Futuristic movies like Arrival can teleport us to a new and different world. So, if you too feel the need to escape your mundane life, here are some movies to help you with your getaway.
Arrival (2016) is an American science fiction film directed by Denis Heisserer. It is based on a short story by Ted Chiang, Story Of Your Life. The star cast of the movie includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Tzi Ma, and Forest Whitaker.
The story of Arrival revolves around Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a linguistic professor. She leads a team of investigators. However, things come close to ruin when massive spaceships land in twelve different locations. The nation fears a global invasion, and Banks must work out a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial aliens and discover their intentions. In doing so, she goes to great lengths, endangering her own life and possibly the whole of humankind.
40 Space Fiction Movies Like Arrival For The Wanderer In You!
Arrival premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2016. On the critical aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, Arrival has an approval rating of 94% based on 434 reviews, which averages 8.40/10.
Here is our selection of 40 movies to keep you entertained with all the new and happening things in the imaginary world of science fiction.
Also, Read | 40 Riveting Movies Like The Departed To Keep Your Thrill Cravings Satiated!!
#1 Upstream Color (2013)
The American experimental sci-fi movie Upstream Color (2013) is the second feature film directed by Carruth. His first experimental drama was A Topiary. The movie explores a weird relationship between man and nature.
A man and a woman find themselves stuck in the life cycle of an ageless organism. A new struggle is ready to take up their lives every day. As these struggles go out of hand, they wrestle with tying the loose fragments of their fragile life together. Their identity becomes an illusion, and their happy life, is a distant dream.
| Director | Shane Carruth |
| Producer | Shane Carruth |
| Duration | 96 minutes |
| Cast | Shane Carruth, Amy Seimetz |
| Imdb Rating | 6.5/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 86% approval rating based on 148 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 81 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Google Movies and TV, Apple iTunes, Youtube, Microsoft Store, Amazon Prime Video |
#2 Sunshine (2007)
Exploring the areas of science, religion, and physics, Sunshine (2007) won many awards for its ingenious acting and direction.
The movie’s background is set shortly where the sun has lost its light and is dying, which will eventually end up killing all humanity. So, to help the sun regain its fiery powers, a crew of 9 people, including eight men and a woman, venture into space to evaluate their last resort. However, they make it worse and get themselves entangled in a different row of problems.
| Director | Danny Boyle |
| Producer | Andrew Macdonald |
| Duration | 1h 47 minutes |
| Cast | Benedict Wong, Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rose Byrne |
| IMDb Rating | 7.2/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 77% approval rating based on 171 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 64 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Vudu, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video |
#3 Fast Color (2018)
Fast Color (2018) premiered at the South by Southwest in March 2018. This selection of movies like Arrival garnered massive praises from the critics and the audiences for its uniqueness and ability to do something different from the typical superhero films.
The story of the movie, Fast Color revolves around the life of a young and mysterious woman who possesses supernatural abilities. After being discovered by some people, she must run and relocate to another place before her secret is out. The only safe place she can think of is her family’s abandoned farmhouse. She finds herself mending her previously ruined relationships with her family and getting a new perspective on life.
| Director | Julia Hart |
| Producer | Mickey Liddell, Pete Shilaimon, Jordan Horowitz |
| Duration | 1h 40 minutes |
| Cast | Christopher Denham, David Strathairn, Lorraine Toussaint, Gugu Mbatha Raw, Saniyya Sidney |
| IMDb Rating | 6/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 81% based on 86 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 64 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix |
Also, Read | 18 Amazing Movies Like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind | Movies To Binge In 2022!
#4 The Vast Of Night (2020)
Premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2019, The Vast of Night (2020) is a mystery science fiction film. It is based on the Foss Lake disappearances surrounding the Kecksburg UFO incident in 1965.
The movie centers itself in the town of New Mexico in the 1950s. Two kids are very keen to know about the mysterious sound wave frequency that has descended throughout their town. They set out on a mission to uncover this mystery and soon uncover some dark secrets.
| Director | Andrew Patterson |
| Producer | Melissa Kirkendall, James Montague |
| Duration | 89 minutes |
| Cast | Jake Horowitz, Sierra McCormick, Benny, Gerald, Everett Sloan, Fay Crocker |
| IMDb Rating | 6.7/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 92% based on 245 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 84 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Amazon Prime Video |
#5 Ex Machina (2014)
The directorial debut of Alex Garland, Ex Machina (2014) garnered massive praises for its visual effects, screenplay, and leading performances.
A programmer of a huge internet company, Caleb Smith, wins a contest that enables him to enjoy a holiday week in Nathan Bateman, his boss’s private estate. But when he arrives at the destination, he knows that Caleb has been chosen to be part of the Turing test as a human component. He must indulge with Ava, the beautiful and alluring robot, and find out about her consciousness and inner workings.
| Director | Alex Garland |
| Producer | Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald |
| Duration | 1h 48 minutes |
| Cast | Oscar Issac, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander |
| IMDb Rating | 7.7/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 92% based on 281 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 78 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Amazon Prime Video |
#6 Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
A neo-noir film, Blade Runner 2049 (2017), is a sequel to the fictional movie Blade Runner (1982). This selection on our list of movies like Arrival was praised for its cinematography, design, visuals, and performances. However, it was criticized for its long runtime.
The course of action in Blade Runner 2049 revolves around a newly recruited blade runner, Officer K, who works for the Los Angeles Police Department. This employee uncovers some long-lost secrets that can ruin what’s left of society. This discovery helps him find the whereabouts of a former blade runner, Rick Deckard, who has been missing for 30 years.
| Director | Denis Villeneuve |
| Producer | Broderick Johnson, Bud Yorkin, Andrew Kosove, Cynthia Sikes Yorkin |
| Duration | 2h 43 minutes |
| Cast | Sylvia Hoeks, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, Harrison Ford, Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Ryan Gosling |
| IMDb Rating | 8/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 88% based on 442 reviews |
| MetaCritic | 81 out of 100 |
| Streaming Platform | Google Play Movies and TV, Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, and Netflix |
Also, Read | 31 Beautiful Movies Like Pride And Prejudice | Movies That Will Make You Fall In Love!
More Exhilarating Movies Like Arrival For An Exhilarating Journey To Space!
| Movie | Director | IMDb Rating | Duration | Streaming Platform |
| District 9 | Neill Blomkamp | 7.9/10 | 1h 52m | Amazon Prime Video |
| Looper | Rian Johnson | 7.4/10 | 1h 58m | Youtube, Google Play and Movies, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video |
| Moon | Duncan Jones | 7.8/10 | 1h 37m | Hulu, HBO Max |
| Her | Spike Jonze | 8/10 | 2h 6m | Google Play, Vudu, iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video |
| Annihilation | Alex Garland | 6.8/10 | 2 hours | Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, Paramount+, Netflix |
| Under The Skin | Jonathan Glazer | 6.3/10 | 1h 48m | Hulu, Amazon Prime Video |
| Silent Running | Douglas Trumbull | 6.6/10 | 1h 30 minutes | Vudu, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu Movie & TV Store |
| Gravity | Alfonso Cuaron | 7.7/10 | 1h 31m | iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | Stanley Kubrick | 8.3/10 | 2h 19m | HBO Max |
| Solaris | Steven Soderbergh | 6.2/10 | 1h 39m | ESPN+, Hulu, Disney+ |
| Close Encounters | Steven Spielberg | 7.6/10 | 2h 17m | Netflix |
| Contact | Robert Zemeckis | 7.5/10 | 2h 30m | Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, Google Play Movies & TV |
| The Abyss | James Cameron | 7.5/10 | 1h 11m | Hulu |
| Colossus: The Forbin Project | Joseph Sargent | 7.1/10 | 1h 40m | Roku, Movieland TV |
| Cocoon | Ron Howard | 6.7/10 | 1h 57m | Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ |
| The Day The Earth Stood Still | Scott Derrickson | 5.5/10 | 1h 43m | iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, IMDb TV, Vudu |
| Predestination | Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig | 7.4/10 | 1h 37m | Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Google Play |
| Dune | Denis Villeneuve | 8.1/10 | 2h 35m | Amazon Prime Video, itunes, Google Play Movies |
| Sphere | Barry Levinson | 6.1/10 | 2h 14m | Itunes, Vudu, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play Store |
| Synchronic | Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson | 6.2/10 | 1h 42m | Hoopla, Netflix |
| Oxygen | Alexandre Aja | 6.5/10 | 1h 41 m | Netflix |
| Starman | John Carpenter | 7/10 | 1h 55m | Prime Video |
| High Life | Claire Denis | 5.8/10 | 1h 53m | Hulu |
| Proxima | Alice Wincour | 6.3/10 | 1h 47m | Netflix |
| 400 Days | Matt Osterman | 4.4/10 | 1h 31m | Google Play, iTunes, Vudu |
| The Midnight Sky | George Clooney | 5.6/10 | 2h 2m | Netflix |
| The Martian | Ridley Scott | 8/10 | 2h 22m | Apple TV |
| Europa Report | Sebastian Cordero | 6.4/10 | 1h 30m | Google Play Movies and TV, Youtube |
| Passengers | Morten Tyldum | 7/10 | 1h 56m | Netflix |
| Life | Daniel Espinoza | 6.6/10 | 1h 50 m | Amazon prime Video |
| Oblivion | Joseph Kosinski | 7/10 | 2h 4m | Netflix |
| Edge of Tomorrow | Doug Liman | 7.9/10 | 1h 53m | Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix |
| First Man | Damien Chazelle | 7.3/10 | 2h 21m | Amazon Prime Video |
| Super 8 | J J Abrams | 7/10 | 1h 52m | Youtube |
Also, Read | 10 Exhilarating Movies Like Interstellar | Mind-Twisted Space Dramas!
Final Words
Science fiction movies like Arrival transport us to a world full of imagination and wonder. And this imagination knows no bounds when it comes to entering a different part of the universe or getting invaded by the extraterrestrials. We hope you enjoy this exhilarating journey of 40 movies like Arrival. Let us know if you feel like we missed a few.
