

It’s gory, imaginative, horrifying, beautiful, visceral and utterly glorious. Metal clashes against metal, and characters slash through their opponents as if their bodies were made of butter. Two armies engage in a no-holds-barred, slow motion-heavy action set piece. There is a sequence midway through Snowpiercer that perfectly articulates what makes Korean writer/director Bong Joon-ho among the most dynamic filmmakers currently working. Snowpiercer Year: 2014 Director: Bong Joon-ho Stars: Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Song Kang-ho, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt Rating: R Runtime: 126 minutes The consciousness encountered by the characters here is genuinely unknowable, totally outside of our capacity to grasp, which reinforces the Lovecraftian tenet of humanity’s extremely meager understanding of our reality, and relative insignificance in the cosmic scheme of things. In particular, the film’s ultimate depiction of the extraterrestrials strikes a very appropriate tone for Lovecraft, in the sense that the alien intelligence is portrayed as truly alien, rather than as human in some other guise. Annihilation takes a studious, philosophical perspective on the ramifications of entering such a zone, as biology grapples with the inherent spark of identity and humanity within all of us–it’s perhaps a bit more cerebral than many of Lovecraft’s works, but the influence is unmistakable. The “Shimmer” itself seems deeply indebted to Lovecraft’s 1927 story “The Colour Out of Space.” As in Lovecraft’s story, Annihilation sees a mysterious force of extraterrestrial origin fall to Earth, where it leeches into the countryside and begins to transform and warp reality around it, with one of the leading indicators being the otherworldly colors and visual distortion that spreads from the epicenter of what is essentially an alien infection. Annihilation Year: 2018 Director: Alex Garland Stars: Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Lason Leigh, Oscar Isaac, Tuva Novotny, Gina Rodriguez Rating: R Runtime: 115 minutesĪlex Garland’s meditative adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel Annihilation is perhaps not the first film you’d immediately associate with “Lovecraftian” horror, but it actually fits the descriptor quite well. If aliens do ever land on Earth, maybe we should just send her to greet them. She also represents humankind with more dignity and grace than any other modern actor possibly could. She sweats, she cries, she bleeds, she struggles, and so much more that can’t be said here without giving away the film’s most awesome treasures. Adams is a chameleonic actress of immense talent, and Arrival lets her wear each of her various camouflages over the course of its duration. Army to figure out how the hell to communicate with our alien visitors. This is a robust but delicate work captured in stunning, calculated detail by cinematographer Bradford Young, and guided by Amy Adams’ stellar work as Louise Banks, a brilliant linguist commissioned by the U.S. You can also engage with it for its subtext, should you actually look for it. You can engage with Arrival for its text, which is powerful, striking, emotive and, most of all, abidingly compassionate. Fundamentally, it’s about the day aliens make landfall on Earth, and all the days that come after-which, to sum up the collective human response in a word, are mayhem.
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It’s both the full embodiment of Villeneuve’s approach to cinema and a marvelous, absorptive piece of science fiction, a two hour sleight-of-hand stunt that’s best experienced with as little foreknowledge of its plot as possible. Your appreciation of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival will hinge on how well you like being led astray. Arrival Year: 2016 Director: Denis Villeneuve Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 116 minutes Here are the 20 best sci-fi movies on Netflix:ġ. You can also check out all of our What to Watch on Netflix guides, updated each month. And maybe revisit David Lynch’s Dune? It’s an exciting time for speculative fiction, whether you’re looking for alien arrivals, superheroes, space travel, technological dangers or imaginative glimpses at the future. The Machines, while being supported by Netflix originals such as Project Power or The Platform. The catalog of streaming films is especially strong when it comes to 21st-century indie movies like Okja, Snowpiercer and The Mitchells vs. And Netflix has upped their sci-fi movie game over the last year and now includes several of our 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time.

Science fiction is the favorite genre of many of us here at Paste.
