What makes a great sci-fi film?

Spectacle is cheap. A great sci-fi film uses its impossible premise to ask a question that's only possible because the premise is impossible. Arrival uses first contact to ask whether you'd choose love knowing how it ends. Ex Machina uses an A.I. to ask whether being human is even the goal. Everything Everywhere All at Once uses the multiverse to ask why you'd ever be present at all.

Three directors who define the genre right now

  • Denis Villeneuve — Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Dune: Part Two. Operatic scale, restrained execution, real ideas underneath.
  • Alex Garland — Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War. Cold, exacting, philosophically unafraid.
  • Daniels (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert) — Everything Everywhere, Swiss Army Man. Maximalist, sincere, deeply weird.

Where to start

If you've never been a sci-fi person: start with Arrival (it's a drama wearing a sci-fi coat). If you have: start with Blade Runner 2049 on the biggest screen you can find.