Summary
Since Georges Méliès’A Trip to the Moon,science fiction movies have captivated audiences. Using space travel, terrifying creatures, and futuristic production design can transport viewers into a completely different universe. Sometimes a director doesn’t want to do that. Adding only one sci-fi element or another genre can create a cinematic reality that feels realistically close to this one.
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While science fiction moviesare known for tackling larger social issues and ethical questions, smaller-in-scope sci-fi films can handle the same issues on a more personal level, feeling more intimate and relatable to the viewer.Blade Runner, Gattaca,and2001: A Space Odysseyhave their place as pinnacles of the genre, smaller-scale films can bring in a wider or more accessible audience.
9Jules (2023)
Ben Kingsley plays an aging widower who has trouble connecting with his family and neighbors in the 2023 filmJules.Most of his social interactions come from him complaining at town hall meetings. One day, a giant spaceship lands in his yard, revealing asmall blue alien needing his help. Not knowing what to do, he feeds his new visitor apples and complains about it around town, leading two other lonely elders to his front door.
One wouldn’t think aliens and aging went well together. However, director Marc Turtletaub creates a world through comedy and pathos that feels both lived-in and relatable. Kingsley’s endearing line deliveries combined with Jade Quon’s silent but emotive creature performance prove that any two topics can go hand in hand with the right script and director.
8Petite Maman (2021)
French director Céline Sciamma made waves in 2019 for her historical romance,Portrait of a Lady on Fire.Two years later, she made a genre switch with this fantastical family drama. InPetite Maman, eight-year-old Nelly returns to her recently deceased grandmother’s house with her parents to clean it out. After her mother leaves due to her grief, Nelly bonds with a little girl whom she meets in the forest.
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As the story progresses, Nelly realizes that there is a reason the little girl is more familiar to her than she originally thought. With a simple sci-fi twist, Sciamma paints a moving portrait of the complicated relationships shared between mothers and daughters.
7Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Based on a real classified ad placed in a 1997 issue ofBackwoods Home Magazine, this low-budget independent film follows a young journalist as she befriends an eccentric loner after he claims he can time travel in the local paper.
Though a good portion ofSafety Not Guaranteed’sdialogue is focused on scientific jargon and prepping for their interdimensional journey, the film is driven by whether Kenneth (Mark Duplass) is telling the truth. Director Colin Trevorrow keeps the plot in a grounded reality. He would go on todirect the first and third installmentsof a beloved sci-fi franchise,Jurassic World.
6Palm Springs (2020)
The purpose of existence is questioned in this time loop comedy starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, and J.K. Simmons. When Sarah wakes up reliving her sister’s wedding day over and over again after falling into a hole, she starts to question her life’s meaning. Guiding her is the dashing Nyles, who has been stuck in the same loop for an undefined amount of time.
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LikeGroundhog Day,Palm Springshas everything one would want in a science-fiction comedy, from hilarious hi-jinks testing the limits of the time loop to explanations of quantum mechanics that mostly make sense. While the world they are living in is heightened, the characters feel grounded in reality. Nyles and Sarah are flawed in a way that is destructive to their lives both in and out of the time loop. If sci-fi movies are supposed to reveal something deeper about the real world, this movie questions the patterns that tie people down and how life is much more meaningful when others are there to hold those they love accountable.
5Colossal (2016)
InColossal,giant kaiju appearing out of nowhere,destroying cities, and killing innocent bystanders is the perfect metaphor for alcoholism. This 2016 comedy starring Anne Hathaway follows a young woman named Gloria who is in denial about her addiction. Unemployed, she returns to her hometown where her childhood best friend (Jason Sudeikis) welcomes her with open arms and an open tab. After a rough night out, she discovers that when she drinks, a gremlin-looking kaiju appears in South Korea.
Hathaway and director Nacho Vigalondo endear their audience to Gloria through comedy and moments of vulnerability, making the giant monster element seem more grounded. Sudeikis plays off of Hathaway brilliantly as their character’s twisted and toxic relationship drives the film. While their destructive alter egos giveColossala visual sci-fi element, it is ultimately a way to convey the massive toll alcoholism takes on the individual and their lives.
4TiMER (2009)
Long before she created Wandavision, writer Jac Schaeffer directed TiMER. Set in a world where a device implanted in the arm counts down to the moment one meets their soulmate, orthodontist Oona is obsessed with finding the one. When her latest boyfriend’s newly installed timer doesn’t match her blank one, she decides to place less value on her search. As she starts to fall for her latest conquest, she questions whether or not soulmates exist at all.
Love is regularly explored in sci-fi films, often in dystopian regimes with strict class structures. Because the only advanced element of Schaeffer’s script is the timer itself, the plot not only seems relatable, it seems plausible. The journey Oona goes is one many single women experience in their lives, just without the technology to ensure that their partner is the right person they should be with.
3Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Arguably one of the most beloved science fiction films of all time,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindgrapples with the fallout of erasing someone from one’s memory.Jim Carrey plays Joel, a man whose world is rocked when he discovers he has been erased from his ex-girlfriend’s mind. As he contemplates the same procedure, he recounts their time together.
Screenwriters Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismouth play with the ideas of memory and nostalgia, making their audience wonder how reliable Joel and Clementine’s repressed experiences are. With a cool tone over every frame and absurdist scenes bathing in kitchen sinks, Director Gondry’s touches of surrealism add to the character’s reliability. While it touts a dreamlike quality, the relationship at the heart of the film makes it feel close to our own.
2Never Let Me Go (2010)
In an alternative timeline, clones are created and used as organ donors to extend the lives of humans. Instead of a cold, sci-fi film about a corrupt and flawed dystopian government,Never Let Me Gofeels like a traditional British romantic drama. Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) are all donors growing up together at a school that will prepare them for their organ donations. There is a rumor that if donors can prove they are in love, their procedures can be deferred.
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Though Tommy and Kathy fall for one another, a heartbreaking love triangle forms. Garfield, Mulligan, and Knightley give strong, quiet performances that provoke questions of morality and mortality. The lack of futuristic decor and the ample amount of cozy sweaters and layers in the costuming ground the film with a relatability that is hard to miss.
1Her (2013)
Still grieving his broken marriage, the awkward and closed-offTheodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix)downloads an operating system with a built-in AI, meant to meet his every need. After she names herself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), the two become closer, eventually falling for each other.
Spike Jonze’s take on artificial intelligence feels awfully close to the real world. The need to connect and have all needs met quickly is such a simple concept that seems to drive our current culture. Jonze smartly uses the not-so-distant future to explore ideas of monogamy, loneliness, and technology, in a way that feels both approachable and looming.
