Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies 2021

Critics Consensus: The Green Knight honors and deconstructs its source material in equal measure, producing an absorbing adventure that casts a fantastical spell.

Synopsis: An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, THE GREEN KNIGHT tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur's reckless and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury

Directed By: David Lowery

Critics Consensus: Dune occasionally struggles with its unwieldy source material, but those issues are largely overshadowed by the scope and ambition of this visually thrilling adaptation.

Synopsis: Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to a dangerous planet in the universe... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve

Critics Consensus: Lapsis binds economic anxiety to an unsettling sci-fi story set in the not-too-distant future, with smartly inventive results.

Synopsis: In a parallel present, delivery man Ray Tincelli is struggling to support himself and his ailing younger brother. After a series of two-bit hustles and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Madeline Wise, Dean Imperial, Ivory Aquino, Babe Howard

Directed By: Noah Hutton

Critics Consensus: Led by Alec Utgoff's impressive starring performance, Never Gonna Snow Again blends elements of sci-fi, satire, and surreal drama with an assured hand.

Synopsis: On a gray, foggy morning outside a large Polish city, Zhenia (Alec Utgoff), a masseur from the East, enters the lives of the wealthy residents... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati

Directed By: Małgorzata Szumowska

Critics Consensus: A knockout feature directorial debut from Edson Oda, Nine Days is an ethereal and evocative film about the meaning of life - elevated by a phenomenal performance from Winston Duke.

Synopsis: A man interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on Earth.

Starring: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgård, Benedict Wong

Directed By: Edson Oda

Critics Consensus: Mandibles finds writer-director Quentin Dupieux off on another thoroughly original flight of fancy that will captivate like-minded audiences while baffling others.

Synopsis: When simple-minded friends Jean-Gab and Manu find a giant fly trapped in the boot of a car, they decide to train it in the hope... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Grégoire Ludig, David Marsais, Adèle Exarchopoulos, India Hair

Directed By: Quentin Dupieux

Critics Consensus: Oxygen gets the white-knuckle maximum out of its claustrophobic setting, with director Alexandre Aja and star Mélanie Laurent making this a must-watch thriller for sci-fi fans.

Synopsis: Oxygen is a French survival thriller directed by Alexandre Aja. The film tells the story of a young woman (Mélanie Laurent, 6 Underground, Inglourious Basterds),... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi, Marc Saez

Directed By: Alexandre Aja

Critics Consensus: Delivering squarely on its title, Godzilla vs. Kong swats away character development and human drama to deliver all the spectacle you'd expect from giant monsters slugging it out.

Synopsis: Legends collide in "Godzilla vs. Kong" as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry

Directed By: Adam Wingard

Critics Consensus: Night Raiders strikes grim parallels between its dystopian setting and the present, offering a disturbing reminder that the horrors of the past are often very much still with us.

Synopsis: The year is 2043. A military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are property of the State. A desperate Cree woman joins... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brooklyn Letexier-Hart, Alex Tarrant, Amanda Plummer

Directed By: Danis Goulet

Critics Consensus: A bizarrely memorable sci-fi/comedy hybrid, Fried Barry may be an acquired taste, but it certainly isn't chicken.

Synopsis: Aliens take over the body of a drug addict and take it for a joyride through Cape Town.

Starring: Gary Green, Chanelle De Jager, Brett Williams, Joey Cramer

Directed By: Ryan Kruger