https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/20-best-sci-fi-movies-of-2021-according-to-metacritic/2900-3895/
Science fiction has been a hugely popular genre for many decades, and some of the most acclaimed movies and shows of the past few years have been sci-fi. 2021 in particular was a strong year for sci-fi movies, ranging from huge budget Hollywood blockbusters to small, quirky indie movies.
Using Metacritic, we’ve gathered up 20 of the year’s best sci-fi movies. These demonstrate the huge range of sci-fi films that were released in 2021–from sci-fi influenced Marvel movies and the long-awaited epic Dune Part One to AI romcoms, scary sci-fi horror, and complex meditations on the human condition, there really was something for every fan this year.
Metacritic aggregates critical reviews from credible journalists around the globe and gives an average score for the movies, based on the reviews. Metacritic is the sister-site of GameSpot, as both websites are owned by Red Ventures.
Check out which sci-fi films critics loved below, starting with number 20. And once you’ve read that, here’s our round-up of the critics’ favorite movies of the year.
20. Meander
An intense two-hander, in which a captured woman must escape through a series of interconnecting tubes filled with deadly traps. The film is clearly influenced by the cult favorite Cube, but puts its own inventive spin on the story.
19. Stowaway
Released by Netflix, as the title suggests, this movie centers on a man who is found hiding on board a ship on a two-year mission to Mars. Unfortunately, there’s not enough supplies and oxygen for all the passengers to make the journey, leading to some difficult choices. The impressive cast includes Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette.
18. Night Raiders
Set in the dystopian America of 2044, Night Raiders focuses on a Cree woman who joins an underground resistance movement to rescue her daughter from the oppressive military government. The movie is executive produced by Taika Waititi and was praised for the way it focuses on marginalized people.
17. Ron’s Gone Wrong
A 3D animated adventure with an impressive voice cast that includes Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Olivia Colman, and Ed Helms. It’s a futuristic tale of a world where AI-driven robots known as B-bots accompany kids everywhere as friends and helpers. But young Barney’s B-bot Ron doesn’t work properly, leading to a variety of heart-warming adventures.
16. PG: Psycho Goreman
This hilarious and affectionate pastiche of ’80s horror and sci-fi sees the fearsome galactic warrior of the title taken under the control of two suburban kids. The Void director Steven Kostanski keeps things weird and funny throughout, as well as showcasing some wild and inventive physical VFX.
15. Black Widow
Natasha Romanoff gets one last MCU movie, as she reconnects with her family and attempts to shut down the Black Widow programme of trained assassins. It might not be a top tier MCU movie, but Scarlett Jonason and Florence Pugh are fantastic as the estranged Romanoff sisters and it delivers the action (plus dodgy Russian accents).
14. Oxygen
A woman wakes up trapped in some sort of high-tech medical pod, and with her oxygen supply rapidly dropping, she must work out why she’s there and how to escape. Alexandre Aja’s inventive direction and Mélanie Laurent’s committed performance make this a gripping, claustrophobic experience.
13. Come True
The scary power of dreams is explored in this sci-fi horror movie, in which a young woman takes part in an experimental sleep study. Director Anthony Scott Burns creates some disturbing imagery as the dreams get more and more terrifying.
12. Little Fish
Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell play a couple who struggle to keep their relationship going as a virus that wipes memories spreads throughout the world in this moving sci-fi drama. The movie was actually filmed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but current events have made it an even more affecting experience.
11. A Quiet Place: Part 2
John Krasinski’s sequel to his 2018 monster movie hit didn’t quite hit the gripping and inventive heights of its predecessor, but it delivered a satisfying mix of tension, scares, and family drama.
10. The Suicide Squad
James Gunn’s first DC movie was a hilarious, profane, and extremely violent anti-superhero adventure. With a cast that combined actors from the previous Suicide Squad movie with a host of new faces, plus a willingness to kill off as many of them as possible, this was a giant slice of unwholesome entertainment.
9. Lapsis
Sci-fi has often proven to be a great outlet for topical satire, and the intriguing indie movie Lapsis takes aim at the gig economy. An ordinary man desperate for money to help his sick brother takes on a mysterious job, plugging cables into giant black cubes in the middle of the forest for a sinister tech company.
8. Dune: Part One
The first of Denis Villeneuve’s Frank Herbert adaptations finally arrived this year. The dark, somber tone and slow pace didn’t appeal to everyone, but there’s little denying the film’s incredible visuals and epic scale.
7. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Marvel’s mix of kung-fu, fantasy, and sci-fi was a highly entertaining introduction to the character of Shang-Chi. Simu Liu and Awkwafina make a hilarious double-act as Shangi-Chi and his best pal Katy, while Tony Leung plays one of the MCU’s most compelling villains.
6. I’m Your Man
A quirky German sci-fi romcom in which a lonely woman volunteers for a programme to test out an android boyfriend, played by Legion’s Dan Stevens.. Written and directed by Maria Schrader, I’m Your Man was praised for its offbeat humour and intelligent look at modern relationships.
5. The Mitchells vs The Machines
Produced by Spider-Verse’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this wildly entertaining animated Netflix movie delivers big laughs, spectacular action, and wonderfully observed family drama, as the hapless Mitchell clan try to stop evil sentient technology from taking over the world.
4. First and Last Men
The late Jóhann Jóhannsson is best known for his scores to films such as Arrival and Mandy, but he directed one movie before his sad death in 2018. First and Last Men is an experimental film featuring Tilda Swinton as a narrator from a far future where mankind no longer exists, looking back over the doomed history of humanity.
3. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the anime’s most beloved franchises, and the hugely successful fourth and final movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series arrived this year. It was an emotional ending to Hideaki Anno’s epic and dramatic sci-fi saga.
2. Atlantis
This dystopian drama is set in the Ukraine of the near future, shortly after the end of a war with Russia, and focuses on a soldier coming to terms with his new life. None of the actors in this bleak, powerful film are professional actors, they are all soldiers, veterans, and volunteers.
1. Memoria
Acclaimed Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s surreal sci-fi fantasy features Tilda Swinton–clearly the go-to actor for weird sci-fi–as a woman who starts hearing strange sonic booms and begins to question the very fabric of her reality.
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December 15, 2021 at 09:48AM