Movies like Arrival
Arrival (2016) is a sci-fi movie directed by Denis Villeneuve. The list below collects the movies that people who loved it enjoyed most, best known first.
1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
★ 7.4 · 4,880 votes · Sci-Fi, Drama
After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind →
2. Interstellar (2014)
★ 8.5 · 41,492 votes · Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Movies like Interstellar →
3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
★ 7.5 · 16,857 votes · Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.
Movies like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story →
4. Contact (1997)
★ 7.5 · 5,235 votes · Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
Movies like Contact →
5. The Cabbage Soup (1981)
★ 6.4 · 966 votes · Comedy, Sci-Fi
Two buddy farmers are visited by aliens who like their domestic cabbage soup.
Movies like The Cabbage Soup →
6. Predestination (2014)
★ 7.4 · 7,411 votes · Sci-Fi, Thriller
Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.
Movies like Predestination →
7. Old (2021)
★ 6.3 · 5,082 votes · Thriller, Mystery, Horror
A group of families on a tropical holiday discover that the secluded beach where they are staying is somehow causing them to age rapidly – reducing their entire lives into a single day.
Movies like Old →
8. Primer (2004)
★ 6.7 · 2,577 votes · Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
Movies like Primer →
9. Aliens (1986)
★ 8.0 · 11,278 votes · Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.
Movies like Aliens →
10. Vanilla Sky (2001)
★ 6.8 · 4,897 votes · Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.
Movies like Vanilla Sky →
11. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
★ 7.5 · 12,331 votes · Adventure, Sci-Fi, Family
An alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliott who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliott, his brother, and his little sister Gertie form an emotional bond with their new friend, and try to help him find his way home.
Movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial →
12. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
★ 7.1 · 6,927 votes · Drama, Sci-Fi, Adventure
David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.
Movies like A.I. Artificial Intelligence →
13. Independence Day (1996)
★ 6.9 · 10,811 votes · Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived. Its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.
Movies like Independence Day →
14. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
★ 7.3 · 9,926 votes · Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Movies like Star Trek Into Darkness →
15. After Yang (2022)
★ 6.4 · 557 votes · Sci-Fi, Drama
When his young daughter's beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife and daughter across a distance he didn't know was there.
Movies like After Yang →
16. Captain Marvel (2019)
★ 6.8 · 17,250 votes · Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Movies like Captain Marvel →
17. Oblivion (2013)
★ 6.7 · 11,912 votes · Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure
Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. His existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.
Movies like Oblivion →
18. Moon (2009)
★ 7.6 · 6,570 votes · Sci-Fi, Drama
With only three weeks left in his three-year contract, Sam Bell is eager to return to Earth. Stationed alone at a Moon-based facility with his computer assistant GERTY, an unexpected accident sets off a series of unsettling events that shake his isolation.
Movies like Moon →
19. Finch (2021)
★ 7.8 · 4,235 votes · Sci-Fi, Drama, Adventure
On a post-apocalyptic Earth, a robot, built to protect the life of his dying creator's beloved dog, learns about life, love, friendship, and what it means to be human.
Movies like Finch →
20. Planet of the Apes (1968)
★ 7.7 · 4,143 votes · Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama
Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.
Movies like Planet of the Apes →