The sci-fi crime thriller is a beast of a genre. It pairs the world-building of science fiction — which can be complicated (and expensive for studios) all on its own — with the tension of a thriller and the action and/or mystery components of a crime drama. It’s not easy, but that doesn’t mean the combination doesn’t work.
When done well, a science fiction crime thriller can be a movie for the ages. It roots the story in a time and place that grips the audience while at the same time ramping up the stakes with twists, turns, and thrills. These stories are relatable to the modern world, despite existing outside the world as we know it today.
Here are the 10 best sci-fi crime thrillers you need to check out.
10
‘Demolition Man’ (1993)
In 1996, loose cannon cop John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) and criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) are cryogenically frozen to be subliminally rehabilitated at the California Cryo-Penitentiary after an incident that resulted in civilian casualties. When Phoenix is thawed out for a parole hearing in 2032, he escapes and poses a threat to a Utopian society devoid of violence. In response, Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) convinces her superiors to parole Spartan — nicknamed “The Demolition Man” — to help catch him.
Sylvester Stallone’s Big Return
Demolition Man marked the feature film debut of director Marco Brambilla (Dinotopia) with a cast of stars who were big names by the early 1990s. Stallone was already known as Rocky Balboa. Snipes had already starred in New Jack City and White Men Can’t Jump. Even Bullock, who had yet to make Speed or Hope Floats, had been in movies like The Vanishing and The Thing Called Love. Demolition Man debuted at number one at the box office. It was a commercial success that was viewed as a comeback for Stallone, whose career had lost steam in recent years.
9
‘Dark City’ (1998)
Dark City is a neo-noir science fiction thriller directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow) with a screenplay written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs (The Limey), and David S. Goyer (Batman Begins). In a futuristic city, John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a hotel bathtub with no memory of how he got there. Soon, he becomes a suspect in a series of murders — but he cannot remember if he actually committed them. As Murdoch tries to figure out who he is and what is going on, he meets a mysterious and ominous group referred to only as “the Strangers.” The cast also features William Hurt (One True Thing), Kiefer Sutherland (24), and Jennifer Connelly (Snowpiercer).
A Sci-Fi “Triumph”
Film critic Roger Ebert gave Dark City four stars. “[It] is a great visionary achievement, a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like Metropolis and 2001: A Space Odyssey…” he wrote. “It is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects — and imagination.” Dark City was nominated for five Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, winning Best Wide-Release Film and Best Screenplay. It also won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay, the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Pegasus Audience Award, and the Silver Scream Award at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival.
8
‘Predestination’ (2014)
Written and directed by The Spierig Brothers (Jigsaw), Predistination is an Australian thriller based on the 1959 short story ” ‘—All You Zombies—'” by Robert A. Heinlein. Agent Doe (Ethan Hawke) works for the Temporal Bureau, time-traveling to different points in history. After failing to stop a bombing in 1975, Doe is sent back for one last mission in 1970s New York to meet someone known as “The Unmarried Mother” (Sarah Snook) and prevent an attack that could kill thousands.
Time-Travel Thrills
Get ready to see Hawke (The Black Phone) more than once on this list as the actor is known by now for making unique genre choices. Predestination made its premiere at the SXSW Film Festival before going on to win three awards at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards. It also won Best Sci-Fi Film and Best Screenplay at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% rating from critics.
7
‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2017)
Blade Runner 2049 is a neo-noir science fiction crime thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve (Dune) with a screenplay by Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) and Michael Green (Logan). It serves as a sequel to the 1982 movie Blade Runner, which took place in the year 2019. This sequel is set thirty years later, as a bioengineered replicant and Blade Runner known as K (Ryan Gosling) uncovers secrets that lead him on a search to find former Blade Runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who no one has seen since 2019.
A Sequel 35 Years in the Making
Blade Runner 2049 made a lot of money at the box office, but still underperformed based on the project’s massive budget. Nonetheless, it did well among critics who saw contemporary concerns reflected in the world portrayed onscreen. The film drew some criticism for its treatment of women, though some critics argued that the movie aimed to depict misogyny without condoning it. Blade Runner received five Academy Award nominations, winning Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. In 2025, The New York Times called it one of the “top movies of the 21st century.”
6
‘Blade Runner’ (1982)
Before watching Blade Runner 2049, science fiction fans should watch (or re-watch) the original Blade Runner made in 1982. Ridley Scott (Alien) directed the film. Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner 2049) and David Peoples (12 Monkeys) wrote the screenplay based on Philip K. Dick’s dystopian 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Harrison Ford (Star Wars) stars as former police officer Rick Deckard, who is tasked with hunting down a fugitive group of replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).
Finding the Right Audience
The movie wasn’t necessarily a hit right from the start. It received mixed reviews, with more praise for the special effects than the human aspect of the story. The movie did garner academic interest though and, over time, cultivated a devoted following. It earned two Academy Award nominations for Art Direction and Visual Effects at the time of release. Today, it is certified fresh with an 89% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
5
‘A Scanner Darkly’ (2006)
A Scanner Darkly is another Philip K. Dick adaptation and the only animated film on this list. Based on the 1977 novel of the same name, this science fiction crime thriller was written and directed by the innovative Richard Linklater (Boyhood). The movie was shot digitally and animated using a technique in which animators trace over each frame, providing a distinct look that feels like a cross between live action and animation. Keanu Reeves (John Wick) stars as Bob Arctor, an undercover agent in a near-distant future assigned to track a powerful new hallucinogenic drug in a society that has run rampant with drug use. The cast includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), Rory Cochrane (Black Mass), and Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games).
Smart and Visually Striking
The film didn’t do as well at the box office as the studio had hoped, but A Scanner Darkly remains an ambitiously unique film and an excellent adaptation of the source material. Writing for Empire, critic Kim Newman declared that the movie’s “intelligence makes it near-essential viewing.” Downey Jr., who had yet to make his massive Marvel comeback at this time, gives a standout performance. A Scanner Darkly was nominated for the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Dramatic Presentation in Long Form at the Hugo Awards, and Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards.
4
‘Gattaca’ (1997)
It’s time to talk about another Ethan Hawke movie. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Good Kill) in his feature film debut, Gattaca is a dystopian science fiction thriller about a near-distant future where eugenics has been normalized. “Valids” are people created using a genetic registry database based on biometrics, while “in-valids” are humans conceived naturally and, therefore, more prone to genetic disorders. This results in a deep class divide that keeps the “in-valid” Vincent Freeman (Hawke) from achieving his dreams. One day, Vincent finds an opportunity to pose as a “valid” and, in doing so, gets a job at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. However, the sudden murder of a Gattaca officer quickly complicates Vincent’s plans.
A Provocative Sci-Fi Thriller
Gattaca boasts an impressive cast that includes Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction), Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jude Law (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew), Loren Dean (Apollo 13), and Ernest Borgnine (The Wild Bunch). The movie was a big success. Roger Ebert called it “one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas.” Gattaca was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration at the Academy Awards and Niccol won Screenwriter of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards. The movie is certified fresh with an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
3
‘Looper’ (2012)
Looper is a science fiction action crime thriller written and directed by Rian Johnson (Knives Out). The movie is set in the year 2074. When the mob wants to make someone disappear, they send that person into the past to be killed by a hired gun. One such hired gun is a man named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose life devolves into chaos when his future self is sent back in time to be executed. His future self escapes before Joe can shoot him and suddenly Joe finds himself trying to kill his future to save his present. The cast features Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Paul Dano (Prisoners), Jeff Daniels (Godless), and Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense) as Joe’s future self.
An Original Thrill Ride
Johnson is known for his originality, and Looper is certainly an original and refreshing science fiction movie of the early 2010s. The performances are phenomenal, and the storytelling is incredibly smart. Looper won Best Sci-Fi Movie at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the IGN Summer Movie Awards. It also won Best Original Screenplay from the Austin Film Critics Association. It is certified fresh with a 93% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
2
‘Inception’ (2010)
Ready for some more Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Inception is a science fiction heist thriller written and directed by the one and only Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer). Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star as Dom Cobb and Arthur, a pair of professional thieves who steal secrets by infiltrating a target’s dreams. When their team is hired to plant an idea in a CEO’s mind instead of stealing an idea, Dom and Arthur are forced to do the seemingly impossible with an elite team that includes architect Ariadne (Elliot Page), forger/impersonator Eames (Tom Hardy), and chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao). Additionally, the cast features Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins), and Michael Caine (The Dark Knight).
Building a Dream World
The film proved to be a cinematic triumph, leaning on practical effects rather than CGI to create a truly original visual experience. “In this wildly ingenious chess game, grandmaster Nolan plants ideas in our heads that disturb and dazzle,” wrote Peter Travers for Rolling Stone, also referring to the film as a “mind-blowing movie event.” Inception earned eight Academy Award nominations, winning four of them. It received nine BAFTA nominations and won in three categories. Nolan’s ambitious cinematic feat is certified fresh with an 87% rating from critics but a 91% rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
1
‘Minority Report’ (2002)
Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1956 novelette of the same name, Minority Report is a contemporary sci-fi classic directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg (War of the Worlds) with a screenplay by Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit) and novelist Jon Cohen. In the year 2054, “Precrime” is a police program prototype operating in Washington D.C. that uses three clairvoyant humans to stop crime before it happens. Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning) stars as the commanding officer of Precrime, Chief John Anderton. When the clairvoyants determine that Anderton is about to murder a man he has presumably never met, Anderton is forced to flee in an attempt to clear his name. The cast features Samantha Morton (The Serpent Queen), Colin Farrell (The Penguin), and Max von Sydow (Game of Thrones).
A Noir for the Ages
Minority Report was one of the biggest movies of 2002. Time writer Richard Corliss called it “Spielberg’s sharpest, brawniest, most bustling entertainment since Raiders of the Lost Ark…marrying science fiction with film noir; this is a 50-year-old detective story set 50 years from now.” Spielberg styled the film as a noir intentionally, drawing inspiration from classics like The Maltese Falcon and Asphalt Jungle. Minority Report scored one Academy Award nomination and 11 Saturn Award nominations. At the Saturn Awards, it won Best Science Fiction Film, Best Writing, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress for Samantha Morton.