5 Must-Watch Sci-Fi Movies That Outshine Project Hail Mary

“Project Hail Mary” helped launch what has already become a standout year for moviegoers, with “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” keeping the momentum going and major titles such as “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” still on the horizon. Led by Ryan Gosling, the film works within a well-worn science fiction lane — the isolated, high-pressure mission in deep space — a setup familiar to fans of Andy Weir’s work. Yet it delivers that formula with real confidence, pairing striking visuals with sharp dramatic momentum.

Still, placing “Project Hail Mary” among the greatest sci-fi movies ever made is a tougher conversation. As a big-screen experience, it is undeniably impressive, powered by polished visual effects, a compelling lead performance and one of the most memorable puppet characters to hit theaters in years. The movie is optimistic, moving and often exhilarating, and for audiences seeking hopeful science fiction, it is hard to argue against its appeal. But when the discussion expands to cinematic craft, cultural influence, thematic ambition and storytelling achievement, the genre’s long history offers several films that stand even taller.

“Project Hail Mary” is an excellent sci-fi film. These five science fiction movies are even stronger.

“Annihilation” never leaves Earth, but it shares “Project Hail Mary’s” fascination with scientific exploration, alien contact and the terror of stepping into the unknowable. It also stands as one of the defining science fiction films of the 21st century. Written and directed by Alex Garland, a filmmaker with a distinct command of cerebral genre storytelling, the movie features a formidable ensemble led by Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, with Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson and Oscar Isaac rounding out the cast.

Released in 2018, “Annihilation” takes significant liberties with Jeff VanderMeer’s 2014 novel, though the central premise remains intact. A mysterious stretch of wilderness in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge begins exhibiting bizarre biological and environmental changes, drawing the attention of a secretive government organization. In both the book and the film, a team of female scientists is sent inside to investigate. Garland’s adaptation names the affected zone “The Shimmer” and ties its transformation to a meteor strike near the coast, while VanderMeer’s novel keeps the origins and nature of “Area X” far more ambiguous.

Both versions are exceptional and well worth your time. Science, truth, and the inherent terror of things we cannot understand are major features of the story as the team moves through the Shimmer, but the film is more about human nature — specifically, as explored in the film’s defining monologue from Leigh’s Dr. Ventress about our capacity for self-destruction. Like “Project Hail Mary,” “Annihilation” is a visually stunning film that plays with ideas of isolation and discovery, but in much darker, more obfuscated ways. And the ending of “Annihilation” is one you will likely never forget.

“Gattaca” is, in some ways, the inverse of “Project Hail Mary.” Where the latter is bold, bombastic, and filled with visual wonder, 1997’s “Gattaca” is quiet and contemplative. Both are films about brave voyages into space — journeys the characters may not come back from. Your taste in sci-fi will likely determine which better suits you, but “Gattaca” is an underrated masterpiece, even after many years of it slowly gaining favor in retrospect.

Ethan Hawke is a powerhouse in the lead role of Vincent Freeman, who dreams of going to space in a future when eugenics has created an underclass of people born without genetic modification. Vincent’s “in-valid” genome prohibits him from the future he aspires to, forcing him to use alternative genetic material to pass checks in the hope of joining a mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.

Uma Thurman and Jude Law are similarly outstanding in supporting roles, but “Gattaca” succeeds largely on the script and direction of Andrew Niccol, whose prescience about the future is accented by a sharp thematic intention, full of powerful symbolism and deeply human moments. Like “Project Hail Mary,” “Gattaca” is a film about courage and triumph. While it may not be as explosive, those who appreciate a subtler brand of sci-fi may enjoy it even more. As Hawke said so eloquently in a 2007 interview with Stuart Mabey, “Its themes are that of individual rights, what makes up an individual. So rarely do films use the device of metaphor, or allegory, and ‘Gattaca’ really does it.”

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If you want to talk about sci-fi movies in which people are stuck on ships at the far reaches of space, then we have to talk about “Alien.” Nearly half a century after Ridley Scott’s horror masterpiece premiered in theaters in 1979, it remains the defining entry in the sci-fi horror genre, and the outstanding production design and pacing that made it such a phenomenon haven’t aged a day.

What is there left to say about “Alien” at this point? It set new standards for everything from on-screen cryosleep, to alien monster design, to the grimy, lived-in, smog-coated science fiction aesthetic that Scott doubled down on just a couple of years later in “Blade Runner.” But more relevant for our purposes here, “Alien” perfectly captures the terrifying, fascinating, beautiful allure of deep space, with all of its potential horrors and reality-shaking discoveries.

To be fair, Ryland Grace’s experience with alien life is much friendlier and more wholesome than that of the crew of the Nostromo, all of whom would surely prefer Rocky to the frighteningly designed Xenomorph that sneaks its way onto their ship via facehugger and begins to take them apart one by one. While “Project Hail Mary” is exceptional, “Alien” is a pillar of modern science fiction — a film so perfect in its execution that directors are still trying to achieve what it did in ’79. Even the more recent entries in the “Alien” franchise struggle to nail what makes the original so great. If horror isn’t your vibe, “Hail Mary” will surely be the better choice, but when you account for legacy, timelessness, and groundbreaking film craft, “Alien” takes this one easily.

No single director has been as dominant or influential in the realm of sci-fi over the last decade than Denis Villeneuve, who really carved his mark on the genre in stone with the first two films of his “Dune” trilogy (with “Dune: Part Three,” his highly-anticipated adaptation of “Dune Messiah,” arriving later this year). But before the French-Canadian director got hold of Frank Herbert’s epic, he made his entry into the sci-fi genre with 2016’s absolutely fantastic “Arrival,” starring Amy Adams as a linguist trying to establish contact with a visiting pair of alien beings.

It’s hard to understate the ways this film has influenced the aesthetic of modern sci-fi in the years since, from the cosmically horrifying designs of the creatures to the smooth, round, almost mythic look of their ship. The story itself is similarly captivating. While both “Arrival” and “Project Hail Mary” show humans grappling with and growing from encounters with extraterrestials, “Arrival” is more sophisticated in its observations and more exact in its emotional core. It certainly isn’t easy to deliver such a raucous, victorious feeling as the one captured in Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s epic, but what Villeneuve achieves here is just as affecting, and more revelatory in the tonal space the film creates.

“That project was fundamental,” Villeneuve told Adams in a 2024 retrospective with Vanity Fair. And indeed, you can draw a clear line from “Arrival” to the string of science fiction films that the director has made since — including the final movie on this list.

Yes, we’re doing two Denis Villeneuve films. Who could possibly say that the man doesn’t deserve it? And while “Blade Runner 2049” may not be about space (it is a little bit, actually), or aliens, it’s a natural next watch for anyone who loved “Project Hail Mary” because it’s another sci-fi star vehicle for Ryan Gosling. And this genuinely might be the best performance of his career.

If you loved the man in “Hail Mary,” Gosling’s turn as replicant blade runner K in “2049” is even better — an incredible balancing act that’s calculated, measured, sometimes robotic, occasionally explosive, but always precise and riveting. And while “Project Hail Mary” is stunning to look at, “Blade Runner 2049” is in contention for the best-looking sci-fi film of the last 20 years. Even if you’ve never watched it before, you’ve probably seen some shots of the orange irradiated landscape, the fog-covered cyberpunk megalopolis, or Gosling lying down in the snow in the coolest coat anyone has ever worn in a movie (aside from the one he wears in “Drive”).

“Blade Runner” may be the best sci-fi movie of all time, in some estimations, and while “2049” may not quite hit the highs of Ridley Scott’s astounding “Final Cut” of its predecessor, it’s still masterfully crafted, and a perfect choice for fans of both Ryan Gosling and visually striking science fiction.