The 14 Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films of the Decade
Science Fiction and Fantasy can come in so many forms. Whether it’s a cerebral, cold thriller or a warm, emotional animated story, these two genres are often two sides of the same coin, and we at Mirror Box love them both equally! Some of our favorite artists, filmmakers, podcasters, and artists give us their favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy films of the decade! (Note: We asked contributors for their best films of the decade including best animated films, and then assigned them to a specific genre, hence the heavy emphasis on animation).
Ex Machina
I’m gripped by the seeming effortless simplicity of Ex Machina. The film tells a small story of a young programmer who is invited to assess an advanced humanoid A.I. Yet, through this basic setup, viewers are led to ask the most profound questions about human existence. What makes us human? What differentiates us from Artificial Intelligence, if anything at all? The story's limited locations and characters work in its favor, building to a claustrophobic climax that subverts expectation in the most satisfying of ways. Ex Machina is a modern day “Frankenstein” story, where, once again, the seemingly monstrous creation forces us to ask difficult questions about the creator’s own monstrosity.
Ryan W. Smith is a screenwriter/producer, who has written feature films and TV for Anonymous Content, Netflix, Disney and others. He is the co-writer/producer of the science-fiction thriller, VOLITION (directed/co-written by his brother, Tony Dean Smith), set for release in early 2020 — www.volitionthemovie.com.
Inside Out
Pixar's INSIDE OUT is not only one of my favorite films of the decade but of all time. I connect so deeply to the balance of joy and sadness and I marvel at how such complex concepts are presented so simply and wonderfully. The world building, the performances and the story all come together in such a beautiful way. I am also inspired by the work behind the scenes and how the script was developed so relentlessly - it reminds me in my own work that you're never too good for a rewrite!
Kerry Carlock and husband/filmmaking partner Nick Lund-Ulrich are currently working on their second feature RED KNIGHTS FOREVER while their first one, ARMSTRONG, can be seen on Amazon Prime.
Under the Skin
The plot of Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is nothing new: An alien comes to Earth and is infected by human emotions and longings. The execution, however, is radical, visionary. I haven’t rewatched the movie since it was in theaters five years ago, but images, moments, entire scenes are burned into my memory, maybe for life. Runner-up: Goodbye to Language. There’s nothing sci-fi about the story in Jean-Luc Godard’s 2014 opus. But the film itself is like a visitor from the future. It has by far the most innovative use of 3-D in any movie I've ever seen. Godard (who just turned eighty-nine on December 3) proved he’s still decades ahead of everyone else.
Nelson Kim teaches film at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, and makes strange, personal indie movies like www.SomeoneElseMovie.com when given the chance.
Cloud Atlas
There are movies that I like, there are movies that I love, and then there are movies that change my life. Cloud Atlas doesn’t just define the last decade of film, it shows us what is possible in the future. The Wachowskis & Tom Tykwer took David Mitchell’s book that told six stories across six time periods and six genres and intertwined them with such ambition and such energy that I got done watching it for the first time and said “What was THAT!?!” How many filmmakers get to spend $100M on a film where all the actors play multiple parts in each time period, changing races and genders as they go? But it stuck with me, and each time I rewatch it, it’s like a sacred experience for me to disappear into this movie and let the spiritual ideas invade my brain and the deep emotions invade my heart. It’s not often that I leave a film with so many questions, much less questions that make me challenge my beliefs about the world we live in and how I interact with others around me. These kind of lofty, experimental, giant budget movies with equal parts adventure, mystery, and heart would be my favorite type of movies if they got made more than once in a lifetime. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen a film like this before and I’m not sure we’ll ever see a film like this again, but my hope is that the spirit of Cloud Atlas will live on through multiple creators and over multiple ages, being reinvented and reimagined for all time.
Hudson Phillips is a writer, producer and founder of MirrorBoxFilms.com
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
This film is the perfect storm of surrealism and folklore. It is inspired and loosely based on old ghost stories of the town the filmmaker grew up in and blends gorgeous cinematography with foreboding dream sequences that leave you on edge. No matter how ominous the movie gets, I can't pull my eyes away from the screen and am blown away by images I'll never forget. Honestly, it's so hard for me to pick a single film of the decade but I just think this little known movie deserves to be seen.
Adam Petrey is an atlanta filmmaker with three short films under his belt that also moonlights as a freelance video editor.
Arrival
One paragraph why: I was born in 1990, so this last decade was my twenties, and I spent them trying on different possible personas. It's impossible to pick a favorite movie of a decade when each year felt like its own era. So I picked the movie that if I flipped on a television right now and it was on, I'd watch it. Arrival was one of those movies that I saw and thought, I'm going to watch this many more times for the rest of my life. Screenwriter Eric Heissier did such a perfect job taking Ted Chiang's already-gorgeous short story Story of Your Life and weaving it into a delicate web that crescendos, unravels, then resolves like a concerto. Denis Villeneuve's direction is the brilliant combination of epic sci-fi and understated personal drama, and that tone is perfectly supported by Jóhann Jóhannsson's hauntingly beautiful score. It's classic sci-fi. A seemingly insignificant person who possesses a specialized skill is called upon to save humanity, and while they must overcome their personal baggage to do so, that same baggage is paramount to their success. The way in which it all intertwines blew my mind and made me bawl. Amy Adams was also so perfectly cast as Louise. The alien ships designed by Patrice Vermette are intoxicating—they immediately inspire curiosity—and creature designer Carlos Huante created aliens that I want to run away from but then also hug very much. Arrival is touching, heartfelt, and mind-boggling—it's perfect sci-fi magic.
Rachel Sweeney is an actor, writer, director, and stand-up comedian based in Los Angeles, and you can view her work on her YouTube and Vimeo.
Coco
This is the film I’ve seen about eight times already, and I can never stop crying when Abuelita Coco remembers her father Hector. It’s an impactful story of embracing your family and your culture and the Day of the Dead is no exception. Generations may come and go, but the power of love and remembering your loved ones will cement their memory for future generations.
Ethell Nunez-Suazo is an aspiring Line Producer and Unit Production Manager working her way up in the indie world. Instagram: @original_clone_in_black Twitter: @cloneinblack
Inside Out
In 2015 I had just about given up on Pixar. With the exception of the unexceptional Brave, the previously imaginative studio exclusively pumped out sequels and prequels, which declined in quality and necessity—from Toy Story 3 to Monsters University—for the first half of the 2010s. And then came Inside Out. How can I sum up this utterly ambitious yet simple film in one paragraph? To put it succinctly, from my first watch to every viewing thereafter, I have been in awe. In awe of a movie that makes memories malleable, journeys a landscape of personality, and that goes beyond Pixar’s usual personification of inanimate objects, and actually gives emotions to emotions. Not to mention the audacity of writer/director Pete Docter to trust the audience, young and old, with a plot without villain or peril, where the crisis is a young girl grappling with her sense of self. Navigating difficult subjects, like loss of innocence, forgotten memories, and the importance of sadness with care and adventure and zero condescension. It’s heartbreaking yet delightful, with playful gags and the perfect cast of comedians set against a bright, wondrous canvas. I’m so grateful that Pixar took such a big risk on this genre-breaking family movie that has brought me and so many others joy.
Lara Morgan watches and occasionally makes movies in Austin, Texas.
Arrival
My favorite movie of the decade has to be Arrival (2016), directed by Denis Villenuve. I remember seeing the film with a friend and us both leaving the theater utterly blown away. Just every detail from the script, the acting, the editing, especially the way it plays on your understanding of flashbacks, fit together perfectly. Even details such as the alien designs and their circular language have so much thought put into them that it truly shows this film was a labor of love from everyone who worked on it. And on top of all the attention to detail, this movie seems to tell a whole new story in the alien invasion genre. Instead of the aliens coming to attack earth, a la Independence Day, it’s about how important it is to set aside our differences and try to understand each other. This movie is certainly something special and I think it’s the capstone to an amazing decade for director Denis Villenuve.
Brad Kennedy - 1/2 of the directing duo at Sozo Bear Films (@sozobearfilms)
Arrival
The movie that moved me most deeply was Arrival. I think that because I am a relatively new dad, my boys are seven, four and one, it caught me off guard, and the emotion was impossible to contain. I went in expecting a sci-fi analysis of our world today and instead got my mind blown, and my heart opened.
Michael Brown has been making films and adventuring for thirty years. Along the way, he has racked up three Emmys, many film festival awards, and five summits of Mount Everest. The most meaningful, however, his family, wife Julia, and three sons.
Interstellar
Favorite movie of the decade is Interstellar! I love Nolan and I love sci-fi. The movie felt so raw when a lot of movies in the same vein would make everything super slick. So I enjoyed how human the movie felt. Even the fact that they had an actor voicing the robots as well as manually moving the bots around in the scene. I loved the use of practical effects and models and the sound design made for such a visceral experience. And when you strip away the sci-fi stuff it’s still an awesome story about a man and his daughter and the power of love.
Luke Pilgrim is 1/2 of the writing/directing/producing team Sozo Bear Films, creators of the web series “Encounters.” https://youtu.be/SYiZYtIAb7w
Inside Out
My favorite film of the whole decade is the animated masterpiece Inside Out, Pete Docter's brilliant exploration of feelings. And if you know me, this is a big deal because there were TWO Toy Story movies released in the decade, both of which are near perfect. Inside Out is maybe not perfect, a little messy, but as an emotionally repressed 42 year old who stuffs sadness and fear and anger down and tries to only emit joy, it hits me deep down every time like no other movie of the decade. Also, BING BONG is my jam.
Kyle "GIbby" Gibson, an emotionally repressed 42 year old who loves movies, basketball, his wife, his buds and guitar players on big rigs, sells insurance in his day job and co-hosts the incredibly awesome podcast Four Friends Fight About Film with three of his best friends who make fun of his love of all things Pixar.
Zootopia
This is by far Disney’s best, smartest, and funniest animated film within the last ten years. In a world where animals have evolved and live together in harmony, the dark underbelly of classism still exists. The film’s two main characters prove to be a dynamic duo that play off each other well. Their arcs speak volumes on society’s issues with stereotypes and the disastrous effects of an outdated prejudice system on society. The nuances in the film are worth every frame and the comedy is gold. This is a movie that both parents and their kids can enjoy together.
Lisa Waring is a producer, screenwriter, director and owner of NXG Global Productions (www.nxgglobalproductions.com). She currently resides in South Florida with her husband and our five children.
Black Panther
Sci Fi is such a broad genre, so when looking back over the decade in search of the best you come up with a lot of results. I wanted to say Ex Machina, because that's probably the right answer. I wanted to say The Last Jedi, because hyperdrive is friggin' weapon! I really wanted to say Her, because that movie was probably made for lonely corner of my heart. What I didn't want to do is pick an easy answer and delve into that big bad Marvel Universe, but...Black Panther gave us Afrofuturism and the applications of a Technologically Advanced African Nation to the plight of the African Diaspora. They gave us traditional African fabric as a futuristic shield, bonus for not being a weapon. They gave us rhinos...ok, we maybe could have done without those CGI rhinos but...they gave us, ME, an exhilarating epic story that is more Sci-Fi than Tony Stark's and did what all great sci-fi really is meant to do, say something. Black Panther said a lot. I heard all of it. And I'm still listening
Profound Clarke is A Brooklyn born Atlanta based writer, Profound Clarke is a storyteller with a passion for perspective. In pursuit of new perspective he holds his writing to the idea of a concept that's unique with a story that's more important.
