Science fiction is a realm of filmmaking often associated with the speculation of distant technological advancements, featuring movies likeTotal RecallandFifth Element. That being said, science fiction is often used to imagine futures not so distant from our own or even altered present realities.
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M. Night Shyamalan’sSignsis an example of a more “grounded” science fiction piece, which, despite its alien invasion, ultimately remains a story of faith, family, and renewal. Alternatively, the imagined future ofSpike Jonez’sHerhardly strays very far from our own present, only expanding on certain quirks of our digital age.
1’Never Let Me Go' (2010)
Tommy (Andrew Garfield), Ruth (Keira Knightley), and Kathy (Carey Mulligan) are three students who spend their childhood at a secluded English boarding school. The trio develops a complicated romantic triangle while attempting to understand their short-lived place in the world.
This 2010 adaptation ofKazuo Ishiguro’snovel of the same offers a reality where clones are raised to adulthood with the sole purpose of organ harvesting. The film is a bleak and devastating reflection on life and love, as well as a serious ethical discourse on thenature and trajectory of modern healthcare.
2’Under the Skin' (2013)
An alien taking the form of a beautiful woman (Scarlett Johansson) travels the roads of Glasgow in search of men to seduce. Once subject to her whim, these men finds themselves in a dark void, slowly engulfed in a dark, watery abyss, never to be seen again, victims of terrifying and unknowable alien purposes.
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A rare feature in the filmography of English directorJonathan Glazer(Birth, Sexy Beast),Under The Skin,won plaudits upon its release for the terror of its grounded science fiction. Sparing in its alien imagery and subtle in its craft, this unusual entry in Johansson’s career is an unnerving and exceptional work of art.
3’Her' (2013)
Awkward, introverted, and still nursing a broken heart, Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) takes advantage of a new device operating system that is said to be able to meet his every need. However, we see Theodore open up to the world again when he and the AI system, going by the name Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), begin to develop a romantic interest in one another.
Jonez’s solo screenwriting debut (and subsequently, his first Academy Award for said original screenplay) takes the simple concept of the need to connect and applies it to a world that feels just a few short paces beyond our own, although,a decade on, it feels like we might be slowly catching up. Phoenix is ever present, offering a performance both parts incredibly sweet and completely devastating.
4’Strawberry Mansion' (2021)
James Preble (Kentucker Audley) is a pleasantly mannered agent government agent who must perform a tax audit on Arabella Isadora’s vast collection of VHS tapes containing a lifetime of her unconscious dreams, as this future surveillance state now regularly taxes its citizen’s dreams. However, as he wanders Arabella’s vast trove, he discovers a secret that might help him break free of his unfulfilling existence.
From the minds of Audley andAlbert Birneycomes a quirky, colorful, and beautiful piece of sci-fi, the likes of which rarely finds its way to screens anymore. Audley and Birney’s creativity is just awe-inspiring, with incredible costuming, a seemingly endless stream of fun characters, absurd scenarios, and an exhibition of their multimedia talents, including digital and stop-motion animation.
5’Nope' (2022)
After his father’s mysterious and unexplainable death, OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) continues to operate his family’s isolated Californian ranch alone, with the occasional help of his sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer). When the same strange occurrences that led to their father’s death reemerge, the pair decide they need to investigate.
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Jordan Peele,beyond being a modern master of horror, is equally a modern master of grounded science fiction and social thrillers.Get OutandUsboth feature the lives of ordinary people irreversibly changed by strange and elevated horrors of science, whileNopetakes it one step further, introducing a brutal and malicious alien visitor, creating his most deeply terrifying scenario yet.
6’Stepford Wives' )1975)
To Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross), something about the idyllic town of Stepford feels off. After having moved there with her family from New York City at the suggestion and insistence of her husband Walter (Peter Masterson). Joanna is not alone in feeling that the men of the town are keeping a dark secret, and her husband might just be in on the plot.
This 1975 social-horror movie followedRosemary’s Babyas the second adaptation of the novels of horror authorIra Levin. Eerie and discomforting, the film’s subject matter has only grown in potency with its science-fiction elements and feminist themes.
7’Signs' (2002)
When the Hess family, a rural American farming family, begins finding crop circles on their land, they are unsure what these symbols could mean for them. However, as widowed family patriarch Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) learns more about the signs, he and his family’s faith is pushed to its limits.
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A classic in the catalog of M. Night Shyamalan and most likely a staple in the watchlists of U.F.O enthusiasts, 2002’sSignsis a drama of family and faith under the guise of an alien invasion story. Shyamalan has always been a master of using the most elevated of circumstances in telling the most grounded of narratives, as evidenced even today by his recently releasedKnock At The Cabin.
8’Sorry To Bother You' (2018)
Cassius Green (Lakeith Steinfield) struggles to pay rent while living in his uncle’s garage with his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson). After landing work as a telemarketer, Cassius learns to adopt a “white voice” to appease potential customers. This secret method skyrockets him up the corporate ladder; however, the world of the corporate elite harbors many a strange and dangerous secret.
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Boots Rileyhas always been an outspoken progressive figure, so it is no surprise that his hit feature debut is an inventive take on modern America. Grounded in the working class struggle, Riley makes clear the racial micro-aggressions and racist practices that are common practice in the corporate world, using strange and disturbing science fiction elements to rattle his viewers.
9’Alphaville' (1965)
Private eye Lemmy Cautious (Eddie Constantine) is sent to a distant planet, to the futuristic city of Alphaville, ruled by an evil scientist and its tyrannical AI overlord ‘Alpha 60’, who have outlawed love and expression, turning its inhabitants into strange, unfeeling beings. Cautious is sent undercover as a journalist with a series of missions involving rescue, murder, and the destruction of ‘Alpha 60’.
It is a common rule that if an idea exists, thenJean Luc Godardhas probably dabbled in it. While the concept forAlphavillesounds the furthest thing from grounded, Godard’s production processes certainly afford the film this title. Made without sets on the streets and in the buildings of Paris, Godard uses his surroundings to craft his dystopian vision of “Alphaville.” His methods for creating the world are incredibly interesting and inspiring, rife for research on the part of any aspiring filmmaker or cinephile.
10’Lapsis' (2020)
In what is described as a “parallel present” rather than an alternate future, Ray (Dean Imperial) struggles to support his brother, who is suffering at the hands of a mysterious but widespread new illness by taking up odd and often criminal jobs. Ray finds his latest gig in a strange line of work, trawling cables over long distances to connect a series of metal cubes as part of a new digital trade market. Ray’s unscrupulous means of landing this gig finds him even more trouble amid a conspiracy.
Noah Hutton’s2020 feature is an elevated portrayal of the gig economy designed to expose its flaws and the dangerous possibilities that may emerge if we allow it to continue to envelop such a large portion of our labor market. A fascinating and incredibly grounded modern sci-fi movie, it feels as if directors in the modern era are looking less and less to alternate futures, and more often to these “parallel presents” in generating their dystopian visions.
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