Looking for the best sci-fi movie to watch on Netflix or other streaming services this July? Watch 65 or Annihilation right now at home.
It’s July, and we’re barrelling through the summer movie calendar, with exciting new releases like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny lighting up movie screens across the U.S. Even more big tentpole releases, like Barbie and Oppenheimer, are set to arrive later this month. But if you’re looking for something closer to home to watch, look no further — there’s plenty of great movie on streaming to watch from the comfort of your couch.
Each month, we pick five science fiction movies for you to watch at home, on Netflix and other streaming platforms. This month, we have recent releases just making their way onto streaming, movies from directors with new works on way, and deeper cuts off the beaten path that are sure to delight you.65
Year: 2023
Run time: 1h 33m
Directors: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Cast: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt
It’s a question as old as archaeology itself: What really killed the dinosaurs? Y’know, aside from the ginormous meteor that struck the site of what is now known as the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It’s kinda like the question of who really built the pyramids, even though the answer is obviously and unfortunately Egyptian slave labor. Anyway, in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ sci-fi action debut, the answer is an ancient alien astronaut named Mills (Adam Driver) who crash-landed on Earth 65 million years ago after taking a job to pay for his daughter’s medical treatment.
After rescuing Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), the only other survivor of the crash, Mills is forced to fight his way through a myriad of prehistoric predators in order to reach his ship’s escape pods — the sole remaining means of returning back to his home world — before that big hulking meteor I mentioned earlier strikes the planet. While the initial premise of 65 is way more convoluted than it has any reason to be, Beck and Woods’ film is serviceably entertaining sci-fi romp all in all, anchored by an unsurprisingly strong lead performance by Driver, cool action sequences, and cool alien technology.
65 is available to stream on Netflix. It is also available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu.Annihilation
Year: 2018
Run time: 1h 55m
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson
Alex Garland’s adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s eco-horror novel is one of the director’s better works (though Ex Machina still reigns supreme, sorry).
