Sci-fi films often render a version of reality that’s not very realistic. Everything from the world, to the characters that inhabit that world, are creatures of imagination, relying on their creator's ability to gaze into the future or reflect on the past.
Owing to their exciting dimension, these sci-fi films are visual spectacles that are told at the pace of a rollercoaster ride. But there are a few films and filmmakers that have gone against the grain of conventional, grand-scale sci-fi films and told them with the sensibilities of a drama, focusing on slowly unfolding the narrative. These slow-burning films marry the sensibilities of sci-fi with drama and create an eerie ethos of entertainment that exists in another reality, but has implications in the real world.
Here are 10 such slow-burn sci-fi films that should be on everyone’s watch list.
10 The Lobster (2015)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ film has a somewhat polarizing fan base. While one set deems the film as phenomenal, the other set isn’t quite as impressed with the Greek maestro’s efforts. What could be agreed on is that The Lobster is a perfect concoction of the interplay between future-oriented science fiction and real-world drama. Set in a somewhat dystopian future, the film has an absurd yet entertaining premise that requires single people to find a mate within 45 days or be transformed into an animal of their choice.
Lanthimos’ film creates a breeding ground for science fiction that’s tethered to reality, giving it the perfect balance between real and entertaining.
9 Sunshine (2007)
Before Danny Boyle went on to win an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, he made an equally impressive film about a group of astronauts that has been sent to space on a mission to reignite a dying sun. With a solid premise and an impressive cast, Sunshine is much more than just a space film, it’s a meditation on god, death, and everything in between.
8 Coherence (2013)
Coherence is what you get when you put creativity and ingenious storytelling into a small blender of resources and give it a nice twirl. The film takes place in a single location, on a single night, and documents the weird happenings of a dinner party that coincides with the passing of a mysterious comet. Despite being strapped for cash and technical resources, James Ward Byrkit’s film makes an intelligent dissection of supernatural elements and parallel realities, slowly unveiling the terror of the unknown to a mixed bag of characters.
7 Ex Machina (2014)
Alex Garland’s debut film poses a poignant question, if man plays god, what does that make the machines? A sci-fi tale of the god complex, egos, and artificial intelligence, Garland’s film is more reflective of our present state rather than where our future is headed. Led by an enthralling Oscar Isaac and a mesmerizing Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina, on the surface, seems to be a film about machines and technology, but when dug deep into, it slowly becomes a film about humans and emotions.
6 Arrival (2016)
Arrival is one of the most realistic alien invasion films to have ever been made. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Arrival has an inherently realistic approach to the genre and paints an accurate picture of what an invasion scenario would look like. Villeneuve goes against the grain of the genre and chooses to levelheadedly untangle the machinations of a global catastrophe, rather than just string together a couple of explosions and be done with it.
5 Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott’s dystopian rendition of Philip K. Dick’s novel, Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep, is widely considered to be the best sci-fi film to have ever been made, and for good reason. Creating the perfect balance between a tarnished, futuristic utopia, and the internal angst of its protagonist, Scott’s film uses scientific sensibilities to address primal human emotions and needs.
Led by an iconic Harrison Ford, the film revolves around ex-policeman Rick Deckard, who's tasked with exterminating replicants. As Deckard gets tangled in his mission, questions about his own existence and morality come to the fore.
4 2001: A Space Odyssey (1966)
Upon its release, Stanley Kubrick’s film was received and feared as a glaring reflection of the darker side of artificial intelligence, a worry the filmmaker himself harvested as NASA was about to fly the Mariner 4 past Mars. Furthering his curiosity about life in space, lived among artificial intelligence, 2001: A Space Odyssey was every bit dark, mysterious, and lonely, reminiscent of its creator’s mind.
3 Threads (1984)
Threads is more than a film, it’s a haunting re-imagination that would’ve rendered the world obsolete had it not been for a few good men. Originally commissioned as a TV film with a limited degree of exposure, when Threads released, a British newspaper reviewed the film with the headline, “The night Britain didn’t sleep”. Made on a meager budget, Mick Jackson’s film painted a hellish portrait of what a nuclear winter would look like, through its impact on a small town in England.
2 The Thing (1982)
Part horror, part sci-fi, total gore, The Thing sees a wicked face-off between a shape-shifting alien and a group of researchers. John Carpenter's film is both externally scary and internally daunting, as it's set against the backdrop of a vast and expansive Antarctica. Left to fend for themselves, the group of researchers soon starts turning on each other, as the alien entity penetrates their ranks, causing chaos from outside and from within.
1 Stalker (1972)
Andrei Tarkovsky’s meditation into man, myth, and madness is an evergreen sci-fi treat. Set in an unspecified time, the film follows a protagonist who transfers people through an apocalyptic wasteland known as The Zone, at the end of which, exists a mythical place where all Earthly desires are immediately fulfilled.
A film full of symbolic references and tidbits, Stalkeris a deeply moving masterpiece that manages to entertain and engross at the same time.
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September 19, 2023 at 12:31AM
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The 10 Best Slow-Burn Sci-Fi Movies of All Time - MovieWeb
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