Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist # 2
This list is a companion to Best Indie Sci-Fi 1997-2021 V2.0.
It follows Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist #1 and precedes Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist #3.
It lists all the older films planned to be viewed for V5.2 and V6.0 of the master list ... updates happening in 2026 if all goes OK.
In the notes, a + is a film appearing for the first time on the watchlists, and * indicates a film that was first released in the U.S. on video).
It follows Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist #1 and precedes Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist #3.
It lists all the older films planned to be viewed for V5.2 and V6.0 of the master list ... updates happening in 2026 if all goes OK.
In the notes, a + is a film appearing for the first time on the watchlists, and * indicates a film that was first released in the U.S. on video).
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- DirectorLance MungiaStarsJeffrey FalconJustin McGuireKim De AngeloIn the post-apocalyptic world of 1990s Nevada, a rock 'n' roll samurai on his way to Lost Vegas takes a young orphan boy under his protection as Death and his metalhead Horsemen chase after them.
- DirectorKenneth JohnsonStarsKirsten StormsRaven-SymonéBob BancroftAn inquisitive teenager pries into suspected dodgy dealings on her space station home - and ends up being sent down to Earth.
- DirectorRakesh RoshanStarsRekhaHrithik RoshanPreity G ZintaA developmentally disabled young man tries to continue the work his father did in communicating with extra-terrestrials from outer space, which leads to something miraculous and wonderful.
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsBill SageSabrina LloydTatiana AbracosA comic drama about a time in the near future when citizens are happy to be property traded on the stock exchange.Hartley is the cult indie director of Trust and Henry Fool.
- DirectorChristian VolckmanStarsDaniel CraigCatherine McCormackJonathan PryceA young gene researcher, Ilona, is kidnapped in a future Paris. Police Captain Karas and his team are in charge of finding her.
- DirectorAndrew CurrieStarsKesun LoderBilly ConnollyCarrie-Anne MossIn an Earthly world resembling the 1950s, a cloud of space radiation has shrouded the planet, resulting in the dead becoming zombies that desire live human flesh. A company called Zomcon has been able to control the zombie population. Zombies can be temporarily neutralized by being shot, but can only be permanently neutralized by their brain being destroyed. Their ultimate disposal is through cremation, or burial, the latter which requires decapitation with the head being buried separately from the body. Conversely, Zomcon has created the domestication collar, when activated and placed on a zombie makes the zombie controllable, and thus an eternally productive creature within society. Because all dead initially become zombies, the elderly are viewed negatively and suspectly. And all people, adult or child, learn to shoot to kill to protect society. Zomcon is the go to organization for all things zombie. In the town of Willard, the Robinsons - father Bill (Dylan Baker), mother Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss), and adolescent son Timmy (Kesun Loder) - are one family who don't own a zombie as a domestic, since Bill is afraid of zombies, as, when he was a child, he had to shoot his own zombie father, who tried to eat him. Bill has thus become fascinated with funerals to see zombies put away permanently. But Helen feels pressured to get a zombie when Zomcon's new head of security in Willard, the officious Jonathan Bottoms (Henry Czerny), moves into the neighborhood with his family. Never having had to deal with a zombie directly, Timmy is initially wary of their zombie. But as a lonely child who has no friends and is often bullied, Timmy eventually befriends their zombie, who he names Fido (Sir Billy Connolly), as he treats the zombie much like a faithful pet dog. Timmy protects Fido at all cost, even after Fido, due to no fault of its own, is implicated in some deaths, which creates a mini-wave of loose zombies unknown to Zomcon. But Fido may play a larger role within the family as a companion for Helen, who is largely neglected by Bill, since he sees human affection as ultimately resulting in such difficult issues as what happened between him and his own father. With Timmy and Helen treating Fido with kindness, Fido, in turn, may prove that not all zombies, even when without their domestication collar, are out to kill anyone and everyone in their path.(US 2007).
- DirectorGee-woong NamStarsDae-tong KimSo-yun LeeA high-school girl who moonlights as a prostitute is revived as a killing machine after she is murdered by her teacher.+ (US 2007 DVD).
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsShô AikawaKyôka SuzukiAtsuro WatabeA down-and-out school teacher receives the calling to become the real life personification of an old television superhero, Zebraman.(US 2007). Miike is the insanely prolific director of Ishi the Killer and 13 Assassins.
- DirectorAleksandr MelnikStarsKonstantin LavronenkoAndrey FeskovMarat BasharovThis dystopia takes place in the near future. The death penalty has been abolished throughout the world. The prisons are overcrowded. International organizations decide to conduct an experiment.* Russian, recent streamer.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsMichelle MorganJoshua CloseShawn RobertsA group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.+ (US 2008).
- StarsBenedict CumberbatchAnamaria MarincaMax BeesleyBritain has been transformed into a security state. A mathematical genius's search for the truth about his brother's death catapults him into a conspiracy and a love affair.
- DirectorBen RockStarsCarlos BernardMathew St. PatrickRockmond DunbarA group enters a supermarket at closing time, shoots around and takes hostages. They believe aliens have arrived there then. Cops arrive outside.(US 2009 DVD).
- DirectorR.W. GoodwinStarsEric McCormackJenni BairdRobert PatrickAfter crash landing near a desert town, an alien enlists the help of a local waitress to re-capture a monster that escaped from the wreckage of his space ship.
- DirectorRuss PondStarsJames MacDonaldScarlett McAlisterJim BlumettiStill reeling from a personal tragedy, Detective Paul Grunning is sent on a routine call to a local professor's home. When things turn deadly, he must navigate a fractured reality to solve the mystery before it's too late.(US 2009 DVD).
- DirectorTarik SalehStarsVincent GalloJuliette LewisUdo KierA complex story of a misaligned man, though good intent, creating a nightmarish Dystopian existence.(US 2011).
- DirectorDmitriy KiselevAleksandr VoytinskiyStarsGrigoriy DobryginEkaterina VilkovaViktor VerzhbitskiyA Moscow college student's gift car from his parents turns out to be more than anyone expects when it flies, which he uses to become both a city guardian and a speedy floral delivery boy.(US 20111 DVD).
- DirectorPanos CosmatosStarsEva BourneMichael J RogersScott HylandsDespite being under heavy sedation, a young woman tries to make her way out of the Arboria Institute, a secluded, quasifuturistic commune.(US 2012).
- DirectorTimo VuorensolaStarsJulia DietzeChristopher KirbyGötz OttoThe Nazis set up a secret base on the dark side of the moon in 1945 where they hide out and plan to return to power in 2018.(US DVD).
- DirectorVictor GinzburgStarsVladimir EpifantsevMikhail EfremovAndrey FominA chronicle of the rise of the advertising industry in Post-Soviet Russia.(US 2012).
- DirectorSteven R. MonroeStarsGreg GrunbergNeil GraystonCaroline CaveA group of Apocalyptic fanatics must use their knowledge of apocalyptic movies to save the world from a devastating solar flare.
- DirectorEric HaydenStarsKhary PaytonLance HenriksenBrian BaumgartnerWhen a tragic accident cuts short the first manned mission to explore life on the moons of Jupiter, Michael Forrest must make the 3 year journey home to Earth in pure solitude.(US 2013 DVD).
- DirectorAleksey German Jr.StarsLouis FranckViktoriya KorotkovaMerab NinidzeEpisodic, spiritual and existentialistic look at the state the Russia is in in 2017, exactly one hundred years after the communist-led Russian Revolution. The future looks gloomy, since the world is on the brink of yet another world war.(Russian; US later streaming)
- DirectorDean IsraeliteStarsAmy LandeckerSofia Black-D'EliaVirginia GardnerA group of teens discovers secret plans for a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.
- DirectorJoseph BakerTom LargeStarsRichard J. DanumGillian MacGregorPaul BranniganFollows the turbulent relationship of Cole and Maya as they struggle to survive in a world where the human population has been decimated by an extra-terrestrial attack.(US 2015).
- DirectorChristopher LeoneStarsMark HapkaJessica RotheEric JungmannA mysterious building is the gateway to infinite parallel Earths.
- DirectorKike MaílloStarsDaniel BrühlMarta EturaAlberto AmmannA shy genius is employed by his former university to design robot software.(US 2015)/
- DirectorTakayuki HatamuraStarsHaruna IsaokaSou SatoNana SeinoAn ordinary office worker, Hiroyuki Sano, suddenly begins to exhibit extraordinary powers. Then a man who claims to have same powers as him appears before him...(US 2015*).
- DirectorKhalil SullinsStarsThomas StroppelArtie AhrAmber Marie BollingerA team of genius-but-broke grad students invent mind-reading technology that destroys their lives and threatens the future of free will itself.(US 2015).
- DirectorAaron HannMario MiscioneStarsAllegra MastersAimee McKayAshley KeyHeld captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.
- StarsMike VogelOsy IkhileDaisy BettsAfter peaceful aliens invade Earth, humanity finds itself living in a utopia under the indirect rule of the aliens, but does this utopia come at a price?
- DirectorNicholas GyeneyStarsManu BennettLarenz TateLinden AshbyChampion gamer Max Troy discovers events in a new video game are being mirrored in the real world, and must join forces with the game's protagonist, Orson Creed, to unravel the conspiracy before the game's sinister plot overwhelms the city.
- DirectorStefan MüllerStarsMoritz ThateMartin KroissenbrunnerInes GruberAustria-Hungary 1813: Jacob and Veith return home from the Napoleonic war. Their road leads to the remote mountain village Pahlbach. The two newcomers encounter a frosty reception - and as the night has barely passed, they already understand why: In the woods around the village a strange evil is brewing mischief. Unknown creatures of extraordinary violence and cunning, lure the men into the woods and make a silent demand: In order to further propagate, the beasts claim women's bodies. While Jacob refuses immediately and calls out the fight, Veith is still uncertain: The enemy appears to overpowering. Maybe they should try to come to terms. Progressing events put the courage and humanity of the two men to the test and threaten to shatter their friendship. But Jacob Veith and are not the only ones to whom the demand was made. The battle lines are hardening - and in a single bloody night, the future of the whole place is at stake ...+ (US 2016*).
- DirectorWill James MooreStarsDavid MaldonadoJamie TisdaleTishuan ScottAn addict ex-politician whose life has spiraled out of control finds redemption when challenged with keeping his sister-in-law and niece alive during the apocalypse.(US 2016).
- DirectorNic MathieuStarsJames Badge DaleEmily MortimerBruce GreenwoodA sci-fi/thriller story centered on a special-ops team that is dispatched to fight supernatural beings.
- DirectorCorey AdamsStarsAnthony AmedoriJames FaulknerRick McCrankMachotaildrop is a highly visual and fantastical journey about an amateur skateboarder, Walter Rhum, who realizes his dream of turning pro and riding for the world's greatest skateboard company... Machotaildrop. Set in an anachronistic time and place, Machotaildrop is the greatest skateboard company of its day and the regal and grand sport of skateboarding has been thriving for many generations. Walter's journey serves as a window through which we discover the dark underbelly of what appears at first to be a benign skateboard company.(US 2017*).
- DirectorJames BickertStarsJett BryantLaurence R. HarveyTristan RiskAn outlaw biker finds himself addicted to a diabolical substance and hunted by a grenade-tossing femme fatale, bounty hunters, law enforcement, a rival motorcycle gang, mutations and a topless stripper hit squad.(US 2017).
- DirectorTommy WirkolaStarsNoomi RapaceGlenn CloseWillem DafoeIn a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid being put to a long sleep by the government and dangerous infighting while investigating the disappearance of one of their own.*
- DirectorRob YorkStarsBrandon Ray OliveK. Danor GeraldWhitney PalmerAfter NASA picks up a trio of mysterious signals from within our own solar system, astronaut Roger Nelson is dispatched on a multi-year solo mission aboard the Magellan spacecraft to investigate the sources.(US DVD).
- DirectorBrian TaylorStarsNicolas CageSelma BlairAnne WintersA teenage girl and her younger brother must survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass hysteria of unknown origin causes parents to turn violently on their own kids.+ (US 2018).
- DirectorJohn V. SotoStarsJacqueline McKenzieMyles PollardShannon BerryA particle physicist grieving over the loss of her husband in a car crash travels to a parallel world to find him again, with dire consequences for her family.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsAlexander SkarsgårdPaul RuddJustin TherouxA mute bartender goes up against his city's gangsters in an effort to find out what happened to his missing partner.* Set in the same universe as Jone's later-written but earlier made Moon (main list #26); bumped up a tier strictly on his pedigree.
- DirectorDiego HallivisStarsLyndsy FonsecaGlenn MorshowerAlex LanipekunAn engineer travels back in time to stop herself from committing a murder.(US 2018).
- DirectorAlex HaugheyBrian VidalStarsRichard NeilSavannah HallidayJolene AndersenA psychologist engages a dangerous, young genius in a battle of wits -- unaware of the supernatural power the girl possesses, or that her life hangs in the balance.(US 2018 DVD).
- DirectorSerge BozonStarsIsabelle HuppertRomain DurisJosé GarciaMrs. Géquil is a teacher despised by her colleagues and students. On a stormy night, she is struck by lightning and faints. When she wakes up, she feels different. Will she be able to keep the powerful and dangerous Mrs. Hyde contained?(US 2018).
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsClive OwenAfiya BennettMorgan AllenIn a world without anonymity or crime, a detective meets a woman who threatens their security.* Niccol did inner-circle sf classic Gattaca.
- DirectorDrake DoremusStarsEwan McGregorLéa SeydouxTheo JamesA story about how synthetic humans can feel and even love and how the people they are involved with react to this concept.* Doremus did Like Crazy.
- DirectorBen YoungStarsMichael PeñaLizzy CaplanAmelia CrouchA father has a recurring dream of losing his family. His nightmare turns into reality when the planet is invaded by a force bent on destruction. Fighting for their lives, he comes to realize an unknown strength to keep them safe from harm.*
- DirectorMichael G. CooneyStarsKyle GallnerAzura SkyeMary McCormackAfter deciphering a message found in a satellite, brilliant cryptographer Alex Jacobs finds himself being stalked by government agents and otherworldly beings.*
- DirectorRyan EslingerStarsAlex SharpGillian AndersonElla PurnellA college student, who sees a UFO, uses his exceptional math skills to investigate the sighting with his friends while the FBI follows closely behind.
- DirectorMathieu TuriStarsBrittany AshworthGrégory FitoussiJavier BotetJuliette, a lone survivor of an apocalyptic era, fights to survive against hunger, thirst, a broken leg and strange, disturbing creatures that only come out at nighttime.(US 2018).
- DirectorXavier GensStarsRay StevensonDavid OakesAura GarridoA young man arrives at a remote island to take a post of weather observer only to find himself defending the watchtower from deadly creatures which live in the island shores.
- DirectorJason StoneStarsStefanie ScottThéodore PellerinSaïd TaghmaouiAlex is floating unconscious in a lake when light from a UFO of light saves her by enhancing her abilities such as telekinesis and healing power. Her friend Sean helps her. The authorities want her - not just for stealing a police car.
- DirectorSerge LevinStarsMichael IronsideCharles BakerAlex VeadovAfter a failed suicide attempt, a young man coping with loss and depression, submits to a series of trials that fine-tune human emotions, but his unique reaction to the tests send him on a journey that transcends both physical and perceived reality.(US DVD).
- DirectorSasha Louis VukovicStarsTeresa Marie DoranDan LinSari MercerIn 1929, an expedition of university botanists enter an uncharted forest where they discover, and must escape an ancient organism.+ (US 2018*).
- DirectorJohn McPhailStarsElla HuntMalcolm CummingSarah SwireA zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.+ (US 2018)
- DirectorHitoshi MatsumotoStarsHitoshi MatsumotoDavid QuinteroLuis AccinelliA man wakes up in a white room empty other than buttons on the walls, he must find out which button to push to get what he wants.(US 2018*).
- DirectorSharon LewisStarsMouna TraoréNigel Shawn WilliamsShakura S'AidaIt's 2049 on a forsaken island off the coast of Toronto where the survival of the islanders depends on young Ti-Jeanne to risk death by a spirit so she can take her place as a caribbean priestess and save her people.(US 2018 DVD).
- DirectorBatan SilvaStarsNatalia DyerKyra SedgwickValorie CurryAs the SUN burns out, an American family gathers at the end of the world, their hopes for rescue slowly crumbling as they also confront long lasting divides amongst each other.(US 2019*).
- DirectorPaul RaschidStarsShauna MacdonaldOded FehrAmrita AchariaAs Civil war rages in the United Kingdom, a woman wakes up in a blindingly white prison cell. Using its sophisticated functionality, her captor tortures her for information; information she claims not to have.+
- DirectorJosh JanowiczStarsDrew Van AckerAddison TimlinSteven StraitAn idealistic, attractive young couple acquires a stunning, life-like robot for guilt-free help; but, as the three grow closer, their perception of humanity will be altered forever.(US DVD).
- DirectorLars KlevbergStarsTim MathesonBen DaonZahra AndersonA mother gives her 13-year-old son a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.
- DirectorJacob EstesStarsDavid OyelowoStorm ReidMykelti WilliamsonDetective Jack Radcliff and his recently murdered niece race against time to solve the crime before it happens.
- DirectorJim MickleStarsBoyd HolbrookCleopatra ColemanBokeem WoodbineA Philadelphia police officer struggles with a lifelong obsession to track down a mysterious serial killer whose crimes defy explanation.
- DirectorAbe ForsytheStarsLupita Nyong'oAlexander EnglandJosh GadA washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids'-show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies.
- DirectorJohn SuitsStarsOmar EppsKate WalshAngus MacfadyenA group of astronauts living in the haunting emptiness of deep space awake to find Earth has suffered an extinction level event.+
- DirectorTakashi DoscherStarsFreida PintoLeslie Odom Jr.Chandler RiggsAfter a comet releases a mysterious virus that begins to kill all the women in the world, a young couple hides out in their over-sterilized apartment trying to fight for their lives.(US 2020*).
- DirectorJeffrey A. BrownStarsLiana LiberatoNoah Le GrosJake WeberA romantic getaway for two troubled college sweethearts turns into a struggle for survival when unexpected guests - and the surrounding environment - exhibit signs of a mysterious infection.(US 2020).
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsNazeeh TarshaKoo Kyo-hwanLee Jung-hyunA zombie virus has in the last four years spread to all South Korea. Four Koreans in Hong Kong sail through the blockade to Incheon for USD20,000,000 on a truck.
- DirectorHenry JoostAriel SchulmanStarsJamie FoxxJoseph Gordon-LevittDominique FishbackWhen a pill that gives its users unpredictable superpowers for five minutes hits the streets of New Orleans, a teenage dealer and a local cop must team with an ex-soldier to take down the group responsible for its creation.
- DirectorMikael HåfströmStarsAnthony MackieDamson IdrisEnzo CilentiIn the near future, a drone pilot sent into a war zone finds himself paired with a top-secret android officer on a mission to stop a nuclear attack.+
- DirectorTim FehlbaumStarsNora ArnezederIain GlenSarah-Sofie BoussninaSet in the distant future, a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, must decide the fate of the wasteland's remaining populace.+
- DirectorJohn RidleyStarsLeslie Odom Jr.Freida PintoCynthia ErivoNick and Janine live in marital bliss until Janine's ex-husband warps time to try to tear them apart. As Nick's memories disappear, he must decide what he's willing to sacrifice in order to hold onto - or let go of - everything he loves.+
- DirectorAgata AlexanderStarsThomas JaneTomasz KotToni GarrnThe meaning of life explored through multiple interconnected lives set in the near future.+