The three pillars of 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi movies are the Alien, Predator, and Planet of the Apes franchises. The same is true for Hulu, even though it’s very easy to get tired of all of those titles when the streamer doesn’t offer other alternatives. Thankfully, Hulu does have a variety of options at the moment, including the unconventional sci-fi thriller, Donnie Darko.
Meanwhile, The Fly is a sci-fi/horror story that’s just as disturbing in 2024 as it was in 1986. And to close out this month’s new additions, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 takes all of the 1980s sci-fi tropes out for a fresh spin. Other films from the 20th Century Studios lineup round out our selections for the best sci-fi movies on Hulu right now, which you can find below.
If you’re curious about what’s available in science fiction on other streaming services, we also have guides for the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, as well as the best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video. For more options, check out guides for the best new movies to stream and the best movies on Hulu.
If you’re looking for more films to watch, remember that Hulu is part of the Disney Bundle. That includes the basic Hulu subscription (with ads), Disney+, and ESPN+, all for just $14 a month. That’s a great deal, and you don’t even have to travel to the future for it.
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Donnie Darko2001 -
The Fly1986
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Super 82011
Donnie Darko (2001)
71%
8.0/10Donnie Darko may not look like a sci-fi story, but that’s only because the movie doesn’t immediately telegraph the twist that moves the story in that direction. The only thing Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) knows is what Frank the Rabbit (James Duval) tells him: The world is going to end in 28 days.
Donnie’s sisters, Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Samantha (Daveigh Chase), as well as their parents aren’t sure what to make of his sudden shift in personality after an incident that should have killed him at their home. Donnie even starts a romance with the new girl in town, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone). Still, Frank, who appears as a man in a hideous rabbit costume, drives Donnie to do things that make people think he’s going crazy.
The Fly (1986)
81%
7.6/10Somebody had to say it: Jeff Goldblum is pretty fly for a white guy in David Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly. It wouldn’t be a Cronenberg film without some body horror transformation. Seth Brundle (Goldblum) is the unfortunate title character who has become genetically fused with a fly after a teleportation experiment gone wrong.
Seth mistakenly believes that his experiment gave him a superior body than he had before, and he tries to get his girlfriend, Veronica “Ronnie” Quaife (Geena Davis), to undergo the same process. But as time progresses, even Seth can’t ignore the physical changes that are making him more fly than man. And for all of his scientific genius, a cure for his condition seems to be beyond Seth’s abilities.
Super 8 (2011)
72%
7.0/10Remember E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and its touching story about the friendship between a young boy and a benevolent alien? That’s not Super 8, although Steven Spielberg produced J.J. Abrams’ homage to the Amblin coming-of-age films like E.T. and Goonies.
In 1979, a grieving teenager, Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney), finds his creative outlet by making a zombie movie with his friends, including Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning). While filming a scene, Joe and his friends witness an alien escape from the government. And this extraterrestrial is mad and not willing to play nice with any human in its way. But it’s not the only threat that the kids have to worry about. Colonel Nelec (Noah Emmerich) is so obsessed with killing the alien that he’s willing to sacrifice Joe’s entire town to make that happen.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
68%
7.6/10The original Planet of the Apes movies had their own explanation about why apes overtookhumans that involved the primates briefly being household pets when dogs and cats died off. Thankfully, Rise of the Planet of the Apes completely ignores that and offers a different explanation for the human-like intelligence of Caesar (Andy Serkis). It was all part of a misguided plan by Dr. Will Rodman (James Franco) to treat Alzheimer’s disease patients with an experimental drug that dramatically increased the intelligence of Caesar’s mother. Those smarts were then passed to him.
Caesar has a very rough time, despite Will treating him like a surrogate son. He’s too much of a chimpanzee for the human world and too human to fit in among the other primates. But Caesar is more than just a victim of circumstance. He’s smart enough to realize his power to change things for his kind. And in turn, Caesar’s revolutionary uprising will change the world in ways he couldn’t have anticipated.
Independence Day (1996)
59%
7.0/10Will Smith became a movie star, and all it took was blowing up Washington D.C., and several other prominent American cities. Independence Day was exactly what audiences wanted from a summer blockbuster in 1996. It’s still remembered for one of the all-time great fictional presidential speeches, as made by Bill Pullman’s President Thomas J. Whitmore.
When aliens drop in on Earth ahead of the 4th of July barbecues, tech expert David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) has proof that they’re about to attack. Unfortunately, he alone can’t prevent that from happening all over the world. With the help of pilot Captain Steven Hiller (Smith) and other survivors, David might just save humanity from extinction.
Ready Player One (2018)
64%
7.4/10Is Ready Player One Steven Spielberg’s swan song for sci-fi movies? It might be, even though it’s not up there with his all-time classics like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In a future where everyone’s eyes are practically glued to their screens, millions are addicted to the VR experience known as OASIS. In there, people can live out their wildest dreams while escaping their dismal lives outside of the game.
Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is unimpressive when he’s not hooked up to OASIS. But inside, Wade’s avatar, Parzival, is one of the top players. Wade — along with his friends Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Aech (Lena Waithe) — band together to win a contest that could let them keep OASIS free and out of corporate control. That’s something IOI CEO Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) will do anything to stop, even if he has to kill his competition.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
66%
6.9/10Three hundred years after the life of Caesar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows viewers what it looks like when apes have inherited the Earth. Some apes, like Eagle Clan, thrive in nature, including young Noa (Owen Teague), who seeks an eagle of his own. However, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) represents the other extreme as he enslaves Eagle Clan and other apes to give himself a human-like empire.
A human girl named Mae (The Witcher’s Freya Allan) has something that Proxmius wants in order to expand his power. Mae tentatively befriends Noa and his new ally, Raka (Peter Macon), in an alliance against Proximus. But Mae’s secrets force Noa to question whether he can trust her or any other human.
Real Steel (2011)
56%
7.1/10Thirteen years before teaming on Deadpool & Wolverine hit theaters, director Shawn Levy and star Hugh Jackman teamed up for Real Steel. It wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate to call this Rock ’em, Sock ’em Robots: The Movie, but it’s also better than that description suggests. In the near future, boxing has been replaced by robot combat. Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, an ex-boxer turned owner of robot fighters who can’t give him the victories he desperately needs.
When Charlie’s former lover dies, he temporarily takes custody of their son, Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo), and bonds with him as their scavenged robot, Atom, goes on a winning streak. Charlie even shows some romantic interest in boxing gym owner Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly). But when old problems resurface, Charlie either needs to fight for his son or risk losing his love forever.
John Carter (2012)
51%
6.6/10Not every big bet pays off in the movie industry, but John Carter is a film that transcends its status as a notorious box-office failure. Pixar’s Andrew Stanton made this adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars into a passion project that finally gives the hero who inspired Luke Skywalker and countless others his own movie.
Taylor Kitsch plays John Carter, a former Confederate army captain whose attempt to leave war behind him inadvertently sends him to Mars. On the red planet, which the natives call Barsoom, John meets and falls for Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) and discovers that alien races of Mars have been manipulated by an unseen enemy. Fortunately, John’s newfound strength in Mars’ low gravity may help him become the hero that Barsoom can unite behind.
In Time (2011)
53%
6.7/10In Time takes place just under 200 years in the future, where the secret of immortality has been found … and hoarded by the rich and powerful. Now, no one ages beyond 25 years, but all of the poor people have to buy and sell time, which determines how long they can live.
A factory worker, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), is gifted centuries of time by a suicidal man. This makes Will a target of Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy), who believes that Will stole that time and murdered his benefactor. To stay ahead of the Timekeepers, Will kidnaps Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman from an affluent background who may be the only one he can trust.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
53%
7.3/10Despite losing a lot of money at the box office, Alita: Battle Angel is one of the best American adaptations of a manga or anime story. Rosa Salazar stars as Alita, a female android with a human brain who has been dormant for a long time. Fallen scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) finds and rebuilds Alita before essentially adopting her.
Since Alita has no memories of her old life, she embraces life in Iron City with Ido and develops feelings for a boy named Hugo (Keean Johnson). She also learns that the citizens of Iron City are being oppressed by the rich and powerful. The city needs a champion, and Alita is willing to step into the role even if it costs her everything.
Aliens (1986)
84%
8.4/10Citizens of Earth, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation invites you to take a trip to the tranquil exomoon LV-426. After a relaxing space voyage, you won’t see a single xenomorph… instead, you’ll see several.
Aliens was James Cameron’s follow-up to The Terminator, and it significantly increases the action from Ridley Scott’s Alien. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the only woman who lived through a xenomorph attack. But even with the Colonial Marines backing up Ripley, she’s severely outnumbered by the xenomorphs. But not for long.
Predators (2010)
51%
6.4/10For the first time in the history of the franchise, Predators takes place off-world. Royce (Adrien Brody), Stans (Walton Goggins), Isabelle (Alice Braga), and more find themselves on an unknown planet. Aside from a doctor, Edwin (Topher Grace), they are all trained killers or criminals.
The humans soon realize that they are in an alien game preserve, and they’re the prey for multiple Predators. And to make things even more dangerous, the humans discover that there are warring factions of Predators who are willing to fight each other.
Independence Day (1996)
59%
7.0/10It sure was nice of the aliens to invade on a long holiday weekend like the Fourth of July. But it wasn’t very neighborly of them to go around blowing up Earth’s major cities and turning the White House into a weenie roast. Regardless, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin’s Independence Day was a big blockbuster that recaptured the spirit of the disaster films from the 1970s and led to a resurgence of sci-fi movies as well.
Ex-fighter pilot Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) is the unlucky guy who gets to be president when the fate of the entire world is at stake. Thankfully, Whitmore rises to the occasion with one of the most rousing speeches put to film. Will Smith (Bad Boys: Ride or Die) and Jeff Goldblum (Wicked) also star as Captain Steven Hiller and David Levinson, respectively. President Whitmore may be the leader that humanity needs, but Steven and David have to take the fight to the aliens themselves.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
79%
8.0/10Tim Burton’s 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes may have better special effects than the 1968 original, but the original film has a much better story that was co-written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. This movie also gave Charlton Heston one of his most famous roles as George Taylor, an astronaut from Earth who crashes on an unknown world where apes are the dominant species.
Ape scientists Dr. Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) are sympathetic to Taylor even before they discover he can speak. Regardless, another ape scientist, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), will do almost anything to silence Taylor and prevent him from learning the secret of the Planet of the Apes.
Predator (1987)
47%
7.8/10Contemporary critics of Predator dismissed it in 1987, but it has since gone on to become recognized as one the all-time great sci-fi action movies. It’s also one of the few films to give Arnold Schwarzenegger an on-screen nemesis who is even more intimidating than he is. The Predator (Kevin Peter Hall) is given no name in the movie, and this alien hasn’t come to Earth to make friends. Instead, he’s hunting people.
Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), his CIA contact Al Dillon (the late Carl Weathers), and the rest of Dutch’s mercenary team find out the hard way that they’ve become the prey to this killer from another world. They may be skilled soldiers by Earth’s standards, but the Predator is toying with them as he picks them off one-by-one.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
82%
7.4/10The Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy comes to a strong conclusion in War for the Planet of the Apes. After years of conflict with humans, Caesar (Andy Serkis) has lost almost all compassion for his rival species, especially after humans killed his wife and child. That’s why Caesar is so slow to warm up to Nova (Amiah Miller), a mute human girl who is befriended by his right-hand orangutan, Maurice (Karin Konoval).
Before Caesar can lead the apes to sanctuary, he’ll have one last battle to fight against the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), a man whose brutal tactics may allow humanity to retain their hold on the Planet of the Apes.
The Creator (2023)
63%
6.8/10After an extended absence from theaters, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards helmed and co-wrote The Creator. Tenet’s John David Washington stars as Sergeant Joshua Taylor, a soldier in humanity’s war against an overpowering AI force. Years after losing his wife, Maya Fey (Gemma Chan), to an AI attack, Taylor is given a new mission that may decide the outcome of the war.
Taylor’s goal is to find and destroy a new AI weapon, Alpha-O, which has the ability to control any technology remotely. But much to Taylor’s shock, the weapon is actually Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), a child-like AI he decides to take under his protection regardless of the consequences.
Alien (1979)
89%
8.5/102024 marks the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s Alien, and it remains one of the best sci-fi/horror films of all-time. The story focuses on the ill-fated crew of the Nostromo, a spaceship that investigates a strange transmission during their interstellar journey. What they find is the body of a long-dead humanoid-like alien and a facehugger that leaves the ship’s executive officer, Kane (John Hurt), with an alien growing inside of his body.
No amount of Pepto-Bismol is going to save Kane when the xenomorph bursts from his body. Unfortunately for Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), and the rest of the crew, the xenomorph is more than capable of hunting them down one by one.
Dual (2022)
62%
5.8/10Crimes of the Future (2022)
67%
5.9/10Boss Level (2021)
56%
6.8/10
