Sci-Fi Dramas on Netflix
Last updated January 21, 2025
Donnie Darko
2001 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsWriter-director Richard Kelly's trippy, mind-bending feature debut stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled Midwestern teenager plagued by incessant sleepwalking, family drama and visions of a menacing 6-foot-tall, doomsday-prophesying rabbit. Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary McDonnell, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze and Noah Wyle also star in this dark and intriguing psychological fantasy that swiftly earned a cult following.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsA humanoid envoy from another world lands in Washington, D.C., with a warning to Earth's people to cease their violent behavior. But panic erupts when a nervous soldier shoots the messenger, and his robot companion tries to destroy the capital.
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Moon
2009 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsAs astronaut Sam Bell nears the end of a lonely three-year stint on the moon base Sarang, he begins to hear and see strange things. But it's not long before Sam suspects that his employer -- the conglomerate LUNAR -- has other plans for him.
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Gattaca
1997 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWith one eye on his lifelong dream of working in outer space, a genetically flawed but determined "In-Valid" (Ethan Hawke) hires a DNA broker (Tony Shalhoub) to help him obtain more desirable genetic material from a paralyzed man (Jude Law). In the process, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful "Valid" (Uma Thurman) with a heart defect. Screenwriter Andrew Niccol also directs this futuristic thriller in his feature-length debut.
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Enemy Mine
1985 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn this futuristic sci-fi tale, two outer-space adversaries marooned together -- one an earthling and the other a reptilian alien -- find themselves forced to set aside their hostility in order to stay alive.
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Daybreakers
2009 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsEarth's population is up against a vicious plague that's transforming everyone into vampires and draining the world of an increasingly precious resource: blood. As the human race count nears zero, could science hold the key to a solution?
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Children of Men
2006 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn this futuristic tale, humans have lost the ability to reproduce and face extinction. Things change when a single woman mysteriously becomes pregnant, prompting a conflicted government bureaucrat and his ex-wife to join forces to protect her.
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Upstream Color
2013 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsA woman is abducted and hypnotized with material harvested from a flower. When she falls for a man, the two realize they have been subjected to the same process. Together, they search for safety as they struggle to reassemble their wrecked lives.
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The Road
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsSet in a postapocalyptic future, this end-of-days tale follows two survivors, a father and son, who navigate an ash-covered wasteland in search of a better life, with only a sliver of hope that salvation awaits them at the end of their journey.
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAfter learning that his ex-girlfriend had an experimental medical procedure to purge all memories of him, a man decides to do the same with her. But during the operation, he realizes he doesn't want to lose what's left of their relationship.
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The Fly
1986 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsWhile testing his teleportation device, scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) accidentally merges his cells with those of a housefly. As his reporter girlfriend (Geena Davis) bears witness, Seth slowly -- and quite disgustingly -- morphs into an insect. David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of the Vincent Price original achieves an unlikely concoction of horror, romance and pathos, thanks largely to Goldblum's strangely touching performance.
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Transfer
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsA loving elderly couple (Hans-Michael Rehberg and Ingrid Andree) decides to undergo an astonishingly advanced but ethically dubious medical procedure to extend their lives in this thought-provoking sci-fi thriller about privilege, race and exploitation of the Third World. The two have their spirits transferred into the bodies of African refugees, but the young people acting as their hosts regain custody of their bodies for four hours every day.
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Testament
1983 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsThe Wetherly family copes with the news that nuclear bombs have been detonated across the country, and it's only a matter of time before one explodes near their own home. When it does, matriarch Carol tends to the newly orphaned children.
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Never Let Me Go
2010 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsBased on Kazuo Ishiguro's acclaimed novel, this sci-fi drama from director Mark Romanek is centered on thirtysomething Kathy (Carey Mulligan), who reflects on her time spent at Hailsham, an English boarding school, alongside classmates Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield). Born for an unusual reason, the three struggle with their destiny and their love triangle. Charlotte Rampling plays headmistress Miss Emily.
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Another Earth
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAfter a strange Earth-like planet is discovered, astrophysics student Rhoda accidentally slams her car into the vehicle of John, killing his family. In time, Rhoda and John begin an unlikely romance, but Rhoda begins to wonder about the other planet.
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Perfect Sense
2011 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsAfter sparks fly between a newly single epidemiologist and a charming chef, a puzzling patient -- a truck driver who's lost his ability to smell -- drastically alters the couple's budding relationship in this sci-fi thriller.
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Womb
2010 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsRecently widowed Rebecca (Eva Green) attempts to surmount her unbearable heartache by having her deceased husband cloned. This morally controversial decision, however, ushers the unyielding woman down a difficult path she never expected.
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Freaky Faron
2006 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsAfter shooting and nearly killing a weatherman when she was 11 years old, Faron Hallowell (Courtney Halverson) claimed that alien beings ordered her to murder him. Now, fresh out of a five-year stay in a mental hospital, Faron finds herself beset by unexplained events. She'll have to use her supernatural powers to protect herself and those around her -- and to finally learn the truth about her identity -- in this sci-fi spine chiller.
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Love
2011 | NR | 2.8 out of 5 StarsStranded alone aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Lee Miller fights to survive the stress of isolation and stay alive. But everything changes when he discovers something unexpected that allows him to travel through space and time.
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2012: Ice Age
2011 | NR | 2.8 out of 5 StarsAn unsuspecting family is forced to change their plans for the year when a volcano erupts in Iceland and inadvertently triggers another ice age. With a glacier now headed for their home in North America, family bonding is more important than ever.
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Errors of the Human Body
2012 | NR | 2.8 out of 5 StarsAfter his infant son dies from a rare genetic mutation, Dr. Geoff Burton moves to Germany to continue his work on a regenerative drug that might have saved the boy's life. But he soon suspects that something is afoot with his new colleagues.
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Happy Here and Now
2002 | NR | 2.2 out of 5 StarsWhen her emotionally distant sibling disappears without a trace, a worried sister combs New Orleans to track her down and bring her home. Unfortunately, the only clues to her whereabouts are an abandoned computer with a hard drive that's been erased and a mysterious resident of cyberspace. Can a computer-savvy detective help uncover the data needed to recover the missing woman? David Arquette, Ally Sheedy and Gloria Reuben ("ER") co-star.
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4:44: Last Day on Earth
2011 | NR | 2.2 out of 5 StarsAfter learning that the world will end the following day at 4:44 a.m., a New York City couple lives out their final hours with mixed emotions. They also try to say goodbye to loved ones, which results in some eleventh-hour issues.
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