Black Mirror season 7, Netflix’s biggest sci-fi show, returns this month for more devastating lessons about the dangers of technology. One of the episodes is a sequel to USS Callister, the Emmy-winning sci-fi adventure that kicked off season 4. Because it’s essentially a mini-movie, we’re putting it on the list of sci-fi to watch this month.
As for our four other picks, they are traditional movies. One is a small-budget cyberpunk thriller, and the other is a $300 million blockbuster. You’ll be surprised as to which one is the better movie. Check out the full list below.
We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Lucy (2014)
Scarlett Johansson becomes the most powerful intellectual in the world in Lucy. After being coerced into delivering illegal substances for a crime lord, the titular Lucy (Johansson) is kidnapped and becomes a drug mule. While transporting the drugs in her abdomen, the package explodes, releasing the toxins into her bloodstream.
Instead of dying, Lucy gains new powers — telepathy, telekinesis, and mental time travel. Lucy uses these newfound abilities to exact her revenge. The more power Lucy gains, the more unstable she becomes, forcing her to seek help from a famed neurologist (Morgan Freeman). While the film’s logic is flawed, Lucy does provide Johansson a chance to become a capable action hero outside of the MCU.
Stream Lucy on Netflix.
The Electric State (2025)
The Electric State is certainly not for the critics, who did not pull any punches in their negative reviews. It might not even be for the audience, but it’s up to you to decide. In this polarizing ‘90s sci-fi adventure from the Russo Brothers, Millie Bobby Brown plays Michelle, an orphaned teen who lives with her foster dad in a retro-futuristic United States.
One day, a sentient robot named Cosmo (Alan Tudyk) convinces Michelle that her brother is still alive. Michelle and Cosmo venture off to the West to find the missing brother. Along the way, they team up with the drifter Keats (Chris Pratt) and learn that a nefarious organization might be behind the schism between humans and robots.
Stream The Electric State on Netflix.
Geostorm (2017)
Hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis are not big enough for Gerard Butler. No, the action star needs something bigger like a meteorological phenomenon with extinction-level capabilities, aka a geostorm. In the movie that shares the same name as the storm, Butler plays Jake Lawson, an architect of Dutch Boy, a global satellite program that manipulates the weather.
Years later, Dutch Boy gets into the wrong hands and causes mayhem on Earth. While Jake tries to solve the problem in space, his brother Max (Jim Sturgess) races to find out who’s calling the shots on Earth. This is pure disaster porn in the best way. Think of Geostorm as a little brother to Armageddon and Independence Day.
Stream Geostorm on Netflix.
USS Callister: Into Infinity (2025)
Is Black Mirror a TV show? Yes. However, certain episodes reach feature-film length and could be considered movies. That’s the case for USS Callister, the Star Trek homage about an undervalued computer programmer, Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), who creates digital clones of his coworkers and traps them within a space adventure game.
USS Callister won the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, and now, there’s a sequel, USS Callister: Into Infinity. With Daly dead, Captain Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) and her crew continue to travel through the virtual universe. Now, the crew finds themselves in a battle for survival against millions of other players.
Stream USS Callister: Into Infinity on Netflix.
Upgrade (2018)
Between The Invisible Man and Upgrade, Leigh Whannell is at home within the sci-fi genre. While Upgrade did not have the same financial success as The Invisible Man, the cyberpunk thriller is a riveting and tense 100-minute mystery.
In 2046, Gray Trace and his wife are involved in a deadly car crash, with the latter dying after four men shoot her in the wreckage. Gray survives but becomes a quadriplegic. A tech mogul gives Gray a second chance at life through his invention, a STEM implant chip that gives him control of his limbs again. With the chip installed, Gray goes after the men who killed his wife, and in doing so, uncovers a technological conspiracy that threatens his existence.
Stream Upgrade on Netflix.