10 Sci-Fi Movies Now Officially Masterpieces

Some of the most memorable science fiction films arrive quietly, with modest budgets or a single striking idea. These unexpected masterpieces show the genre often thrives on inventiveness rather than scale, from the punk surrealism of Tetsuo: The Iron Man to the gonzo cosmic horror of Color Out of Space.

Several of these films began as daring debut efforts. The Vast of Night, loosely based on the Kecksburg UFO incident and the Foss Lake disappearances, follows a switchboard operator and a radio DJ who pick up a strange signal in 1950s New Mexico. Coherence stages a bewildering dinner-party thriller while a comet passes overhead, and Primer charts four friends who accidentally discover time travel.

Moon centers on Sam Rockwell as an astronaut nearing the end of a three-year solitary stint on the far side of the Moon. Other entries push form and feeling in different directions.

United States, New Mexico

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