While the world is relying on science to find the vaccine for the Coronavirus, it is important for you to stay at home to decrease the virus spread. This can be a bit daunting at first. But if you are able to channel your routine in a systematic fashion, you might as well succeed. Although it is important to be productive, it is equally important to have wee time for entertainment. What if I told you that there’s a way of learning something new while you are on Netflix! Science Fiction movies, although, fictional, give out a lot of information about Science and its various paradoxes.
Needless to say, it wasn’t until when “Interstellar” was released I came to know about Wormholes. It was the “Back to the Future” series that introduced me to the world of Time Machines! I learnt more about modern physics from movies than textbooks. So, I encourage you to do the same by binge-watching some of the finest Science Fictional movies on Netflix. Before I get to the list, you must understand that I had to avoid movies which are not available on Netflix.
Her
“Her” was one of many movies to hit the silver screen while Artificial Intelligence was booming. The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. The gist of this movie is how an introverted person develops a relationship with an artificially intelligent virtual assistant. Theodore(played by Phoenix) begins to enjoy his life after this relationship and finds himself in a better place. However, his peace and happiness were short-lived when his virtual assistant bid adieu to Theodore before joining the other AIs for an intense update which might delete her memories. The closing scenes of this movie are heart-wrenching and have one of the best performances from Phoenix. The movie was nominated for 5 different categories in Academy Awards. “Her” won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay category.
Outbreak
Outbreak stays relevant to the current situation that we are facing. Although I wanted to include, Contagion as well, it is not on Netflix. The Outbreak narrates a series of events that happens after the world battles an outbreak of a deadly virus. This deadly virus causes the affected person to have a deadly fever before killing them. The host of this virus was a monkey. This Morgan Freeman-starrer then unveils suspense when the team learns the reality behind the outbreak. The outbreak was a plan conceived by the military, to preserve its use for Biological weapons. The movie is neatly directly without leaning out of the original storyline. Ironically the movie starts with the following lines quoting Nobel laureate, Joshua Lederberg:
“The single biggest threat to man’s continued dominance on the planet is the virus”
The movie is in fact based on the novel “The Hot Zone” written by Richard Preston
iBoy
Starting this list off with a Netflix original movie, iBoy revolves around the story of the protagonist, Tom(played by Bill Milner) waking up from a Coma to discover his superhero powers. The concept of possessing superpowers as a result of having the fragments of a Smartphone embedded to the brain is something new that hasn’t been tried much in the industry. As a result of having these fragments, Tom starts seeing digital signals and phone transmissions. Tom developed this superpower when he tried defending Lucy(Maisey Williams) from a gang. Not to spoil much of your experience, you will find how he developed his powers and why he decides to avenge this gang, after watching the movie! Shortly after the movie was released, it received good reception among the fans for the unique concept and Maisey Williams’ screen presence.
Psychokinesis
Yeon Sang-ho’s live-action directorial debut, “Train to Busan” is still regarded as one of the finest movies directed by a debutant. Psychokinesis being his second live-action movie, people were heavily banking on the movie’s success. The plot of the movie is about a bank security guard who accidentally gains superhero powers after drinking water from a mountain spring. It was later on revealed that the water had a few traces of meteor fragments. This gave him the telekinetic powers. The rest of the movie tells us how he uses this power to save his estranged daughter. This movie will also give you an idea as to how Korean movies differ from Hollywood, both in terms of Production and narration.
Ex Machina
Ex Machina is the best one on this list(personally!). This movie is a bit similar to “Her” but the major difference lies in how the story unfolds. While “Her” emphasized on an introvert developing a relationship with software, Ex Machina is more of a “test” than a relationship between a Humanoid and a Human. Caleb, an employee of a top software firm, visits the isolated facility where his CEO lives, shortly after winning an office competition. He stays there for a week and his CEO offers him a task of performing a Turing Test on a humanoid that he is currently working on.
He tells him that a Turing Test is successful if the human doesn’t feel as if they are talking with a humanoid. When Caleb tests Ava, he develops a relationship, only to be backstabbed by her. I’m not going to spoil your experience by revealing why she backstabs him. But I can tell you that it has something to do with emotions.
Predestination
Predestination is one of the best mind-puzzling movies that I have ever seen to date. The movie stars Ethan Hawke in the lead role, who is a time-travelling temporal agent. He is on a quest to find one criminal who has been eluding for a long time. If you blink an eye while watching this movie, you’ll miss so many details that perfectly gave away the suspense early on the movie. When you rewatch this movie you will know the parts that could’ve easily helped you identify who the criminal was, especially the opening scenes of this movie. The identity of this criminal lies secretive until the end of the movie. Before he gets to them, the agent meets a character and listens to his tragic life story. In the end, both the agent and the character he meets turns out to be very close to the criminal too.
Obvious movies that you might have seen, but including to help those who haven’t seen it yet:
Inception, The Matrix, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Back to the Future Series, and Interstellar.
