5 Sci-fi Movies to Watch on Netflix Instead of The Electric State
The Russo Brothers’ $320 million-worthy movie is Netflix’s most expensive failure so far.
Released just several days ago, The Electric State starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt has quickly become notorious for failing dramatically with critics.
The movie, directed by Marvel’s darlings Anthony and Joe Russo, had a budget of around $320 million, which turned it into one of the most expensive films ever made and definitely Netflix ’s biggest cost item so far.
The money wasn’t something critics would buy though, as The Electric State is currently holding a critical score of 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, despite the movie being number one choice in the streamer’s global top charts, Netflix has a lot more to offer when it comes to sci-fi flicks.
If you have already checked The Electric State out or the critics’ words keep you away from the movie, this list is there to help you find something more worthy.
Spaceman (2024)
Featuring Adam Sandler in a very rare non-comical role, Spaceman was one of the most anticipated releases on Netflix last year, and, despite mixed reviews from critics, still received praise for its story and performances.
Based on Jaroslav Kalfař’s novel Spaceman of Bohemia, the movie stars Sandler as Czech cosmonaut Jakub Procházka tasked with finding out something more about a mysterious cloud on the planet Jupiter.
Spaceman isn’t just about space though, as the film thoroughly explores its character’s inner world shattered by all the issues he has back on Earth.
The Platform (2019)
A Spanish dystopian thriller with Silo ’s vibe, The Platform has its events unfolding in the future where a tower called “Vertical Self-Management Center” is used as a way of punishment for those who committed crimes.
Those who stay imprisoned there have to live and survive according to the system that switches the convicted on the numerous floors so that a platform filled with delicious food wouldn’t be given to the same people on upper floors.
With the platform getting empty by the time it descends to the lower floors, the conflict between the prisoners is growing bigger.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
The second movie in the franchise that came as an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian trilogy, Catching Fire is regarded as the best installment in the entire series, and not just among critics.
The film sees Katniss and Peeta returning back home to District 12 after traumatising events of the 74th Hunger Games, though their normal life doesn’t last long; they’re forced to participate in the Quarter Quell, President Snow’s next cruel invention that would help him get rid of the most of Hunger Games’ surviving winners of the past years.
Catching Fire is just as good as the book’s movie version could ever be; powerful performances from late Donald Sutherland and Philip Seymour Hoffman bring it to another level too.
Spiderhead (2022)
Starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, Spiderhead offers yet another perspective of what life in prison will be like sometime in the future.
The movie sees an experimental facility where the free will and true intentions of the convicted are tested with the use of mind-altering drugs; there are no bars and no orange jumpsuits, but it’s hard to imagine someone just walking out of there that easily.
When two prisoners unite in their suspicions and learn more about the island’s real purposes, they plan an escape, though they need to do it way more thoroughly than they expected.
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
With a critical score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, Godzilla Minus One is definitely one of the best sci-fi movies of the past several years.
Takashi Yamazaki’s hit film finds Japan in a miserable state after the country is dragged by World War II, though the end of it doesn’t signal the end of the nation’s suffering after all. The danger grows even bigger when a former kamikaze pilot struggling with PTSD discovers a giant monster known as Godzilla.
Godzilla Minus One is a must-watch if you’re looking for something epic and grand-scale, especially since the movie won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
