Prime Video: 12 Sci-Fi Movies You Should Stream Right Now

Battle Royale

The Japanese cult classic is set in a dystopian reality where high school students are forced by the government to go on a killing spree against each other until only one survivor remains. There have been many comparisons between this film and other dystopian titles, like The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale stands the test of time for its extreme violence, dark humor, and sociopolitical themes.

• Director: Kinji Fukasaku
• Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto
• Duration: 114 minutes.

Triangle

There are time loop movies, and then there is Triangle. It’s a bit of an underdog of a film filled with enough twists and turns and terror to keep you invested. Hell, it buried itself in my brain when I first saw it in 2009 and stayed there for a while. The film follows a woman named Jess as she struggles to survive a killer on a deserted boat. It seems simple enough, but things go haywire pretty quickly.

• Director: Christophe Smith
• Main actors: Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Liam Hemsworth
• Duration: 99 minutes.

RoboCop

The 1987 sci-fi classic follows Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), a police officer who, after being killed by a gang of criminals, is brought back to life as a half-human, half-robot. On the surface, RoboCop appears to be an action-packed revenge film. But it works in layers as a Reagan-era satire focusing on themes of social values, classism, and the insidious nature of American capitalism.

• Director: Paul Verhoeven
• Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Paul McCrane, Ronny Cox
• Duration: 103 minutes.

Highlander

Highlander follows an immortal man named Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) who faces a centuries-long battle against five immortal enemies on the streets of New York. This film is the pinnacle of ’80s sci-fi, which means that if you’re looking for an action film that leans heavily on the schlocky absurdity of the genre, this is the title for you.

• Director: Russell Mulcahy
• Main actors: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown
• Duration: 111 minutes.

Alien Romulus

Alien Romulus is a standalone film set between the events of 1979’s Alien and its action-packed sequel. It has all the elements one could want in an Alien movie and does the job of returning the franchise to the basics that made it so iconic in the first place. It’s a terrifying and fun ride. What else is there to want?

• Director: Fede Álvarez
• Starring: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux
• Duration: 119 minutes.

Mickey 17

Mickey 17 takes place in a reality where disposable employees are created to perform tasks too dangerous for humans. The story follows Mickey 17 on his mission to help colonize an icy world called Niflheim. One of his clones, Mickey 18, is accidentally created, leading to an offbeat exploration of humanity, classism and colonialism. What else would you expect from director Bong Joon Ho?

• Director: Bong Joon Ho
• Starring: Robert Pattinson, Anamaria Vartolomei, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Samuel Blenkin, Holliday Grainger, Patsy Ferran
• Duration: 139 minutes.

Companion

What happens if you find your true love and devote yourself to it, only to learn that it’s not a matter of free will, but your programming? This is the conundrum Iris finds herself in when she discovers that she is actually a robot companion and not a human. His owner, Josh, proves to be quite a piece of work, leading to a fight for survival from his point of view. It’s a funny, dramatic, and action-packed film that explores themes of misogyny, toxic relationships, and AI.

• Director: Drew Hancock
• Main actors: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Rupert Friend, Harvey Guillén
• Duration: 97 minutes.

Unlimited

What if there was a pill that could turn anyone into a hyper-intelligent super genius? Limitless aims to answer this question. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck writer who takes the untested drug and uses it to dramatically improve his life. Of course, what goes up must come down, and Eddie soon discovers that sometimes it’s best to leave the mysterious drugs alone.

• Director: Neil Burger
• Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard, Hill Harper, Richard Bekins, Daniel Breaker, Robert John Burke
• Duration: 105 minutes.

The war of tomorrow

Chris Pratt stars in this action film that follows a group of soldiers who travel back in time to warn of a future where humanity is losing the war against an army of invading aliens. Humanity’s only hope lies in a group of would-be heroes who are called to travel to the future in order to save the present.

• Director: Chris McKay
• Starring: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Jasmine Mathews, Sam Richardson, JK Simmons.
• Duration: 138 minutes.

A quiet place: first day

A Quiet Place: Day One takes audiences back to the very beginning of the alien invasion. While perhaps not a necessary entry in the franchise — like, say, 10 Cloverfield Lane — the film digs deep into the human experience in the midst of a cataclysmic, otherworldly disaster. Come for the disaster, stay for the cute cat.

• Director: Michael Samoski
• Starring: Joseph Quinn, Lupita Nyong’o, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Thea Butler, Denis O’Hare
• Duration: 99 minutes.

Escape from New York

In John Carpenter’s post-apocalyptic cult classic, it’s 1997 New York and the city is ravaged by war. Manhattan has become a giant, walled prison. After the President is taken hostage, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a former special forces officer (and current prisoner), is recruited to save the day in exchange for his own freedom.

• Director: John Carpenter
• Starring: Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Isaak Hayes, Frank Doubleday
• Duration: 99 minutes.

Donnie Darko

This mind-blowing cult classic stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a misunderstood high school student who, after seemingly surviving a horrific accident, begins time traveling. In doing so, he discovers the joy of being alive and in love. Themes of depression, repression, and alternate universes fill this deliciously bizarre film. Let’s also not forget this giant demon rabbit named Frank.

• Director: Richard Kelly
• Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Noah Wyle
• Duration: 113 minutes.