10 Sci-Fi Movies From the Last 10 Years Destined To Become Cult Classics

Over the past decade, science fiction has continued to evolve, especially with new trends and technological developments like artificial intelligence. While plenty of sci-fi blockbusters have come and gone, some films have carved out something stranger, more distinct, and more enduring. These are the movies that may not have broken box office records or received the most glowing reviews, but they left a mark on some audiences, who will, in turn, influence others to discover them.

Cult classics are not born overnight: They usually start as underdogs or oddities, misunderstood or overlooked in their time. Here are ten sci-fi films that have been embraced by the few and have the potential to be formidable cult favorites in the near future. From an Oscar-winner’s time-bending action spectacle to killer AI robots, don’t be surprised if these films become your favorite sometime soon.

10

‘Colossal’ (2016)

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo

Colossal follows Gloria (Anne Hathaway), a down-on-her-luck woman, who returns to her hometown after a rough breakup with her boyfriend, Tim (Dan Stevens). As she tries to piece her life back together, she discovers a bizarre connection between her emotional meltdowns and a giant kaiju terrorizing Seoul. With her friends Oscar, Garth, and Joel (Jason Sudeikis, Tim Blake Nelson, and Austin Stowell), she tries to figure out how she’s responsible for the monster’s behavior.

Colossal defies genre and expectation in the best way, making it a one-of-a-kind film like no other. Leveraging the popularity of kaiju movies in Hollywood from Pacific Rim to Godzilla, it uses the monster not for spectacle but for character development and emotions. It’s a deeply personal story dressed in genre clothing, and that contrast makes it unforgettable. Colossal is an underrated sci-fi that’s perfect for viewers who value originality. With a perfect cast led by the always reliable Anne Hathaway, this quirky, offbeat film is waiting on the sidelines to be discovered and loved by new audiences.

Colossal

Release Date

April 6, 2017

Runtime

110minutes

9

‘They Cloned Tyrone’ (2023)

Directed by Juel Taylor

A wild mashup of satire, sci-fi, and Blaxploitation, They Cloned Tyrone starts when Fontaine (John Boyega), a drug dealer, gets shot dead, only to wake up the next morning, alive. As he teams up with a pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) and a sex worker named Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), the trio uncovers a government conspiracy involving a shadowy lab beneath their neighborhood that’s responsible for the experiment.

They Cloned Tyrone is a confident directorial debut from Juel Taylor. It blends genre storytelling with social commentary, evoking Get Out and The Truman Show. With a strong leading cast, especially John Boyega in multiple characters, the film is endlessly rewatchable. Such strong qualities and cultural relevance are all the right ingredients of weirdness to become a cult favorite. In a perfect world, people would be quoting lines and introducing the film to friends. The only thing that hinders its potential is the fact that it was released on Netflix, and with so many new titles popping up, They Cloned Tyron may be relegated to just one of the many Netflix originals.

8

‘Moonfall’ (2022)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Aptly directed by the master of disaster movies, Roland Emmerich, the moon literally falls out of orbit as advertised in Moonfall. Disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) gets recruited back to NASA when strange gravitational events wreak havoc on Earth. Together with Harper’s previous teammate at NASA, Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley), Harper teams up to stop the moon from colliding with Earth.

Moonfall was largely dismissed by critics, but its wild premise and unapologetic absurdity are exactly the makings of a cult favorite in the near future. Emmerich leans hard into the kind of bombastic, reality-defying storytelling that’s often missing from modern sci-fi movies. It’s ridiculous in the best way and incredibly committed to its premise that audiences can’t help but admire it. Future audiences will come to appreciate Moonfall not for its scientific accuracy and logic, but for its sheer ambition and chaotic charm. The film also has a really wild third act and ending, so it’s just the perfect popcorn cinema to be enjoyed by many.

7

‘Sorry to Bother You’ (2018)

Directed by Boots Riley

Sorry to Bother You follows Cash Green (Lakeith Stanfield), a Black telemarketer in alternate-reality Oakland who discovers that using a white person’s voice makes him one of the most successful employees in the company. As he climbs the corporate ladder, Cash uncovers weird secrets behind his company’s success, including a plan to transform workers into human-animal hybrids to boost productivity.

Boots Riley‘s directorial debut is fearlessly original. The film presents a world similar to ours, but with exploitation and capitalism dialed to the maximum. It is strange yet sharply satirical, and the sci-fi elements, especially the bonkers twist (which we will not spoil here), are not just shocking but bold metaphors for workers entangled in the capitalist system. The film’s gorgeous visuals and genre-breaking structure are definitely going to win audiences, and the cast, including Tessa Thompson and Steven Yeun, is all perfect in their roles. It’s incredibly rare to have a film like Sorry to Bother You, capable of entertaining audiences and also delivering smart social commentary at the same time.

6

‘Tenet’ (2020)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Tenet follows the Protagonist (John David Washington), a nameless ex-CIA operative, who gets recruited in a covert operation to prevent a world-ending event. This war is fought through a groundbreaking technology that enables time to go backwards. He teams up with a fellow agent named Neil (Robert Pattinson) to track down a Russian arms dealer named Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh) and stop him before he causes an extinction-level event.

Released during the unfortunate pandemic era, Tenet polarized audiences because of its dense concept and story, but its quality gives it the potential to become a cult classic. The Christopher Nolan film is endlessly watchable, invites analysis and discussion, and leaves the audience with a sense of wanting more from its universe. Tenet‘s complicated, mind-bending structure rewards repeat viewings, not just to decode its mechanics, but to appreciate how meticulously everything is woven together. Its striking visuals, excellent production design, and bombastic score are excellent additions to this film. It’s far too divisive and unyielding to be a mainstream hit, but sci-fi lovers will undoubtedly canonize it as a cult classic.

5

‘The Creator’ (2023)

Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Creator follows Joshua (John David Washington), an ex-soldier tasked with hunting down the mysterious architect of an AI superweapon. But when he discovers the weapon is actually a childlike android named Alphie, Joshua finds himself torn between duty and compassion. Having lost a child himself, Joshua bonds with Alphie, who is capable of reshaping the entire war, while still trying to track down the Creator.

The Creator stands out as a modern sci-fi war film that feels intimate and heartfelt in an age of CGI excess. With a compact budget of $80 million, director Gareth Edwards crafts a visually breathtaking and emotionally resonant sci-fi epic that feels both timely and timeless. While it draws on familiar sci-fi films, The Creator carves a new path by grounding its futuristic world with a compelling story. The film’s production design is stunning on its budget, and the Southeast Asia-inspired sets are beautiful. With AI increasingly becoming more prevalent in our lives, The Creator will likely be revisited as a prescient, relevant reflection of its era.

4

‘Little Fish’ (2021)

Directed by Chad Hartigan

Little Fish is set against the backdrop of a near-future pandemic caused by memory loss. In a world where a mysterious neurological condition slowly erases people’s memories, Emma (Olivia Cooke) and Jude (Jack O’Connell) fight to hold onto their relationship as Jude begins to forget. As the disease spreads and society frays, their romance becomes both their anchor and their tragedy.

Released during the COVID era, Little Fish may hit a little too close to home for some viewers, which may have caused it to fly under the radar. The film’s intimate setting and emotional depth make it stand out among other films, not just in the sci-fi genre, evoking a similar feeling to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, only in a dystopian time. With the leading stars, Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell getting their acclaim respectively through House of the Dragon and Sinners, it’s only time before more and more audiences embrace Little Fish and love it. The film will likely be remembered as a poignant, slow-burning love story exploring memory and human connection.

Little Fish

Release Date

February 5, 2021

Runtime

101 Minutes

Director

Chad Hartigan

3

‘Upgrade’ (2018)

Directed by Leigh Whannell

Upgrade follows Grey (Logan Marshall-Green), a mechanic who’s left paralyzed after a mugging that also claims his wife’s life. When a tech mogul offers him an experimental AI implant called STEM that restores his mobility and enhances his physical abilities, Grey sets out on a brutal mission to find the person who killed his wife. However, STEM begins to take more control, and Grey finds himself struggling to take control of his body.

Directed by Leigh Whannell, Upgrade is a thrilling, lean sci-fi thriller that makes use of its modest budget better than many blockbusters do with millions. It boasts a slick visual style, tight script, and inventive, iconic action choreography and camerawork, which are seen during the fight scenes that involve the AI taking over Grey’s body. The film also explores themes of surveillance and body augmentation tech, evoking relevant questions for today’s world. Audiences who love dark, tech-heavy sci-fi like Black Mirror should definitely check out this sci-fi gem.

2

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ (2019)

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Alita: Battle Angel follows the titular cyborg character played by Rosa Salazar, who’s revived in a scrapyard by kindly cyber-surgeon Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz). She soon discovers she’s more powerful and more dangerous than she realizes. As she begins to remember her past, Alita embraces her destiny and becomes a warrior to defend the grim Iron City from the rulers of the floating city of Zalem.

After years stuck in development hell, the James Cameron-produced manga adaptation grossed a respectable $400 million worldwide, but it did not immediately guarantee a sequel. The film’s richly built world, kinetic action, and electric lead performance made the fans want a continuation of the story. With a passionate grassroots movement on social media united by the hashtag #AlitaArmy, Alita: Battle Angel is already a cult favorite. This devoted fanbase might influence casual viewers to discover this earnest adaptation and see the film as a landmark for stylized, emotionally driven sci-fi that’s unafraid to bare its emotions.

1

‘M3GAN’ (2022)

Directed by Gerard Johnstone

M3GAN is a robot doll invented by engineer Gemma (Allison Williams), who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of her orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw). Overwhelmed with this new responsibility, she makes M3GAN her niece’s companion. M3GAN forms a bond with the child but soon becomes overprotective to a deadly degree, even turning on her creator to defend Cady.

M3GAN expertly balances camp, horror, and sci-fi, and no film has ever been this successful at that. It has a smart critique about humans’ obsession with tech and also knows how to have fun, most memorably emulated in the film’s most entertaining scene, when M3GAN breaks out her dance moves before killing someone. M3GAN is the perfect modern response to classic horror icon Chucky from Child’s Play. As AI continues to creep further into everyday life, M3GAN will age like fine wine. Its sequel, M3GAN 2.0, only reinforces this film’s impact on pop culture.

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