The Absolute Best Sci-Fi TV Shows on Netflix

Netflix

Full disclosure: Netflix unfortunately canceled Travelers after its third season, but this sci-fi flick set outside of Canada manages to end with an ambitious bang. We start with Marcy, a disabled woman who gets beaten up after helping her friend escape from robbers. He dies — then comes back to life. This powerfully character-driven sci-fi cleverly unravels its mysteries, following future operatives tasked with preventing society from collapsing, while also navigating the difficult territory of leading a double life.

Laurie Sparham/Netflix

While Charlie Brooker’s dark tech anthology series is hit and miss, at its best, Black Mirror combines mini-movies with an exploration of futuristic technological ideas through poignant human stories. One of them is San Junipero, which follows two women in the 80s who fall for each other in ways they couldn’t in their “real” lives outside of a beach town. The technological aspect is revealed with genius timing, and overall, the show explores the consequences of our connected lives in a disturbing and sometimes uplifting way.

Screenshot Warner Bros./YouTube/CNET

If 100 sounds like your standard teen drama, be prepared to have your expectations exceeded. There’s a reason this post-apocalyptic series won seven seasons: 100 delivers rich world-building and moral dilemmas that push stereotypical characters into unique, compelling places. The 100 in question are a generation of teenage prisoners sent to Earth to determine if it is livable post-apocalypse. 100 percent allows it.

Netflix

Germany’s answer to Stranger Things deliberately takes its time before stepping into places that are completely engaging and original. The sci-fi film Dark weaves time travel, conspiracies and estranged families into a story spanning generations that begins with the disappearance of a child. If this kind of carefully crafted layers in your story is what you’re after, settle in. All three seasons of Dark’s meditative look at time travel and its impact on human nature are waiting to hit you full force.

JoJo Whilden/Netflix

Netflix cancellations are no more criminal than OA cancellations. This wildly unique story follows Prairie Johnson, a young blind woman who has been missing for years and now returns with her sight. He claims to be a “real angel” and convinces a small local population to listen to his improbable story of abductions and great escapes. OA is the kind of solid science fiction that takes you and its protagonists completely off guard while introducing its fantastical concepts. Watch the first two flawless seasons on Netflix and pray for the third to appear elsewhere.

Netflix

The reboot of the 1965 series of the same name jumps forward to 2046, two years after humanity finds itself on the brink of extinction. The talented Robinson family sets off with a crew to colonize a new planet. Aside from the inevitable family drama, they encounter strange new environments and a strange alien robot who befriends young Will. Parker Posey’s Dr. The mystery, heart, and memorable villain in Smith provide plenty of fuel for Lost in Space (seasons 2 and 3 are marked improvements on season 1).

Netflix

Yes, Squid Game’s Gong Yoo in it. What else do you need to know? This South Korean sci-fi mystery follows a crew of astronauts on their way to an abandoned research facility on the moon. Their target: a sample of an unknown substance for unspecified purposes. Betrayal, government lies, and personal secrets drive this addictive space journey to the brink.

Netflix

Altered Carbon is set in a cyberpunk world where human minds can be transferred into different bodies. It sees investigator and ex-soldier Takeshi Kovacs transported to the body of Joel Kinnaman in season 1 and Anthony Mackie in season 2. Initially, Kovacs’ story involves solving a crime, before he sets out on a quest to uncover what happened to his lost self. love. Altered Carbon can be difficult at times, but its visual candy and entertainment value lift you through the exposition and heavy social commentary.

Murray Close/Netflix

From the creators of The Matrix comes another story that plays with reality. Sense8 follows eight strangers from around the world who discover they are mentally and emotionally connected. These windows into completely different lives not only teach tolerance, but the “sensors” can tap into each other’s skills when faced with an evil organization hunting them down. If you’re smitten with the diverse characters of Sense8, you’ll be rooting for this serious and sensitive sci-fi drama.

Courtesy of NETFLIX

This adult animated anthology series spans a number of genres, with many episodes hitting the Black Mirror comparison button. The first season features robots in a post-apocalyptic city, farmers testing mech suits, and a space mission gone wrong. While the episodes can be hit and miss (some have been criticized for their treatment of women), you’ll find plenty of thought-provoking and moving animation.

Netflix

This apocalyptic sci-fi from Belgium will probably make you want to avoid flying in no time. Set on a plane, Into the Night sees a red eye kidnapped by a soldier who survives a deadly global event on the ground along with the rest of the passengers. Can they last long enough to get the plane to safety? That premise alone should be enough to entice you to catch this excellent, tense thriller.

Netflix

Hilary Swank is the big star at the center of the space drama Away. She plays Emma Green, a NASA astronaut and commander of the Mars expedition. Things get off to a rocky start, and Emma’s international cast fills her with doubts about her ability to command. Splitting its time between down-to-earth drama and stratospherically reliable entertainment, Away manages to be a well-rounded journey.

Netflix

Enjoy sci-fi series that play with two timelines? Is there a special place for cults and mysteries? Meet Archive 81. The multi-genre show stars Mamoudou Athie as Dan Turner, an archivist who restores a collection of damaged videotapes from the 90s. He gets more than he bargained for, drawn into the investigation of a mysterious cult and a young woman who may or may not be dead. With horror, mystery, black and sci-fi, supernatural thriller infused into its creepy atmosphere, Archive 81 has it all.

Netflix

It wouldn’t be a top list without Stranger Things. In case you missed the Duffer Brothers’ ode to ’80s horror and Steven Spielberg, things are about to go down the tubes. We follow a girl named El who is subjected to scientific experiments and becomes almost mute. He develops telekinetic powers, which he uses to fend off invading monsters from a terrifying alternate dimension. The world of Hawkins, Indiana, is lovingly detailed for anyone in need of an ’80s nostalgia hit, and the misfit characters played by a young cast are all part of what makes this show a tour de force.