The best sci-fi movies to watch on Netflix in April 2024

Greetings, Polygon readers!

Not only one is coming out this weekend, but… two Science fiction epics in the form of Dune: Part Two And Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scar Donor on VOD and streaming. If you don’t like any of this, don’t worry. We’ve revisited Netflix’s streaming library to bring you a trio of the best sci-fi films to watch in April.

This month’s favorites include John Carpenter’s 1984 sci-fi body horror romance starring Jeff Bridges, an underrated post-apocalyptic blockbuster about mobile city fortresses jostling for resources, and an anime adaptation of a cult cyberpunk manga classic.

Let’s take a look at what this month has to offer!

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Editor’s Choice: Starman

Image: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Director: John Carpenter
Pour: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith

The pitch “John Carpenter’s version of Close encounters” conjures up a completely different image for fans Halloween director as his 1984 film Starman turned out to be. The film opens with a sleek spaceship landing on Earth, in a frame not too far removed from the beginning The thing. There’s even a bit of body horror: When the alien sneaks into the home of recently widowed Jenny (Karen Allen), the creature uses pieces of her late husband’s DNA to reshape its physical self – from baby to toddler to… Teen and adult Jeff Bridges in just a few seconds. It’s sick! Then Carpenter gets completely beside himself in his most romantic film to date.

Starman is a sci-fi film through and through – the alien visits our planet after intercepting Voyager 2’s golden disc, and his arrival triggers a classic Spielbergian game of cat and mouse between bumbling FBI agents and the ET on the run – but in fact As the alien takes the form of Jenny’s dead husband, Carpenter delves deeper into human mortality than these film stories usually do. Allen, who finds himself in an impossible situation, and Bridges, who mixes his alien’s hyperintelligence with childlike wonder, have the chemistry to make a silly story resonate. Jenny knows the man in her passenger seat isn’t her husband, but he’s a second chance. Carpenter uses the dreamlike premise for all the juice, leaning on Jack Nitzsche’s unforgettable score to flourish at just the right moments. Starman is pure Hollywood romance and proof that pigeonholing a director into a genre is the quickest way to limit greatness. —Matt Patches

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Mortal engines

Image: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Director: Christian rivers
Pour: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving

An underrated post-apocalyptic blockbuster from many of the creators of the Lord of the Rings films. Mortal engines was a box office hit, but it deserved much better. The story takes place in a future where cities are mobile and large cities prey on smaller ones. The story is about a young assassin (Hera Hilmar) who tries to take out a power-hungry leader (Hugo Weaving). Along the way, she finds allies (Jihae) and maybe even a little love (Robert Sheehan).

But the characters or the narrative are not Mortal engines‘ Main selling point (although Weaving fully commits to an over-the-top villainous performance). Instead, it’s the fantastic production design and creative world building that make it Mortal engines Feel like a breath of fresh air in the sequel/prequel/remake-heavy sci-fi blockbuster landscape. Now that it’s new on Netflix, check out one of the most undeserving flops of the 2010s. —Pete Volk

Accuse!

Image: Polygon Pictures/Netflix

Director: Hiroyuki Seshita
Pour: Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Sora Amamiya

Alongside HR Giger and Shinya Tsukamoto, Tsutomu Nihei is one of the most prolific artists associated with the subgenre of posthuman science fiction, with an emphasis on horrific human-machine hybrids and vast, desolate worlds set in the distant future are.

Nihei’s 1997 manga Accuse! is undoubtedly his magnum opus – a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk saga about a mysterious warrior named “Killy” who wanders the metallic wastelands of an Earth ravaged by a techno-organic virus. Adapted into a full-length anime by director Hiroyuki Seshita (Knights of Sidonia), Accuse! condenses the manga’s story into a single adventure in which Killy attempts to find a way to eradicate the virus that has changed the world and endangered humanity’s last remaining descendants.

While the film loses some of the manga’s evocative, wordless melancholy in its translation from page to screen, it doesn’t lack the grandeur and depth of its world-building and vistas. The action is punishing and electrifying as Killy battles monstrous killer androids and a ruthless antagonist hell-bent on killing as many impure people (i.e. everyone) as possible. Accuse! is a worthy adaptation of the source material and a worthwhile watch for anyone who considers themselves a fan of dark sci-fi animation. –Toussaint Egan