The last couple of years have been a fantastic time for sci-fi fans, with several high-profile movies dominating current conversations. Jurassic World Rebirth continued the franchise’s trend of box office dominance, while Tron Ares and Mickey 17 have been in the news for the wrong reasons after failing to meet commercial expectations. Elsewhere, The Substance has proven to be a huge surprise hit, finding itself nominated for five Oscars, and the re-release of Avatar: The Way of the Water has re-ignited interest in the franchise and has everyone talking about the upcoming Avatar movie scheduled for release later this year.
There have been plenty of great sci-fi movies that haven’t been so widely spoken about, though, movies that flew under mainstream radars and landed quietly to little fanfare. From surreal trips into the unknown to B-movie goodness – here, we’re looking at the 10 best new sci-fi films that no one is talking about but deserve far more recognition.
‘The A-Frame’ (2024)
The A-Frame is a dark sci-fi horror that follows a quantum physicist who accidentally opens a portal to a subatomic universe. Believing he can use this discovery to help treat cancer patients, he begins conducting increasingly disturbing experiments on humans — with dire consequences — blurring the lines between ethics and science.
Philosophical Science Fiction
Bold and daring, it’s a slow-burning, cerebral indie gem that blends elements of gruesome body horror with psychological drama, making for one of the most thought-provoking sci-fi movies in recent years. Its limited marketing budget and intense subject matter, however, have prevented it from getting the recognition it deserves.
‘Primitive War’ (2025)
Set in Vietnam in 1968 and starring Jeremy Priven, Primitive War follows a U.S. Army unit on an intelligence gathering mission following the disappearance of a Special Forces platoon. Much to their astonishment, they find themselves in the jaws of the greatest predators the planet has ever known – dinosaurs.
A Refreshing Take on the Dinosaur Creature Feature
While it might lack the polished Hollywood sheen and spectacular effects of the recently released Jurassic World Rebirth, it’s a surprisingly impressive low-budget equivalent. Full of B-movie spirit, it wears its low-budget DNA openly and manages to deliver more fun and creativity than typical studio creature flicks. Combining elements of sci-fi, horror, and action, it’s a fun Australian gem that’s well worth a watch for fans of dino-related chaos.
’40 Acres’ (2024)
40 Acres is a sci-fi thriller that follows a woman and her family as they fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic future. Following a fungal pandemic, nearly all animals have been wiped out, and the food chain has been severely disrupted, resulting in civil war as survivors fight for food and fertile farmland.
A Thought-Provoking Hidden Gem From Canada
Set two hundred years after her family of African-American farmers settled in rural Canada after the first Civil War, 40 Acres contemplates how history echoes through time, presenting a thought-provoking piece of work about the nature of humankind. Despite scoring an impressive 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has received little mainstream attention.
‘Somnium’ (2024)
Somnium follows an aspiring actress as she secures a night job at an organization where dreams and aspirations are engineered into reality. Her life soon begins to spiral out of control. However, as she becomes increasingly entangled in the company’s mysterious practices, the lines between reality and dreams become blurred, leading to paranoia and a distorted sense of self-identity.
‘Somnium’ Explores Similar Issues to ‘The Substance’
Somnium explores themes of obsession, technological manipulation, identity, self-perception, isolation, and reality vs. illusion and delivers an unsettling and suspenseful sci-fi thriller that deserves to be spoken about in the same conversation as modern sci-fi classics like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Substance.
‘Buying Time’ (2024)
In what could easily have been the plot to an episode of Black Mirror, Buying Time is set in a near future plagued by disease, where a “health chip” is available on the country’s national health service, which grants enhanced protection but drains life from others who do not qualify.
Eerily Relevant
This low-budget British indie sci-fi conspiracy thriller feels scarily relevant, especially in its native country, where the UK government is proposing the introduction of mandatory digital ID schemes and the NHS is under increased pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic. Praised for its thematic weight, strong performances, and striking visuals, the film, unfortunately, is little known outside of the UK.
‘The Shrouds’ (2024)
Known for using repulsive body horror to explore themes of identity, alienation, the human psyche, and the ethics of scientific experimentation and hubris, director David Cronenberg is an icon of the genre. He has crafted some of the most beloved movies in his field—including The Fly, Videodrome, and Scanners—but after 1999’s eXistenZ, he took a break from sci-fi and horror to direct crime thrillers like A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, as well as the black comedy Maps to the Stars.
‘The Shrouds’ Is Cronenberg’s Most Personal Work
Following the triumphant return to his sci-fi and horror roots with the acclaimed Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg returns with his most personal and intimate work to date. Inspired by the death of his wife of 43 years, Carolyn Zeifman, from cancer, The Shrouds follows a grieving widower who develops a type of technology that allows mourners to view their deceased loved ones decompose in real-time via a digital ‘shroud’. After the tech is sabotaged and his late wife’s grave is desecrated, he embarks on an investigation that takes him into the darkest corners of the human psyche, where technology, the fragility of grief, and human obsession intertwine.
Praised for its unique premise, elegant cinematography, body-horror aesthetics, and psychological drama, the movie was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival but only grossed $1.4 million box office.
‘Arco’ (2025)
Produced by Natalie Portman, Arco is a French animated sci-fi fantasy adventure movie about 10-year-old Arco, who lives in the year 2932 and uses a rainbow to accidentally time travel back to the year 2075. Here, he discovers a world in peril, suffering extreme climate change and environmental degradation. He befriends a young girl named Iris, and they work together to find a way to get him home.
‘Arco’ Is Fun Yet Important Viewing
Visually stunning and beautifully animated, it tells a powerful story of bravery, resilience, and the power of friendship, reflecting real-world anxieties about climate change and our over-reliance on technology – without ever coming across preachy. Perfect for all ages, the original French version features the voices of Margot Ringard Oldra, Oscar Tresanini, Swann Arlaud, Alma Jodorowsky, and Vincent Macaigne, while the English-language dubbed version sees heavy hitters like Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, Flea, and Andy Samberg handling voicework.
‘Time Rewind’ (2025)
A twisty, turny, time travel thriller, Time Rewind finds a man waking with amnesia, suspected of the murder of his teenage daughter. He later learns that his daughter may have traveled back to 1989 and changed the course of history, and that he must follow her there in order to save her life.
‘Time Rewind’ Takes Viewers Back to London in the Late ‘80s
It’s smart, exciting, and dripping in ‘80s nostalgia. A deeply personal project from director Lincoln Fenner, who has been quoted as saying that the movie is inspired by his own “journey seeking to fill the voids in my own early life,” Time Rewind deals with important issues around bullying and redemption.
Despite making a splash on the indie circuit, winning over 20 awards globally, this acclaim has failed to translate into commercial success, and it still remains relatively unknown amongst mainstream audiences.
‘Ash’ (2025)
Directed and scored by experimental hip hop artist Flying Lotus, Ash is an elevated sci-fi horror about an astronaut who awakens aboard a station on a strange planet with all her crew killed. Subject to amnesia and paranoia, she cannot determine whether or not to trust a man who claims he knows her and was sent to rescue her.
A Mind-Bending Experience
A stylish head-trip, Ash takes the typical ‘stranded aboard a spaceship’ trope and flips it on its head by blurring the lines of reality and fiction and injecting it with a healthy dose of surrealist tension and psychological dread. Blending striking visual design with a haunting electronic score, Ash morphs from a claustrophobic survival story into an existential nightmare — a meditation on what it means to be human when even your memories can’t be trusted.
‘The Assessment’ (2024)
Set in a future where parenthood is strictly controlled, Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel star as a married couple who undergo a rigorous seven-day assessment to determine their suitability for raising a child. The tests grow increasingly intense and surreal, however, evolving into a psychological ordeal that deeply impacts its subjects emotionally.
‘The Assessment’ Favors Psychological Depth Over Snazzy Effects
The Assessment is a high-concept sci-fi that forgoes expensive special effects and spectacle to focus on psychological tension. Reception has been positive by those who have seen it, with its lead performances, oppressive atmosphere, and intriguing premise being singled out as being particularly impressive. Despite this, it only made around $280,000 at the box office on its $8 million budget, sadly flying under the radar and getting overshadowed by the slew of bigger, high-profile sci-fi projects.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
