Science fiction can often be one of the most imaginative, engrossing, and purely fun movie genres. It can be the source of grand, epic stories of intergalactic conflict; or of much more intimate but equally ambitious futuristic tales that parallel the real world in surprising ways.
While sci-fi tends to favor fast-paced stories that keep audiences' hearts racing, that’s not all that it’s limited to. Many times, bold filmmakers have opted for more slow-burning sci-fi, resulting in deeply philosophical masterworks of poetic cinema likeSolaris, or genre-defining masterpieces likeBlade Runner.
Interplanetary exploration had never been as serene and intimate as inJames Gray’sAd Astra, the story of an astronaut traveling across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition.
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Mind-bending and literally out-of-this-world.
The film is a visually striking and emotionally stirring exploration of the bond between father and son, and humanity’s endless quest for identity.Ad Astrais old-school slow-paced sci-fi magic at its most complex and engaging, making it one of the most underrated outings the genre has seen in recent years.
9’Moon' (2009)
InMoon,Sam Rockwellbrilliantly plays an astronaut nearing the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, desperate to get back home. However, after an accident, he awakens to find that he’s not alone.
Duncan Jones’s phenomenal sci-fi mystery has a lot of interesting things to say about corporate ethics and what it means to be human. Rockwell carries the whole thing like a pro, and Jones’s understated and elegant directing makes the experience all the more compelling.
8’Ex Machina' (2014)
ScreenwriterAlex Garlandproved that he had just as much talent as a director withEx Machina, about a coder who wins a one-week stay at a private mountain retreat, where he must interact with the first true artificial intelligence.
The film feels even more timely and relevant now than it did nearly a decade ago, which cements it as one ofthe best sci-fi films of modern times. It’s a slow-burn from beginning to end, but one that rewards viewers' patience with outstandingly crafted moments and deeply introspective meditations on the human condition.
7’Last and First Men' (2020)
The only feature that legendary film score composerJóhann Jóhannnssondirected before his untimely passing,Last and First Menis a minimalistic experimental film like no other. Only with shots of futuristic-looking structures and a story of evolution, decline, and hope narrated byTilda Swinton, it tells an epic story that viewers visualize only through their imagination.
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Jóhannsson’s masterwork demands your undivided attention in order to work its magic on you. If you give it a chance, you’ll surely find it to be a profound and beautiful love letter to humanity’s endurance and the art of storytelling itself.
6’Videodrome' (1983)
Canadian auteurDavid Cronenberg, master of body horror, made inVideodromeone of the most thoughtful and ingenious masterpieces that the genre has ever seen, about a TV programmer who searches for the producers of a bizarre broadcast.
Videodromeis Cronenberg’smost masterfully surrealist film, about the idea that technology is an extension of the human sensorium. It’s a provocative prophecy about the way the Internet desensitizes, perverts, and ultimately disembodies people, turning them into data for the elite to control. Though it’s a slow-paced film, it’s so short, scary, and full of fascinating ideas that you barely feel it.
5’Arrival' (2016)
Denis Villeneuvehad proved multiple times that he was a visionary director before he madeArrival, but it was this sprawling sci-fi drama about a linguist trying to communicate with mysterious aliens that truly cemented him as a master of his craft.
Arrivalis a love letter to language, communication, and motherhood, dismissing traditional alien invasion movie tropes and telling a vastly different, entirely unique kind of story instead. It’s such a visual delight and a narrative masterwork that it never has a dull moment.
4’Solaris' (1972)
Andrei Tarkovsky, perhaps the most famous Soviet filmmaker, was a poet with the movie camera like no other director before or after him has been.Solaris, one of his most acclaimed works, is the story of a psychologist sent to a space station to discover what has caused the crew to lose their minds.
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Tarkovsky’s filmography is the embodiment of slow-burn cinema, andSolarisis one of his most gorgeous and intelligent movies. It deals with the concepts of love and philosophy as one and the same, exploring how they’re capable of great harm but also absolutely essential to humans' life and happiness.
3’Blade Runner' (1982)
Once a misunderstood masterpiece, now a worthy landmark of the sci-fi genre,Ridley Scott’sBlade Runneris about a futuristic cop who has to pursue and terminante four androids who stole a ship and have come to Earth to find their creator.
Profoundly philosophical, engrossing to follow, and a seminal work in cyberpunk cinema,Blade Runneruses its slow pacing to gradually tell a deep, fascinating story of class, technology, and identity. It’s exactly what the sci-fi genre was invented for.
2'2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)
Stanley Kubrickis still regarded by many as the greatest filmmaker to ever live, which means that he made multiple movies worthy of being considered his best. If you had to go with only one, however, you could never go wrong with2001: A Space Odyssey. Perhaps the most popular slow-burn sci-fi movie, it’s about a spacefraft manned by two men and a supercomputer sent to Jupiter to find the origins of a mysterious artifact.
Kubrick’s film redefined what the genre could be and do, and it has never been the same since. Epic, technically flawless, and a riveting portrayal of humanity and evolution, it’s as entertaining as slow-burn cinema gets.
1’Stalker' (1979)
Tarkovsky only made a handful of narrative features before his passing, two of which were sci-fi. Of these two,Stalkeris easily the best. As delightfully slow, imaginative, and poetic as the rest of the auteur’s filmography, it’s a moving tale about a man guiding a writer and a professor to a place known as the Room, which is said to grant visitors' innermost desire.
Stalkeris as close as a film can come to perfection. It’s a deep meditation on faith and its place in the modern world, told through one of the most unique and interesting story that the genre has ever seen. Its massively complicated production in a variety of highly toxic locations is attributed to having taken the life of Tarkovsky and other cast and crew members, which makes it an even more poignant and powerful experience.
