This month on Hulu, we’re going to party like it’s 2011. That’s because two of our picks for the three great sci-fi movies on Hulu that you need to watch in September happened to come out that year. Is it a coincidence? Probably. We’ll leave the conspiracy theories and temporal mechanics to our third pick, which originally hit theaters in 2001 before achieving cult status on DVD and streaming.
Our remaining picks include one of the first sci-fi movies directed by J.J. Abrams and the film that successfully rebooted the Planet of the Apes franchise.
Super 8 (2011)
J.J. Abrams went full nostalgia with Super 8, his homage to the Steven Spielberg sci-fi films from the 1980s. So it’s fitting that Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment produced this movie as well. Six months after suffering a family tragedy, a 14-year-old kid, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), has found his outlet by making a zombie movie with his buddies. He even befriends Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning), the daughter of Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard), whom Joe’s father, Deputy Jack Lamb (Kyle Chandler), blames for the death of his wife.
While filming their project, Joe, Alice, and their friends witness a train derailment and the escape of an alien being. This isn’t one of those family-friendly aliens like you saw in E.T., but an even bigger threat to the kids is Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich), the Air Force official who wants to kill the alien and anyone who might expose the secret of its existence.
Watch Super 8 on Hulu.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Blink and you’ll miss the nod to the original Planet of the Apes and a certain missing space shuttle in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The reboot films haven’t gotten around to dealing with that yet, but this film does depict something that was alluded to in the prior movies: The first time an ape, Caesar (Andy Serkis), threw off the shackles of man and yelled “No!”
Most of this movie deals with Caesar’s bond with his adoptive human father, Dr. Will Rodman (James Franco). Will just wanted to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease to help his dad, Charles (John Lithgow), but the experimental drug gave Caesar above average intelligence. When their family unit is broken apart, Caesar is held among apes who don’t share his intellect. But he can change that. In fact, Caesar can change everything and set humanity’s downfall in motion.
Watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Hulu.
Donnie Darko (2001)
In Donnie Darko, the real question isn’t why Frank the Rabbit (James Duval) is wearing “a stupid bunny suit.” It’s why are we all wearing stupid man suits? In 1988, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) escapes death simply by not being home when an airplane engine inexplicably falls into his bedroom when he should have been sleeping there. In the immediate aftermath, Donnie keeps seeing hallucinations of Frank, an enigmatic man in a hideous rabbit costume who shares a dire prediction about the end of the world in less than a month.
As Donnie tries to figure out the meaning of Frank’s warnings, he builds a relationship with his new neighbor, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone). Donnie also follows Frank’s advice, which leads to some surprising revelations about the people in their town. But the clock is ticking down, and Donnie is running out of time to figure out how to prevent his own personal apocalypse.
Watch Donnie Darko on Hulu.
