A Glean movie guide
The Sci-Fi Canon: 12 Essential Masterpieces
The ultimate science fiction guide.
From silent-era visions to modern epics, these are the films that defined the genre.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
2001: A Space Odyssey
A visual and philosophical odyssey that remains the benchmark for ambitious, high-concept science fiction.
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
- 02
Blade Runner
A neon-soaked noir that asks profound questions about what it truly means to be human.
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
- 03
The Matrix
A revolutionary blend of high-concept philosophy and groundbreaking action choreography.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
- 04
Alien
A claustrophobic masterpiece that redefined the intersection of science fiction and survival horror.
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
- 05
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
The film that transformed the genre into a grand, mythic adventure for the modern age.
Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.
- 06
Arrival
A deeply moving exploration of language, time, and how we communicate with the unknown.
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
Children of Men
A visceral, single-take journey through a hauntingly plausible near-future society.
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.
- 08
Inception
A complex, multi-layered heist that turns the architecture of the human mind into a battlefield.
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.
- 09
Interstellar
A visually stunning epic that grounds massive cosmic concepts in a powerful father-daughter story.
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
- 10
Metropolis
A breathtaking 1927 vision of the future that established the visual language of the genre.
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- 11
The Thing
A chilling study of paranoia and isolation featuring some of cinema's greatest practical effects.
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
- 12
Ex Machina
A sleek, tense psychological thriller that examines the ethics and dangers of artificial intelligence.
Caleb, a coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.