As is true with most labels, dads aren’t really any one thing. While there may be some qualities that unite many dads, some dads are more into sports than others, while some are into gaming or other types of entertainment. If there’s a dad in your life with a love for sci-fi, though, then Netflix has plenty of titles worth checking out.
Sorting through all of them to determine which ones are actually worth watching can be a chore, though. That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you and found five great sci-fi movies that are worth watching this Father’s Day.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
A brilliant movie that is great to watch with the kids, Across the Spider-Verse is the sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse. Following Miles Morales as he discovers that the burden of being Spider-Man comes with certain expectations, the film is largely about Miles’ desire to become his own person, unfettered by the expectations others want to put on him.
Thanks to truly stunning animation, a stellar voice cast, and a constant desire for reinvention, Across the Spider-Verse is a sequel that’s able to prove Into the Spider-Verse wasn’t just a one-off.
You can watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
If your dad loved the original Matrix when it was released, but didn’t catch the most recent installment, now is the perfect time. The Matrix Resurrections picks up the story of Neo 20 years after the events of the original film.
While this film is not as action-forward as the previous installments, The Matrix Resurrections is just as interested in the question of free will, and in Neo’s journey to figure out exactly how he fits into a world still being run by machines. In some ways, Resurrections feels like a brilliant maturation of everything the franchise has always been about.
You can watch The Matrix Resurrections on Netflix.
Starman (1984)
John Carpenter is best known for making some of the great horror movies of the 1970s and ’80s, and Starman is not that. Instead, this movie is about an alien who arrives on Earth and falls in love with the woman who becomes his caretaker. Jeff Bridges is brilliant as an alien trying to understand humanity, and Karen Allen is just as good as a widow trying to recover from a recent loss.
Starman is tender and sweet, and while it has its moments of actual action, the movie is really about two people finding one another. It’s a little weepy, but in a way your dad will probably appreciate.
You can watch Starman on Netflix.
Starship Troopers (1997)
One of the great satires of the late ’90s, Paul Verhoeven‘s Starship Troopers tells the story of a trio of friends who are living in the 23rd century and on the brink of entering into government service.
Human civilization is, at this point, battling a race of advanced arachnids, and the movie’s brilliance comes in part from the way it becomes clear to the viewer over the course of the movie that humanity is, in fact, the villain in this story. The movie is also blisteringly funny, and Starship Troopers is perfect for dads who like provocative, hilarious action movies.
You can watch Starship Troopers on Netflix.
They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
A brilliant, funny, highly inventive sci-fi comedy, They Cloned Tyrone tells the story of three people who come together to investigate a sinister conspiracy that seems to be happening in their neighborhood.
Starring Jamie Foxx, John Boyega, and Teyonah Parris (The Marvels), the film is equal parts strange and delightful, and each of the stars seems game for all of the movie’s most insane twists and turns. They Cloned Tyrone is a brilliant racial allegory, and a reminder that great sci-fi stories can be used as a metaphor for the ills we face
You can watch They Cloned Tyrone on Netflix.
