Science fiction has always been the window to new external and internal realities, dark and dystopian futures, or promising and optimistic ones. And the last few years have been kind to the genre. That’s why we present you with a list of the ten most influential and important science fiction (sci-fi) films of the 21st century, so far.
A quick note before we begin: this list is subjective, as always, it’s up to you to decide which movies are the best.
1. Dune (2021)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve has become one of the biggest names in the modern sci-fi genre, and with Dune he shows his love for classic sci-fi once again. This adaptation features a whole roster of celebrities including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, and Dave Bautista, among others.
The story follows Paul Atreides (Chalamet), and the Atreides royal family as they fight for control of Arrakis, a brutal desert planet, which is the only source of Spice, a drug that in addition to having incredible effects on humans is the basis for their interstellar travel. Dune is a classic science fiction story, with themes such as fate vs. free will, the corruption of power, and the effect of technology on civilization.
2. Children of Men (2006)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
It’s the year 2027 and for the last two decades human have been unable to procreate. One day, a cynical ex-activist turned bureaucrat, Theo Faron (Clive Owen), is tasked with smuggling a young refugee named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) across the border. Theo soon learns that Kee is pregnant and could represent humanity’s last hope.
Children of Men was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and it shows. The story has those traits that characterize the creator: a beautifully dystopian world, fear and violence as a fundamental part of humanity, and the possibility of hope even in the most desperate situations.
3. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Blade Runner 2049 is a direct sequel to the 1982 classic and tells us the story of K (Ryan Gosling), a replica who works as a Blade Runner retiring (killing) other replicants like himself. After a successful job, K finds a grave where a female replica is buried with signs of having died in childbirth. Fearing widespread panic and the possibility of civil war, K’s superiors send him to wipe out any evidence of what happened.
And once again we meet Denis Villeneuve, this time with a sequel to one of the genre’s most important titles. A sequel that could have ended up as a flop but manages to capture the themes of the original while modernizing them, with Gosling and Harrison Ford‘s performances giving the story strength.
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Director: Michel Gondry
If you could, would you get rid of a bad memory? What if said memory was one of the happiest of your life? These are the questions Joel (Jim Carrey) faces when he learns that his ex-partner, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has decided to forget him and their relationship using a procedure that selectively erases the memory in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Taking love disappointment as a basis, director Michel Gondry presents us with a story about the value of bad experiences and failed relationships in everyone’s life. Gondry, making use of a very personal visual and narrative style, takes these big abstract themes and makes them mundane, where anyone can relate.
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Director: Steven Spielberg
In a future where the effects of global warming have wiped out 99% of the population, androids have replaced almost all of humanity. David (Haley Joel Osment) is an android designed to develop true attachment but fails to connect with his adoptive family. The family decides to send him back to be destroyed, but Monica (Frances O’Connor), the family’s mother, spares his life and sets him free, and this way David is plunged into the violent world of artificial life.
Steven Spielberg is considered a master filmmaker, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence shows why. It is a story that questions what makes us human while showing us a world as dystopian as it is visually appealing. While the ending is just off, the rest of the film is worthy of your time.
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Director: George Miller
Of all the franchises that could have dealt with genre themes, Mad Max was probably all the way to the bottom of the list, but George Miller pulls it off masterfully. In this sequel we find Max (this time played by Tom Hardy) haunted by the memory of all the people he has failed to save, and who is captured by a cult congregated around Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), to be turned into a bag of living blood.
But the spotlight does not fall solely on Hardy’s character, but also on Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, Joe’s chief lieutenant, who betrays him by stealing his brides, a group of women without deformities who are to be used to procreate, dragging all the characters into an action-packed chase.
7. Her (2013)
Director: Spike Jonze
In a world like ours where artificial intelligence is advancing at an accelerated pace and the first digital people are beginning to emerge, Her becomes more relevant than it was when it came out. Spike Jonze presents us with the story of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely man who falls in love with his virtual assistant, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), with whom he begins a romantic relationship.
While the main theme may lend itself to a dark, dystopian tale, Her is more of a love story between two people, one of whom turns out to be artificial. Jonze doesn’t demonize or idealize, he just presents a situation that could become commonplace in the years to come.
8. Inception (2010)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Directed by the legendary Christopher Nolan and with a cast that includes names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, among other greats, Inception was going to be a hit from the start, but no one imagined the cultural impact it would have.
Nolan takes a story about corporate espionage taken inside the mind itself inspired by a Japanese animated film (Paprika, 2006) to, literally and figuratively, explore the subconscious and the way the construction of reality is created inside all of us and how fragile it can be.
9. Minority Report (2002)
Director: Steven Spielberg
In the year 2054, the government has found a way to prevent almost all premeditated crime using a system based on premonitions. One day, an agent of this organization, John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is pointed to as the future murderer of a man he doesn’t even know in Minority Report.
Once again, Steven Spielberg hits this list, this time with a story that wonders about the nature of free will, government corruption, and how ethical it is to arrest someone for a crime they might commit but haven’t committed yet. As we have come to expect from Spielberg, the film is a near-perfect blend of Hollywood action and diverse philosophical themes.
10. District 9 (2009)
Director: Neill Blomkamp
One of the strongest points of science fiction is its power to tackle dark and complex themes from a fictional perspective. All the aforementioned films do this, but none like District 9, which takes the apartheid and gives it a twist where this time is not humans but aliens who are harassed and persecuted.
Neill Blomkamp‘s objective was not subtlety, it’s very obvious what he wants to say, and he says it directly. When Piet Smit (Sharlto Copley) is progressively transformed into an alien and is isolated in that very district, we are given the opportunity to take a tour of living conditions that many people face in the real world every day.
Which sci-fi film is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!