci-fi movies in history on both IMDb and Letterboxd, which should be proof enough of its quality. The public's love for it should be more than able to stand strong for many more years, too, since Project Hail Mary is precisely the kind of endlessly charming, absolutely timeless sci-fi tale that usually becomes a classic.
Though future releases like Dune: Part Three and Spider-Man: Brand New Day will more than likely give this Lord & Miller masterpiece a run for its money for the title of best sci-fi film of 2026 come December, it'll take something truly special and decade-defining to beat such a magical movie. COLLIDER Collider · Quiz Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like?
Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides 🖖Capt. Kirk ✊Princess Leia 🔦Ellen Ripley 🔥Max Rockatansky FIND YOUR HERO → QUESTION 1 / 8LEADERSHIP 01 How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you. AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward.
BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction.
DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 8STRENGTH 02 What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails. APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one.
CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things.
I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 8MOTIVATION 03 What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass. AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it.
BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not.
EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 8PEOPLE 04 How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are. AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated.
BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 8THREAT 05 You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything. APrepare in silence.
If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything.
The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 8COST 06 What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again. AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it.
BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for.
But I keep going. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 8RULES 07 How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?
AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it.
DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.
NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 8PURPOSE 08 When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you. ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me.
CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am.
EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it. REVEAL MY HERO → Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is… Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune Paul Atreides You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become. USS Enterprise · Star Trek Captain Kirk You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
The Rebellion · Star Wars Princess Leia You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of. The Nostromo · Alien Ellen Ripley You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
The Wasteland · Mad Max Max Rockatansky You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Like Follow Followed Project Hail Mary PG-13 Science Fiction Adventure 9 10 Release Date March 15, 2026 Runtime 157 minutes Director Christopher Miller, Phil Lord Writers Drew Goddard, Andy Weir Cast See All Powered by Expand Collapse
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