Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movies 2020

There may have not been much in the way of fantasy breaking through, but science-fiction continues to fascinate, from the off-beat and creatively low-budget to expansive canvases that transcend mind, space, and time. Top film The Vast of Night is in the former category, an enticing, 1950s-set alien broadcast mystery that makes the most out of just a few locations. At the opposite (read: expensive) end of the spectrum is Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which was originally touted as the savior of theaters, but will have to settle at being magnificent at confusing the hell out of viewers. Sci-fi saw some social commentary in The Platform and Save Yourselves!, and made the same amount of room for laughs in Bill & Ted Face the Music and Psycho Goreman. And to prove once and for all 2020 was a crazy year, Gerard Butler was actually in a movie critics like: Greenland, his first Certified Fresh live-action movie since 2011’s Corolianus.

The order of the rank below reflects the Adjusted Score as of February 28, 2021. Scores might change over time.

#1

The Vast of Night (2019)
92%

#1

Adjusted Score: 105075%

Critics Consensus: An engrossing sci-fi thriller that transcends its period trappings, The Vast of Night suggests great things for debuting director Andrew Patterson.

Synopsis: In the 1950s, two kids search for the source of a mysterious frequency that has descended on their town.... [More]

Starring: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis

Directed By: Andrew Patterson

#2

Minor Premise (2020)
91%

#2

Adjusted Score: 91763%

Critics Consensus: Minor Premise offers major enjoyment for sci-fi fans in search of an intelligent, grounded entry in the genre.

Synopsis: Attempting to surpass his father's legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist becomes entangled in his experiment, pitting 10 fragments of his consciousness... [More]

Starring: Sathya Sridharan, Paton Ashbrook, Dana Ashbrook, Purva Bedi

Directed By: Eric Schultz

#3

Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
82%

#3

Adjusted Score: 95530%

Critics Consensus: As wholesomely goofy as its heroes, Bill and Ted Face the Music is a rare long-belated sequel that largely recaptures the franchise's original charm.

Synopsis: The ruler of the future tells best friends Bill and Ted they must compose a new song to save life... [More]

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving

Directed By: Dean Parisot

#4

Save Yourselves! (2020)
89%

#4

Adjusted Score: 93057%

Critics Consensus: Save Yourselves! doesn't do anything unexpected with its one-joke premise -- but fortunately, that one joke turns out to be consistently funny anyway.

Synopsis: A young Brooklyn couple head to an upstate cabin to unplug from their phones and reconnect with each other. Blissfully... [More]

Starring: Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair, John Early

Directed By: Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson

#5

PG: Psycho Goreman (2020)
92%

#5

Adjusted Score: 94614%

Critics Consensus: Over the top and enthusiastically strange, PG: Psycho Goreman delivers all the cheesy midnight-movie goodness promised by its title.

Synopsis: Intergalactic assassins converge on a small town after two siblings unwittingly resurrect an ancient alien overlord.... [More]

Starring: Nita-Josee Hanna, Owen Myre, Adam Brooks, Alexis Hancey

Directed By: Steven Kostanski

#6

Pinocchio (2019)
83%

#6

Adjusted Score: 85387%

Critics Consensus: Sticking closely to Carlo Collodi's original story, Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio pulls every string to create a visually stunning film that proves some tales really are timeless.

Synopsis: Geppetto's puppet creation, Pinocchio, magically comes to life with dreams of becoming a real boy. Easily led astray, Pinocchio tumbles... [More]

Starring: Roberto Benigni, Federico Ielapi, Gigi Proietti, Rocco Papaleo

Directed By: Matteo Garrone

#7

Tenet (2020)
70%

#7

Adjusted Score: 87905%

Critics Consensus: A visually dazzling puzzle for film lovers to unlock, Tenet serves up all the cerebral spectacle audiences expect from a Christopher Nolan production.

Synopsis: A secret agent embarks on a dangerous, time-bending mission to prevent the start of World War III.... [More]

Starring: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh

Directed By: Christopher Nolan

#8

Greenland (2020)
78%

#8

Adjusted Score: 85627%

Critics Consensus: Beware, comets of Greenland: Gerard Butler is here to protect Earth -- and show audiences an improbably entertaining time.

Synopsis: A family embarks on a perilous journey as a planet-killing comet hurtles toward Earth. As the countdown to the global... [More]

Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn

Directed By: Ric Roman Waugh

#9

Synchronic (2019)
79%

#9

Adjusted Score: 86889%

Critics Consensus: Synchronic sets off on an intriguingly idiosyncratic sci-fi journey that should satisfy fans of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson's earlier work.

Synopsis: A New Orleans paramedic encounters a psychedelic drug that challenges everything he knows about reality -- and the flow of... [More]

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan, Katie Aselton, Ally Ioannides

Directed By: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

#10

The Platform (2019)
79%

#10

Adjusted Score: 82448%

Critics Consensus: While it may feel muddled at times, The Platform is an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller.

Synopsis: In the future, prisoners housed in vertical cells watch as inmates in the upper cells are fed while those below... [More]

Starring: Emilio Buale, Zorion Eguileor, Alexandra Masangkay, Ivan Massagué

Directed By: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia