Filmmakers in the science fiction genre have gone beyond traditional storytelling. They’re now exploring new sides of imagination. In this collection, you’ll find the 10 best fantasy movies of 2024 that will stay with you for a long time.
Content
- Atlas
- Spaceman
- The Assessment
- A Quiet Place: Day One
- Substance
- The Wasteland Hunters
- Slingshot
- Parallel
- It’s What’s Inside
- Sting
Atlas
IMDb: 5.6/10
2024, Action, Adventure, Sci‑Fi
USA, Rating not specified
Director: Brad Peyton
Top Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown
Atlas Shepard is an analyst who has never trusted AI. By chance, she ends up on a hostile planet and is forced to climb into an ARC combat mech suit and ‘sync’ with its onboard AI, named Smith, in order to survive and stop a rogue artificial intelligence terrorist, Harlan. Along the way, Atlas discovers that her own past is closely tied to Harlan’s origins, and that she can’t succeed without working together with the intelligent machine.
The visual effects were handled by major studios. The mech scenes were filmed on a moving platform with a green screen, while specialized graphics studios created the interfaces and Smith’s appearance.
Despite quite not warm reviews from critics, the movie shot up Netflix’s charts:top 10 in 93 countries and #1 in 71 of them.
Spaceman
IMDb: 5.7/10
2024, Sci‑Fi, Adventure, Drama, Romance
USA, R
Director: Johan Renck
Top Cast: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano
Another story set in space. Czech astronaut Jakub Procházka is six months into a lonely mission to the mysterious ‘Chopra Cloud’ beyond Jupiter’s orbit. He slowly begins to lose touch with reality and with his wife, Lenka — until he discovers an ancient, spider-like creature named Hanus aboard his ship. This ‘unexpected companion’ helps Jakub face his guilt, fears, and loneliness, and understand what’s happening to him both on Earth and in space.
Spaceman (2024) is an adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s 2017 novel Spaceman of Bohemia. Much of the filming had Adam Sandler suspended on wires to simulate weightlessness. He later admitted it was physically painful.
The Assessment
IMDb: 6.6/10
2024, Drama, Sci‑Fi
UK, Germany, USA, R
Director: Fleur Fortuné
Top Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, Himesh Patel
This is a dystopian dark comedy that won’t leave you indifferent. In a bleak future after an ecological disaster, society strictly controls childbirth — only the government can authorize it, and babies can now only be born through artificial wombs.
To become parents, couples must undergo a seven-day evaluation. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aryan (Himesh Patel) live inside a high-tech dome and are subjected to a psychological test by inspector Virginia (Alicia Vikander), who moves in with them and puts them through emotionally painful trials. The reason is simple: the couple wants to have a child. But will they pass the state’s control?
A Quiet Place: Day One
IMDb: 6.3/10
2024, Horror, Sci‑Fi, Thriller, Drama
USA, PG-13
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Top Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff
Imagine New York being struck by ‘meteors’ — and with them come blind creatures that hunt anything that makes a sound. Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a hospice patient, is trapped in Manhattan with her cat Frodo. Caught in the chaos of the first hours of the apocalypse, and watching the military blow up bridges to keep the monsters on the island, she meets Eric (Joseph Quinn), a confused college student. Together, moving almost in silence, they make their way through flooded subway tunnels and deserted streets toward Harlem — where Sam has personal, quiet reasons to go from her past life. Along the way, the two navigate between evacuation points at South Street Seaport and their own fears, clinging to small gestures of care as their only way to remain human.
This is a spin-off prequel to the A Quiet Place universe and the first film in the franchise not directed by John Krasinski. The New York you see on screen is largely London and the Leavesden Studios backlots, Manhattan was digitally recreated and built on sets.
Substance
IMDb: 7.2/10
2024, Body Horror, Dark Comedy, Drama, Sci‑Fi
USA, R
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Top Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Almost everyone has heard about this film. It’s a shocking, thought-provoking story that hits on today’s issues. At the center is Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a former TV star who now hosts a fitness show. She loses her job because of her age. After hearing from a nurse about a shady drug called ‘Substance’, a black-market formula, she decides to try it in hopes of becoming young and radiant again.
The injection splits her identity: from her body emerges a flawless younger version, Sue (Margaret Qualley), who is energetic and full of life. But the swap lasts only seven days, after which the exchange is forced back. To shine longer, Elizabeth starts breaking the rules of this fragile balance.
The film is a French-British-American co-production. After its Cannes premiere, where Coralie Fargeat won Best Screenplay — it sparked discussions at all major festivals. It went on to receive five Oscar nominations (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress) and won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
The Wasteland Hunters
IMDb: 5.9/10
2024, Action, Adventure, Post‑Apocalyptic
South Korea, Rating not specified
Director: Heo Myeong‑haeng
Top Cast: Ma Dong‑seok, Kim Young‑mi, Lee Jun‑young
After a devastating earthquake in Seoul, lawlessness and chaos reign — a wasteland where survival depends on strength and cunning. Nam-san (Ma Dong-seok), an experienced ‘hunter,’ together with his partner Choi Ji-wan, sets out on a dangerous mission: to rescue a girl, Su-na, kidnapped by a scientist conducting horrific experiments on teenagers. Their arsenal includes uncompromising hand-to-hand combat, driven by emotional motives, and the outcome of the mission threatens to change the balance of survival in this ruined world.
This South Korean post-apocalyptic action film marks the directorial debut of stuntman Heo Myung-haeng.
Critics’ response speaks for itself: a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is praised for its well-choreographed fight scenes and Ma Dong-seok’s charisma, though the story is considered predictable.
Slingshot
IMDb: 5.7/10
2024, Sci‑Fi, Psychological Thriller
USA, R
Director: Mikael Håfström
Top Cast: Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham
An underrated film with an unexpected ending tells the story of three astronauts — John (Casey Affleck), Captain Franks (Laurence Fishburne), and Nash (Tomer Capone). Together they set out on the ‘Odyssey 1’ mission to Titan, Saturn’s moon. It’s a long journey: every 90 days they wake from hypersleep to check the ship and maintain contact with Earth. The mission includes a risky ‘gravitational slingshot’ near Jupiter, which could either speed them toward their goal or throw them into deep space. As the maneuver approaches, John begins to experience hallucinations and question reality: it’s unclear whether the threat comes from mechanics, the mind, or something else.
Parallel
IMDb: 4.9/10
2024, Sci‑Fi, Drama, Mystery
USA, Rating not specified
Director: Kourosh Ahari
Top Cast: Aldis Hodge, Danielle Deadwyler, Edwin Hodge
Vanessa (Danielle Deadwyler) lost her child and is now tormented by the grief of her loss. To isolate herself from society, she retreats to her family’s lakeside cabin. There, she encounters a copy of herself from a parallel universe and discovers passages to other realities. These interdimensional crossings could either help her break free from suffering or trap her forever in another world.
The script was written by brothers Aldis and Edwin Hodge (who also play the main male roles), together with Jonathan Keasey. The audience was thrilled.
It’s What’s Inside
IMDb: 6.6 /10
2024, Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
USA, R
Director: Greg Jardin
Top Cast: Brittany O’Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood
A group of old college friends gathers for a party before Ruben’s wedding. Unexpectedly, Forbes, a former classmate everyone holds a long-standing grudge against, shows up. He brings a strange suitcase with a device that allows minds to jump into the bodies of other guests, a kind of ‘body-swap’ game. You can already sense a big problem coming, right? Indeed, what followed for the group was only chaos. The game exposed their hidden desires and old resentments, and that’s how a true psychological drama began.
Sting
IMDb: 5.7 /10
2024, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Australia, R
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
Top Cast: Noni Hazlehurst, Jermaine Fowler, Alyla Browne
If you merge Alien with any horror about creepy things in a house, you get Sting. The film tells the story of 12-year-old Charlotte, who lives in an old apartment building and finds a tiny spider. She shows parental care and names it “Sting.” The spider, which came from space, gradually grows to a threatening size and begins hunting the building’s residents. Charlotte is forced to make a difficult choice: protect her family and neighbors from the bloodthirsty monster or side with Sting.
