11 Best Science Fiction Movies and Shows on Netflix Sept. 2017

The genre of science fiction is a lot more than just casual spacefaring romps through galaxies near and far. It’s also about galaxies “far, far away” and even computerized simulations that we’re probably living in right now. Unfortunately, it can also be about dark visions of the future.

Netflix has you covered with a motley assortment of sci-fi in the form of both movies and television shows that can whet your appetite. Whether you’re looking for hard sci-fi involving alternate histories, traditional exploration through space, or more thoughtful meditations on the impact of emerging or completely fictional technologies, Netflix will have something to scratch your cybertronic itch.

Across this list of the best sci-fi that Netflix has to offer, you’ll encounter more than a few dark futures meant to frighten you, tried and true exploration sci-fi classics, cautionary tales of more than one kind, and even props to everyone’s favorite Eggo-loving telekinetic.

See Also: The 7 Most Anticipated Sci-Fi TV Shows in 2017

Here are the 11 best pieces of science fiction that Netflix has to offer right now for the next time you’re hankering for a taste of tomorrow:

What Happened to Monday

In this dystopian science fiction thriller, seven identical sisters have to pretend that they’re one person because in 2073, overpopulation is a worldwide crisis and families are limited to a single child. The seven sisters are raised by their grandfather and each named after the day of the week that they assume the role of Karen. When Monday goes missing, the sisters get wrapped up in a bizarre, action-packed conspiracy that oozes of similar thrillers like Minority Report and Orphan Black.

Déjà Vu

The always-impressive Denzel Washington stars in Déjà Vu, in which he plays an ATF agent trying to capture the terrorist responsible for a ferry bombing that kills several hundred people. He uses experimental technology from a top-secret program to fold time four days into the past to monitor the criminal that’s tracking a woman that could give him away. Déjà Vu evolves into a literal race against time in an effort to prevent the bombing using the technology.

The Matrix Trilogy

… or maybe just the first Matrix film. One of the earliest and perhaps all-time greatest creative ventures to come from the Wachowski siblings is The Matrix. When the original was released in 1999, The Matrix changed the landscape for cinematic action irrevocably. In it, a hacker named Neo discovers that he’s been living inside a simulation hundreds of years in the “future” that’s all orchestrated by the robotic A.I. that rebelled against their creators. After learning the “truth,” he emerges in the “real world” and works with the human resistance to ultimately discover that he’s the prophesized, reborn One that could save them all.

Cloud Atlas

Adapted from the novel of the same name written by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas includes six nested stories across vastly different time periods. It humbly starts in 1849 and recycles a talented core cast that includes Tom Hanks and Halle Berry to eventually make it — almost incomprehensibly — all the way to the far-flung post-apocalyptic future of 2321. Even the penultimate section takes place in 2144, when a violent dystopia is full of clones. It’s a sweeping tale with a back one-third that’s thoroughly sci-fi. The official synopsis hardly captures the ambitious scope of the overwhelming tale, but here it is nonetheless: “an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.”

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy takes place in the days directly before A New Hope. In Rogue One, heroine Jyn Erso is recruited by the Rebels to steal the plans to the Death Star. The only real Star Wars film to not feature any Jedi, Rogue One instead focuses on seemingly normal people and the small sacrifices that meant everything to the Rebellion’s efforts to defeat the Empire. Despite that, fans are still treated to enough Darth Vader to whet the appetite.

LOST

J.J. Abrams became a household name with ABC’s LOST, a seemingly straightforward survivalist drama that became the furthest thing from straightforward over the course of six wild seasons. After a plane crash leaves dozens stranded on a tropical island, the survivors struggle to survive growing tensions while also exploring the mysteries on a an island that’s far from normal. Smoke monsters, mystical ruins, visions of dead people, and even a bit of time travel are just a few of the oddities that occur on LOST.

Star Trek

Yes, Netflix has an ample collection of the sci-fi TV juggernaut. Not only is there the original Star Trek from the late ’60s, but there’s also the animated series from the early ‘70s, along with The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise, and Deep Space Nine. Strong opinions among hardcore fans vary about which is best, but with such a massive franchise, how could you go wrong?

Dark Matter

Syfy’s Dark Matter is the hidden gem of fun and easily accessible sci-fi TV on Netflix, and there’s no better time to catch up with Season 3 about to hit the streaming platform.

Trap a bunch of outlaws aboard a ship, wipe their memories while they’re all in cryosleep, and wake them all up at once. It makes for one hell of a start to a show. The drama continues, fueled by suspicion and the inevitable camaraderie that develops. The show feels a lot like fan-favorite Firefly in that it features a motley crew with a “mission of the week” format, but the way Dark Matter delicately unravels the complicated backstory of each character is perfectly paced. Various, fun technologies are introduced along the way. There’s also a fun side-plot involving the development of superpowered individuals.

• Dark Matter Season 3 dropped on Netflix September 25, 2017.

Ascension

What begins as a murder mystery aboard a massive space station quickly unfolds into an alternate history in which President Kennedy sends a massive space ship — the USS Ascension — out to colonize a distant planet. Largely spurred by fear of worldwide nuclear disaster brought about by the Cold War, the initiative sent 600 volunteers on the 100-year journey, meaning that only their children and grandchildren would see the new world. Though slightly lacking in character depth, the premise of Ascension is cool enough to sustain it through the six-episode miniseries.

Black Mirror

Though it dips into the realm of horror and satire, Black Mirror is consistent about one question: what can technology do to us when it’s taken to extremes? Some episodes have more to do with social media or YouTube obsessions, but others dive deep into the implications of many hard sci-fi concepts, including the cyberization of the human mind, technological surveillance, and human-like A.I. machines. It’s provocative and exciting at its best, and downright disturbing at its worst — but even then, it’s still high-quality science fiction.

Stranger Things

Though it inches towards mythical fantasy, Stranger Things represents some of Netflix’s best original programming and earns its place as science fiction due to its presentation of multiple dimensions and extrapolation of real-life experimentation that was rumored to have taken place decades ago. After the young Will Byers goes missing and a mysterious girl appears in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, Will’s friends and family struggle to uncover the truth about the mysteries surrounding his disappearance.

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