As the year 2025 winds down and we pop the cork on a fresh 2026, it’s a time-honored tradition to reflect back on the past 12 months to consider what Hollywood had to offer. In this era of diminished theatrical releases and streaming’s continued rise to power and influence, these sci-fi hits showed us that Tinseltown has still got it where it counts.
Honorable Mention: Avatar: Fire & Ash
(Image credit: Disney)
James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” just came out, but at the time of writing, we haven’t had the opportunity to watch it and form a real opinion yet.
So, we’ll have to leave out anything taking place on the planet Pandora for now, though we’re sure it will be a breathtaking sensation that will top the charts and wow global viewers.
Some awkward missteps didn’t make the cut, including the interesting but occasionally irritating “Mickey 17,” Disney’s animated astro-flick, “Elio,” and the head-scratching aberration of Ice Cube’s Prime Video debacle, “War of the Worlds.” And as for “The Astronaut”, all we can say is WTF.
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But for every thorn we’ve mentioned, there’s a blossoming rose. They may not all be at the top of the box office bean counters’ ledger sheet, but these twelve movies offered artistry and imagination that delivered exceptional audience experiences in a variety of cinematic forms.
Let’s dive right into Space’s best sci-fi movies of 2025. ranked.
12. Tron: Ares
Tron: Ares | Official Trailer – YouTube
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Cast: Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith | Director: Joachim Rønning | Watch on: Disney+
We had to have one sacrificial lamb to anchor this list, and “Tron: Ares” more than qualifies for that role to kick us off.
Released in a strange mid-October launch period and carrying with it the legacy of a 43-year-old sci-fi franchise whose last installment, “Tron: Legacy,” landed back in 2010, “Tron: Ares” was a financial burden on Disney and appeared dead-on-arrival.
It could be that the execution of the film failed to ignite audience interest in a tale of the digital realm intruding on our real world, or maybe that no one wanted to see an AI Jared Leto. Regardless, director Joachim Rønning’s $220 million neon pic is still a spectacular visual feast with a killer Nine Inch Nails score.
11. The Electric State
The Electric State | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
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Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander | Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Watch on: Netflix
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Produced for a stratospheric $320 million and starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown, this Netflix blockbuster was directed by The Russo Brothers of the “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” fame. “The Electric State” takes its source material from a surreal graphic novel of the same name by acclaimed Swedish illustrator Simon Stalenhag.
Years after a catastrophic robot rebellion, which humanity won, two lost souls traverse a broken American wasteland with a robot named Cosmo to try and find the consciousness behind this lost droid.
The visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic are cutting-edge, and they should be for the money! Woody Harrelson’s robotic Mr. Peanut is a showstopper, and while the movie seems disjointed at times, just consider it a fun cartoonish romp, and you’ll have a good time..
10. The Gorge
The Gorge — Official Trailer | Apple TV – YouTube
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Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver | Director: Scott Derrickson | Watch on: Apple TV+
This sci-fi horror feature from Apple TV slots into our roundup because of its pure entertainment value and captivating performances from Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.
This should have been given a full theatrical release, but we don’t make those decisions and can only gently complain about them. The handsome pair of actors play sniper specialists from enemy countries who must each take a long shift on opposite sides of a massive trench where some unnatural monsters apparently lurk below.
While guarding this mysterious gorge, these good-looking sharpshooters inevitably fall in love and join forces to contain the marauding creatures. Director Scott Derrickson (“Doctor Strange”) delivers a good old-fashioned action fright flick that is both charming and rewarding on a particular level that doesn’t demand much heavy lifting.
9. Lilo & Stitch
Lilo & Stitch | Official Trailer | In Theaters May 23 – YouTube
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Cast: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Hannah Waddingham, Chris Sanders | Director: Dean Fleischer Camp | Watch on: Disney+
One of the most massive hits of 2025, pulling in over $1 billion and only recently surpassed by “Zootopia 2” as the top box office performer of the year, “Lilo & Stitch” is a delightful live-action sci-fi adventure adapted from the beloved 2002 Disney animated feature.
This makeover movie stays pretty true to the original and revolves around Lilo (Maia Kealoha), a six-year-old, hula-loving Hawaiian surfer girl who adopts a furry blue alien creature named Stitch, who was created as a biological weapon. Agents from the United Galactic Federation soon arrive to retrieve their test subject, and some wacky island mischief ensues.
Director Dean Fleischer Camp keeps things cute and charming, and the result is a successful remake that also stands on its own. Actor Chris Sanders also adds to the finished product by reprising his role voicing Stitch!
8. Bugonia
BUGONIA – Official Trailer [HD] – Only in Theaters October 24 – YouTube
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Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias | Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Watch on: Peacock
The Human Resistance kidnaps a corporate hotshot played by Emma Stone, believing she’s an extraterrestrial residing on Earth and masquerading as a powerful Big Pharma CEO.
The pair of beekeeping conspiracy nuts played by Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis are insistent that she’s alien royalty from the Andromeda galaxy and try to prevent her from contacting her mothership. What follows is an engrossing battle of wits that leads to some shocking revelations about the fractured reality of humanity.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos offers viewers a quirky, delirious descent into the troubled minds of conspiracy theorists and makes you question the real truth, no matter how outlandish it might seem.
7. Lost in Starlight
Lost in Starlight – Official Trailer (English Dub) – YouTube
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Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Hong Kyung, Sharon Kwon, Ahn Young-mi | Director: Han Ji-won | Watch on: Netflix
The second animated feature on this compilation, Lost in Starlight is a touching romantic sci-fi fable from Korea that might have been unfairly overlooked if not for it debuting on Netflix.
South Korean director Han Ji-Won presents an uplifting cosmic story of star-crossed lovers that is a refreshing diversion deserving of the added attention for the holidays and beyond. This engaging tale of the scientist astronaut Nan-young and a struggling musician named Jay becomes a heart-wrenching drama when Nan-young joins a mission to Mars, and their long-distance bond is tested.
The film also delivers a catchy soundtrack of original K-pop songs courtesy of CIFIKA, Meego, John Park, Wave to Earth’s Kim Daniel, and many more.
6. Superman
Superman | Official Trailer | DC – YouTube
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Cast: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi | Director: James Gunn | Watch on: HBO Max
As one of the most-anticipated installments of the summer, director James Gunn delivers a perfectly respectable superhero blockbuster that introduced the world to a very Henry Cavill-looking David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. And you know what? We dig it.
Stuffed to the breaking point with an inspired cast and a brighter message of hope, “Superman” sports many of the hallmarks we’ve come to love in Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. At times, there are simply too many characters flitting about the production, and it often lacks the edge of Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel.”
Nevertheless, there’s a lot to love here, especially Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific, Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho, and, of course, the super-pup Krypto.
5. 28 Years Later
28 YEARS LATER – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTube
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Cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams | Director: Danny Boyle | Watch on: Netflix
Zombies are back, baby (well, sort of!) and just as ferocious as ever when director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland returned to the franchise they created back in 2002 with “28 Days Later.”
An underrated sequel, “28 Weeks Later,” followed in 2007, but the sci-fi horror property lay fallow until the creative duo brought it back to life. The plot unfurls 30 years after the Rage Virus spread through England as a boy and his dad travel from the safe harbor of their remote island for a perilous hunting mission.
Starring Jodie Comer, Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes, 28 Years Later opens the gates for a whole new trilogy and its dash of British folk horror paired with the evolutionary existence of a new “Alpha” breed of the infected. The trailer alone, with its vintage 1915 recital of Rudyard Kipling’s “Boots” poem, is simply chilling!
4. Predator: Killer of Killers/Predator: Badlands
Predator: Killer of Killers | Official Trailer | Hulu – YouTube
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Predator: Badlands | Official Trailer – YouTube
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Cast: (Killer of Killers) Lindsay LaVanchy, Louis Ozawa, Rick Gonzalez/ (Badlands) Elle Fanning, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, Reuben de Jong | Director: Dan Trachtenberg | Watch on: Hulu
For this pick, we’re giving you a combo pack of pure Predator goodness from director Dan Trachtenberg that provides two great Predator projects that taste great together.
Hulu’s animated anthology, “Killer of Killers,” gives fans more of the savage intensity and bloodlust that the classic sci-fi franchise has traditionally been known for. “Badlands” is a different creature altogether and operates as a slightly humorous buddy pic with a runt Yautja warrior being tested on a hunting expedition on a dangerous planet and a chatty Weyland-Yutani android tagging along on its back due to its limb loss.
Together, these titles provide a good dose of the new Predator property as imagined by the Disney braintrust at 20th Century Studios… for better and perhaps for worse, depending on your preference.
3. Ash
ASH | Official Trailer | Shudder | RLJE – YouTube
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Cast: Eiza González, Aaron Paul, Iko Uwais, Kate Elliott | Director: Flying Lotus | Watch on: Shudder
With its evolving Lovecraftian sci-fi nightmares, this phantasmagoric indie entry directed by filmmaker and hip-hop artist Flying Lotus is a must-watch for any serious genre fan.
Set on a hostile exoplanet where an alien species has already staked a terraforming claim, it’s a stylish horror tale of a doomed rescue mission that often defies traditional linear narratives.
The striking color-splashed visuals alone are worthy of a serious viewing, and Fly-Lo’s retro synthwave score sets the dreamy mood perfectly. It carries an infectious grindhouse appeal and dark video game-inspired scares that lingers with you long after the end credits roll!
2. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Final Trailer | Only in Theaters July 25 – YouTube
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Cast: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn | Director: Matt Shakman | Watch on: Disney+
With “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”, we have finally broken the decades-old curse of Marvel’s First Family having terrible movies.
Director Matt Shakman and a spirited cast inhabit a colorful, retro-futuristic New York City of the 1960s, as Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, The Thing, and The Human Torch combat the planet-munching entity called Galactus and his shimmery herald, the Silver Surfer.
Beautifully balanced with humor and heart, this Fantastic Four might not have lit up the box office or incited critics to gush over its many merits, but it’s a solid step in the right direction as Marvel Studios regroups on its way to next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday” with Robert Downey as the diabolical Marvel Comics villain, Victor von Doom.
1. Frankenstein
Frankenstein | Guillermo del Toro | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
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Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz | Director: Guillermo del Toro | Watch on: Netflix
While some sci-fi fans might balk at the inclusion of director Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” on this diverse parade of winners, the subject matter and source material do fall squarely into a broad definition of the science fiction genre.
Isaac Asimov once explained it as being related to Humankind and its relationship to speculative technology and alternative science. Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel fuses Gothic horror with unholy scientific experiments, and in del Toro’s hands, the graphic details of Oscar Isaac’s mad creation are on full display.
The elegant sets and lavish costume designs are stunning, as is Jacob Elordi’s multi-faceted performance as the intelligent wretch stitched together from corpses. It’s a haunting epic, both romantic and tragic, with enough atmosphere and artistic touches to satisfy the most discriminating of tastes.
