Prime Video: 10 of the Best Sci-Fi Movies to Stream Right Now

Spider-Man: Homecoming is both a big-budget comic book movie and a fun work of science fiction. In fact, this could be the case for many superhero films. This one takes place after Peter Parker’s first run with the Avengers and shows his budding relationship with mentor Tony Stark. As is the case with most Spider-Man stories, Parker struggles to balance his school life and his superhero identity. Things get even more complicated when the villainous Vulture (played by Michael Keaton) is introduced.

• Director: Jon Watts
• Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Donald Glover, Bokeem Woodbine.
• Duration: 133 minutes

Mickey 17 takes place in a reality where disposable employees are created to perform tasks too dangerous for humans. The story follows Mickey 17 on his mission to help colonize an icy world called Niflheim. One of his clones, Mickey 18, is accidentally created, leading to an offbeat exploration of humanity, classism and colonialism. What else would you expect from director Bong Joon Ho?

• Director: Bong Joon Ho
• Starring: Robert Pattinson, Anamaria Vartolomei, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Samuel Blenkin, Holliday Grainger, Patsy Ferran
• Duration: 139 minutes

Oh, look, it’s another sci-fi movie involving clones – sort of. Edge of Tomorrow takes place in a future world at war with an unstoppable alien threat. There’s a video game logic at play here as we follow Major William Cage (played by Tom Cruise), a military officer who has never seen combat, as he enters the battlefield. Every time he dies, he reappears with new skills and stronger determination. Emily Blunt stands out here as Sergeant Rita Vrataski.

• Director: Doug Liman
• Main actors: Emily Blunt, Tom Cruise, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Riley
• Duration: 113 minutes

What happens if you find your true love and devote yourself to it, only to learn that it’s not a matter of free will, but your programming? This is the conundrum Iris finds herself in when she discovers that she is actually a robot companion and not a human. His owner, Josh, proves to be quite a piece of work, leading to a fight for survival from his point of view. It’s a funny, dramatic, and action-packed film that explores themes of misogyny, toxic relationships, and AI.

• Director: Drew Hancock
• Main actors: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Rupert Friend, Harvey Guillén
• Duration: 97 minutes

There was a lot of secrecy surrounding 10 Cloverfield Lane when it first hit theaters, and rightly so. Technically, it’s a sequel to Cloverfield – the 2008 found-footage giant monster movie – but it doesn’t act like that. At least not until the final act. Instead, 10 Cloverfield Lane plays out like a tight, claustrophobic thriller with strong performances from its leads, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. The giant alien invaders are just the icing on the cake.

• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Main actors: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
• Duration: 103 minutes

What if there was a pill that could turn anyone into a hyper-intelligent super genius? Limitless aims to answer this question. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck writer who takes the untested drug and uses it to dramatically improve his life. Of course, what goes up must come down, and Eddie soon discovers that sometimes it’s best to leave the mystery drugs alone.

• Director: Neil Burger
• Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard, Hill Harper, Richard Bekins, Daniel Breaker, Robert John Burke
• Duration: 105 minutes

Chris Pratt stars in this action film that follows a group of soldiers who travel back in time to warn of a future where humanity is losing the war against an army of invading aliens. Humanity’s only hope lies in a group of would-be heroes who are called to travel to the future in order to save the present.

• Director: Chris McKay
• Starring: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Jasmine Mathews, Sam Richardson, JK Simmons.
• Duration: 138 minutes

A Quiet Place: Day One takes audiences back to the very beginning of the alien invasion. While perhaps not a necessary entry in the franchise — like, say, 10 Cloverfield Lane — the film digs deep into the human experience in the midst of a cataclysmic, otherworldly disaster. Come for the disaster, stay for the cute cat.

• Director: Michael Samoski
• Starring: Joseph Quinn, Lupita Nyong’o, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Thea Butler, Denis O’Hare
• Duration: 99 minutes

In John Carpenter’s post-apocalyptic cult classic, it’s 1997 New York and the city is ravaged by war. Manhattan has become a giant, walled prison. After the President is taken hostage, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a former special forces officer (and current prisoner), is recruited to save the day in exchange for his own freedom.

• Director: John Carpenter
• Starring: Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Isaak Hayes, Frank Doubleday
• Duration: 99 minutes

This mind-blowing cult classic stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a misunderstood high school student who, after seemingly surviving a horrific accident, begins time traveling. In doing so, he discovers the joy of being alive and in love. Themes of depression, repression, and alternate universes fill this deliciously bizarre film. Let’s also not forget this giant demon rabbit named Frank.

• Director: Richard Kelly
• Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Noah Wyle
• Duration: 113 minutes