Stories are all about asking life's questions
- questions about humanity, the heart, and
the world all around us.
And science fiction is the story genre that
asks the biggest questions of all.
Well, the movies on this list dare to ask
the really big questions - and some of them
throw a few explosions and mind-bending twists
in for good measure.
It's one of the most successful movies made
in the last several years - and you've probably
never even heard of it.
The Chinese film The Wandering Earth came
out in 2019 and was a smash, becoming the
second-highest all-time box office grosser
in the history of Chinese cinema.
The story takes place in the not-too-distant
future of 2061, when the sun has begun expanding
and threatens the Earth's existence.
What's a group of action astronauts to do?
Why, strap a bunch of fusion-powered rocket
boosters - known as "Earth Engines" - to the
planet's surface and blast it into a new solar
system over four light years away.
Think back to the goofy fun of all those world-saving
epics from the late '90s, and you'll start
to get a sense of what you're in for with
The Wandering Earth.
Did you like Armageddon?
Well, you'll probably like this, but it's
got the added benefit of having 21st century
special effects and stunts.
Make some popcorn and strap in for the ride
of your life.
Even though Into the Forest, starring Ellen
Page and Evan Rachel Wood, takes place in
a near future with some advanced-looking technology,
it's easy to imagine the events of this film
unfolding right here, right now.
The movie's story focuses on two sisters - Nell
and Eva - who live in a house in the woods
with their father.
One day the power goes out, but rather than
being a local, temporary inconvenience, it
becomes clear that the outage is a widespread
technological meltdown.
What ensues is a harrowing tale of trauma,
loss, and survival.
While the sci-fi elements melt into the background,
the drama ratchets way up as the story continues.
Nell and Eva must see if they can work together
to forge a new path as the outage continues
and their world changes forever.
Even more unsettling is the knowledge that
no matter how far our technology progresses,
we're one big blackout away from defending
ourselves from creeps by wielding a big, wood-chopping
axe.
Your life is what you make of it - and if
you don't really like what you're doing day
in and day out, your existence can feel pretty
pointless.
That's the problem faced by Aaron and Justin,
two down-on-their-luck brothers who've struggled
to succeed ever since leaving Camp Arcadia,
a sort of cultish, off-the-grid youth group
they used to belong to.
After receiving a video tape from the camp,
they decide to head back and see if they can
turn their lives around - and maybe figure
out why they both have different memories
of their experiences there.
If you're wondering where the science fiction
is hiding in this movie, don't worry... it
won't take long for you to discover that some
very weird stuff is going down at Camp Arcadia.
Time loops, mysterious creatures, and unsolvable
physics problems abound; and the brothers
must figure out whether or not they should
try to leave... or if they even could if they
wanted to.
The Endless will bend your mind in the best
possible way, and it might force you to ask
the most essential question of all: are you
killing time, or is time killing you?
With 1999's The Matrix, the Wachowskis reimagined
what sci-fi movies can be.
And the siblings have continued to push the
envelope with every new release in theaters.
That ambition and commitment to big ideas
is on full display in Jupiter Ascending, a
2015 film starring Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis,
and Eddie Redmayne.
If you've ever wondered what the Wachowskis'
take on Star Wars would be, this is it.
Let's not try to summarize the story of Jupiter
Ascending - it twists and turns enough times
to get any viewer pretty confused.
But what this movie really has going for it
are incredible visuals, often comprised of
practical effects and stunts.
Not only that, but the film also features
an amazingly detailed galaxy full of aliens,
creatures, and royal dynasties, not to mention
plenty of spaceship action.
Though this movie may not have spawned a new
franchise, it's a sci-fi spectacle that you
won't soon forget.
What's the worst thing that could happen to
you if you were pregnant during an overpopulation
crisis and the dystopian government had instituted
a one-child policy?
Why, giving birth to septuplets, of course!
That's the plot that sets up What Happened
to Monday, a sci-fi mystery thriller starring
Noomi Rapace as the seven sisters that make
up the Settman family, each of them named
for a day of the week, and pretending to be
the same single woman when they leave their
apartment.
When the Monday of the movie's title goes
missing, the other six sibs have to work together
to figure out what happened to her, all while
trying to stay undetected and safe.
Spoiler alert: it doesn't go very well!
As the movie continues, you'll learn more
and more about not just the Settman sisters,
but also the strange sci-fi world they're
trapped in.
While the movie's setting isn't too different
from our own, taking place in a near future
crammed full of security cameras and wearable
tracking technology, it's unsettling to see
how little it would take for the movie's Earth
to be what replaces our own.
When you're waging war, you generally want
to stay hidden for as long as possible.
And it might just help you get the drop on
the other guy.
But what happens when you're fighting an enemy
you can't see... or hear... or shoot?
That's the dilemma faced by the heroes of
Spectral.
During a military operation in Moldova, U.S.
troops encounter a group of invisible combatants
that decimate their numbers with brutal efficiency.
Is this a group of enemy soldiers, outfitted
with incredible new stealth technology?
Or could it be a herd of otherworldly ghouls?
If so, who you gonna call?
Why, you call DARPA scientist Dr. Mark Clyne,
duh!
When Clyne arrives in Moldova, he breaks out
some special spectral goggles to help his
team finally see what they're up against.
"They're everywhere."
As the team attempts to figure out the mystery
of these murderous apparitions, the movie
continues to hit you with explosions, chase
scenes, and intense sci-fi military action.
If you're a fan of action thrillers, Spectral
has you covered.
It's not hard to make the argument that humanity
sure has made a mess of this whole planet
Earth thing.
We won't get into the specifics, but if you've
paid any attention to the news in the last
five to five thousand years or so, you're
probably aware that, as a species, we're not
the best at making good, long-term decisions.
But would a machine do any better?
I Am Mother asks that very same question,
and - like all good science fiction movies
- it doesn't quite give you the answer you
think you want.
In a future where humanity has been wiped
off of the planet's surface, a young girl
is born inside a bunker and raised by a robot
artificial intelligence, appropriately named
Mother.
As Mother raises Daughter, we learn more and
more about the world the young woman is going
to inherit... until, that is, Daughter's bubble
is popped with the arrival of a mysterious
woman who begs her way into the bunker from
the outside world.
The woman, played by Hilary Swank, tells Daughter
that everything she's been taught about humanity's
demise is a lie... or is it?
The drama that ensues will have you on the
edge of your seat - and might make you want
to unplug your smart speaker, just in case.
What happens after you die?
Is there an afterlife, or just a whole lot
of nothing?
And if you knew for sure that there was somewhere
else to go that wasn't here, would you hurry
up and try to get there faster?
The somber, thoughtful sci-fi movie The Discovery
imagines a world where we've gotten an answer
to that question: there definitely is an afterlife,
and as a result, people around the world begin
ending their own lives en masse just to get
there.
With a stacked cast including Robert Redford,
Jason Segel, Rooney Mara, Jesse Plemons, and
Riley Keogh, The Discovery explores deep questions
about what kind of meaning life actually has
if this is all just a precursor to living
large in the great beyond.
"You were supposed to be the last person I
ever spoke to.
You don't get to just change that."
As the characters of the film begin to discover
the true nature of the afterlife they've found,
the very nature of their reality starts to
come into question.
Don't watch this one alone.
When it comes to technology and science, just
because you can do something certainly doesn't
also mean that you ought to - especially when
the cost to human lives might outweigh the
benefits.
That's one of the questions tackled by Advantageous,
a film from 2015 that imagines a near future
where the technology to transfer someone's
consciousness into a new body is going from
science fiction to science fact.
Single mom Gwen is fired from her job selling
cosmetic procedures, and her daughter's spot
in a prestigious school is put into jeopardy.
With no money and no prospects, she approaches
her old boss about acting as a guinea pig
for a new mind-transferring procedure they're
developing, all in the hopes that a younger,
more appealing body will allow her to get
her old job back and keep her daughter well
taken care of.
Of course, if you've seen literally any movie
before in your life, you know things don't
go according to plan.
But the film still raises those all-important
questions: How far would you go to protect
the ones you love?
How much would you sacrifice?
And after all is said and done... was it worth
it?
Released in Spain in 2018, Mirage follows
a woman named Vera.
During an electrical storm that hits her neighborhood,
she discovers that she's able to communicate
with a boy named Nico who's living 25 years
in the past.
When she warns Nico about his own impending
death and tells him how to avoid it, she wakes
up the next day to discover that her entire
world has changed.
Her husband is with someone else, her daughter
has never been born, and - worst of all - everyone
thinks she's crazy now that she remembers
a completely different reality.
Like The Butterfly Effect - but far more compelling
- Mirage explores how people and events are
all connected, and how they can change everything
in ways we may never truly understand.
While its original Spanish title During the
Storm might be a bit catchier than Mirage,
the film is a satisfying sci-fi drama no matter
what it's called.
Thanks for watching.
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