Looking for the best sci-fi movie to watch or stream at home this September? Watch Dune or Snowpiercer right now.
Happy October, Polygon readers!
As we wind down into the final months of the year, the night are growing darker and colder as we prepare for the last big movie releases of the year. If you’re looking for a great sci-fi movie on Netflix to throw into the mix, don’t sweat it: We’ve got you.
Each month, we pick the best science fiction movies for you to watch at home on the platform, tailored to the time of year, what’s out in theaters, or just straight up vibes. This month, we have an epic space opera, an incisive blockbuster from Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, and a Steven Spielberg sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise.
Let’s get into it!Dune
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac
Denis Villeneuve’s been on something of a sci-fi tear over the past decade, adapting Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” into the critically acclaimed Arrival, and even helming a sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Adapting Frank Herbert’s feudal space opera Dune is the director’s latest major effort, a two-part adaptation set to conclude with the release of the second film, Dune: Part Two, next March.
If you somehow haven’t had the opportunity to watch Dune, there’s no better time than now to catch up on the hype — it’s new on Netflix, and great fall viewing. The story is epic, yet intimate, centering on Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), the heir to a powerful family whose patriarch comes into possession of one of the valuable and contested territories in the known universe: Arrakis, a desert planet home to the spice melange, a vital resource for interstellar travel.
