The best sci-fi movies to watch on Netflix this February

Greetings, Polygon readers!

We’re mere weeks away from the premiere of Dune: Half Two, the second installment in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic tailored from Frank Herbert’s acclaimed e book collection. You don’t have to wait that lengthy to take pleasure in some nice sci-fi, although, as we’ve pulled collectively a listing of the best sci-fi movies out there on Netflix in February. This month, we’ve received a post-apocalyptic motion thriller starring Ma Dong-seok of Practice to Busan fame, a dystopian drama a few father and son dwelling in an occupied property co-directed by Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Nope), and a basic kaiju mecha motion drama from Guillermo del Toro!

Let’s dive in and see what this month has to supply!

Editor’s decide: Badland Hunters

Director: Heo Myeong-haeng
Forged: Ma Dong-seok, Lee Hee-joon, Lee Jun-young

Whenever you’re on the lookout for an awesome sci-fi film to watch, typically you’re on the lookout for a considerate meditation on humanity’s position within the galaxy, with onerous science components and exquisite, nearly fantastical cinematography. Different instances, you’re on the lookout for Ma Dong-seok completely laying into fools in a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Badland Hunters is for these different instances.

A (weird, tonally talking) sequel to the intense apocalyptic earthquake drama Concrete Utopia, Badland Hunters is a Mad Max-esque story of a hulking man searching for his discovered household and destroying anybody who will get in his manner (together with a mad scientist up to some twisted experiments). Whereas it doesn’t attain the excessive heights of Ma’s work in Practice to Busan or the Roundup movies, he’s such a reliably entertaining and charismatic film star which you can’t assist however take pleasure in this B-movie expertise. (And director Heo Myeong-haeng, a former stuntman who will helm the upcoming The Roundup: Punishment, is aware of precisely how to shoot the massive man’s motion sequences.) It’s one in every of Netflix’s standout worldwide releases of 2024 up to now, and a enjoyable time for folks on the lookout for some popcorn-worthy sci-fi. —Pete Volk

The Kitchen

Picture: Chris Harris/Netflix

Administrators: Kibwe Tavares, Daniel Kaluuya
Forged: Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jnr

Regardless of being Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya’s characteristic directorial debut, The Kitchen premiered on Netflix final month to little greater than a handful of opinions. Which is a disgrace, as a result of the movie itself is superior. Actor-songwriter Kane Robinson stars as Izi, a person dwelling alone in an occupied property identified colloquially as “the Kitchen” in a dystopian London the place social housing has all however been eradicated.

Working at a funeral service, Izi crosses paths with Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), a younger boy grieving the current lack of his mom. Suspecting the boy might the truth is be his personal estranged son, Izi reluctantly takes Benji in proper because the property is about to be assailed by the police. A poignant, character-driven sci-fi drama a few father and his son dwelling in a world crumbling at its foundations, The Kitchen seems like a movie that’s in direct dialog with the austerity politics of present-day London. Robinson and Bannerman give great performances, and the world-building of the Kitchen itself feels plausible and filled with nuance and dimension. —Toussaint Egan

Pacific Rim

Picture: Warner Bros. Photos

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Forged: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi

When you’re a fan of kaiju and large robots, you will have so much to look ahead to within the coming weeks. Dawnrunner, the brand new sci-fi comedian collection from author Ram V and artist Evan Cagle a few mecha pilot combating interdimensional creatures in Central America, is ready to debut its first subject in late March. Proper after that, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the newest installment in Legendary Photos’ MonsterVerse, can be launched in theaters, adopted intently by the streaming premiere of Kaiju No. 8, the brand new sci-fi motion anime from Manufacturing I.G a few man who positive factors the flexibility to remodel right into a superpowered humanoid kaiju.

When you’re on the lookout for a manner to kickstart The Season of Kaiju earlier, there’s no higher manner to accomplish that than by watching Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 love letter to the style. Pacific Rim has amassed a sizeable cult following within the decade-plus because it premiered, largely on the power of the movie’s spectacular mecha designs and equally jaw-dropping motion sequences. It’s a visually spectacular and unabashedly enjoyable sci-fi motion drama that’s charming and awe-inspiring to behold. —TE