A Glean movie guide
Smart Sci-Fi for a Light Night
Intelligent, accessible, and engaging.
High-concept ideas and big questions without the existential dread.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Martian
A masterclass in optimistic problem-solving and realistic space survival.
During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
- 02
Palm Springs
A sharp, hilarious subversion of time-loop tropes with a surprising existential heart.
When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.
- 03
The Truman Show
A bright yet biting exploration of surveillance and simulated reality.
An insurance salesman begins to suspect that his whole life is actually some sort of reality TV show.
- 04
Source Code
A lean, high-stakes thriller that uses a clever sci-fi hook to drive a ticking-clock mystery.
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
- 05
Edge of Tomorrow
Blends ingenious time-loop logic with blockbuster action and a great sense of humor.
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
- 06
Arrival
An intellectually rigorous look at linguistics and communication that remains deeply human.
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
- 07
Galaxy Quest
A brilliant, lighthearted meta-commentary on sci-fi fandom and space opera cliches.
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector — Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and Doctor Lazarus — set off on a thrilling and often dangerous mission in space ... until their series was cancelled! Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beam up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director, and no clue, the actors must turn in the performances of their lives.
- 08
Everything Everywhere All At Once
A wildly inventive and heartfelt journey through the chaos of the multiverse.
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
- 09
Gattaca
A stylish, thoughtful drama about human spirit in a world of genetic perfection.
Vincent is an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. He is an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveling into space with the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation.
- 10
Minority Report
A polished, fast-paced mystery that tackles big questions about free will and technology.
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
- 11
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
A vibrant, smart commentary on our relationship with technology and family.
A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity's unlikeliest last hope.
- 12
Inception
A complex, multi-layered heist that explores the logic of the subconscious mind.
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.