Best Indie Sci-Fi: Watchlist #3
This list is a companion to Best Indie Sci-Fi 1997-2021, Best Indie Sci-Fi 1997-2021: Watchlist #1, and Best Indie Sci-Fi 1997-2021: Watchlist #2. It includes films scheduled for V6.1, V6.2, and V7.0.
In the notes, a + is a film appearing for the first time on the watchlist, while (< is) indicates a bump down from Watchlist 1. A * indicates a direct-to-DVD or VOD release; these are missing from the + films.
In the notes, a + is a film appearing for the first time on the watchlist, while (< is) indicates a bump down from Watchlist 1. A * indicates a direct-to-DVD or VOD release; these are missing from the + films.
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- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsJames DuvalRachel TrueNathan BextonFollows a day in the lives of a group of Los Angeles high school students and the strange lives they lead.
- DirectorBille AugustStarsJulia OrmondJens Jørgen FleischerAgga OlsenA 6 y.o. Inuit boy runs off a snowy roof in Copenhagen and dies. Smilla, a half Inuit who lives in the building and knows the boy, looks into it. What makes an acrophobic boy run up on the roof? The clues take her to Greenland.
- DirectorTrey ParkerStarsTrey ParkerDian BacharRobyn Lynne RaabNaive young Mormon Joe Young is recruited to act in porn movies.(US 1998).
- DirectorBenny ChanJackie ChanStarsJackie ChanMichelle FerreMirai YamamotoA Secret Agent loses his memory after falling from a crashing helicopter. He is then chased by several other agency operatives, but he has no idea why.(US 1999)
- DirectorLynn Hershman LeesonStarsTilda SwintonFrancesca FaridanyTimothy LearyEmmy Coer, a computer genius, devises a method of communicating with the past by tapping into undying information waves. She manages to reach the world of Ada Lovelace, founder of the idea of a computer language and proponent of the possibilities of the "difference engine." Ada's ideas were stifled and unfulfilled because of the reality of life as a woman in the nineteenth century. Emmy has a plan to defeat death and the past using her own DNA as a communicative agent to the past, bringing Ada to the present. But what are the possible ramifications?^ (US 1999)
- DirectorLeVar BurtonStarsKatey SagalRyan MerrimanKatie VoldingA teenager wins a fully-automated dream house in a competition, but soon the computer controlling it begins to take over and everything gets out of control. Then teenage Ben must calm the computer named PAT.
- DirectorAllan MoyleStarsStephen BaldwinPascale BussièresKim CoatesIn the future, where it's faster to travel by exchanging bodies with someone at the destination, a man's body is hijacked by a ruthless terrorist.+
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsTakeshi KaneshiroAnne SuzukiGorô KishitaniA young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.(US 2003).
- StarsTimothy HuttonRandy QuaidKari MatchettWhen college professor J.T. Neumeyer discovers a police file that outlines the details of his murder - which is to take place five days in the future - he wastes no time trying to save his own life.
- DirectorBarry StrugatzStarsCara BuonoRobert Downey Sr.Jonah MeyersonA depressed Brooklyn housewife sleepwalks through her life until she is abducted by UFOs. Determined to solve the mystery of her otherworldly experiences, she embarks on a journey that leads to both romance and a new meaning of life.
- DirectorOmar NaimStarsRobin WilliamsJim CaviezelMira SorvinoSet in a world with memory recording implants, Alan Hakman is a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.
- StarsEric StoltzCatherine BellLou Diamond PhillipsA shipping magnate hires four experts from various fields to investigate what happened to his ships that went missing in the Bermuda Triangle. The team discovers a threat that might unravel time itself and cause the world to end.
- DirectorThomas BangalterGuy-Manuel De Homem-ChristoStarsPeter HurteauMichael ReichHelena StoddardThe journey of two robots on their quest to become human.
- DirectorJonathan KingStarsOliver DriverNathan MeisterTammy DavisAn experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into bloodthirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm.(US 2007).
- DirectorJulien LeclercqStarsAlbert DupontelMarie GuillardMarthe KellerIn the near future Paris, a cop is searching for his wife's killer. The trail leads him to a high tech medical clinic where everything is not what it seems.
- DirectorCarter SmithStarsShawn AshmoreJena MaloneJonathan TuckerA leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when a group of friends and a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.+
- DirectorDarren Lynn BousmanStarsPaul SorvinoAnthony HeadAlexa PenaVegaA worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan. The repossession clause is a killer, however.
- DirectorMinoru KawasakiStarsKenji KohashiShûji KashiwabaraMasatoshi MatsuoDue to global warming and the shifting of tectonic plates, most of the Earth's land has sunk beneath the surface of the ocean. Only Japan remains and refugees from all nations try to incorporate themselves into Japanese society:(US 2008*).
- DirectorToby WilkinsStarsShea WhighamJill WagnerPaulo CostanzoTrapped in an isolated gas station by a voracious Splinter parasite that transforms its still-living victims into deadly hosts, a young couple and an escaped convict must find a way to work together to survive this primal terror.(US 2009*).
- DirectorDavid PastorÀlex PastorStarsChris PinePiper PeraboLou Taylor PucciAs a lethal virus spreads globally, four friends seek a reputed plague-free haven. But while avoiding the infected, the travelers turn on one another.
- DirectorGerald McMorrowStarsEva GreenRyan PhillippeSam RileyA portrait of the broken lives of four people (a vigilante detective, a worried parent, an awkward man looking for love and a suicidal artist) as they all struggle to cope in their religiously-dystopian city.(US 2009*).
- DirectorAhmed Alauddin JamalStarsPaul BarberIain FraserSaeed JaffreyLondon, one year from today... The dogs of England are dying, of "Mad Dog Disease," and Rabbie Burns, young drifter and certified schizophrenic, is hearing voices again - on Underground trains, over supermarket tannoys, and on his own T.V. He has 30 hours, a last weekend, to save the world from itself, before the "Supreme Being" himself loses patience and starts over, with a new species...(US 2010*).
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsAlan Van SprangKenneth WelshKathleen MunroeOn an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state.+ (US 2010).
- DirectorSandy ColloraStarsClark BartramDamion PoitierIsaac C. Singleton Jr.A spaceship crashes on a desert planet with 3 survivors besides the escaped prisoner. Extraction's in 110 hours.*
- DirectorHenry SaineStarsKyle DavisDevin McGinnMatt BauerJeff is an ordinary guy that is stuck at a dead end job with a boring life, but when a strange old man gives him an Ancient relic and tells him that he is the last bloodline of H.P. Lovecraft, He and his friend Charlie embark on an adventure to protect the relic piece from falling into the hands of the Starspawn and his minions that wish to reunite the relic and release Cthulhu back into the world.+
- DirectorEvan OppenheimerStarsNick StahlMía MaestroTaryn ManningJoshua Lazarus has a special gift -- but will this gift destroy him before he can escape to freedom with his newly found soul mate?+
- DirectorJoseph KahnStarsJosh HutchersonShanley CaswellSpencer LockeAs a copycat killer named after movie villain Cinderhella stalks the student body at Grizzly Lake High School, a group of co-eds band together to survive while serving detention.(US 2012).
- DirectorKrishna D.K.Raj NidimoruStarsSaif Ali KhanKunal KemmuVir DasA group of friends, just looking to have a good time in a rave party on a remote island in Goa, find out that the island is infested with Zombies.+
- DirectorJon WrightStarsKillian CoyleStuart GrahamMichael HoughWhen an island off the coast of Ireland is invaded by bloodsucking aliens, the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.(US 2013).
- DirectorRoger ChristianStarsChristian SlaterAmy MatysioMichael TherriaultFour astronauts working at a lunar base suffer a meteor strike that brings an infection that leads to paranoia, fear and death.*
- DirectorKim Sung-suStarsJang HyukSoo AeMin-ah ParkChaos ensues when a lethal, airborne virus infects the population of a South Korean city less than 20 kilometers from Seoul.
- DirectorDenis Henry HennellyStarsAdrian GrenierKid CudiMckenna GraceWhen a mysterious terrorist attack causes chaos in the cities, a group of friends take refuge in their countryside cabin. But the challenges of living in a post-apocalyptic world soon take their toll on relationships within the group.(US 2014).
- DirectorJohn HuddlesStarsJames D'ArcySophie LoweDaryl SabaraAt an international school in Jakarta, a philosophy teacher challenges his class of twenty graduating seniors to choose which ten of them would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.(US 2014).
- DirectorJorge DoradoStarsMark StrongTaissa FarmigaBrian CoxA man with the ability to enter people's memories takes on the case of a brilliant, troubled sixteen-year-old girl to determine whether she is a sociopath or a victim of trauma.+
- DirectorNick KozakisKosta OuzasStarsDon BridgesCris CochraneTegan CrowleyA small group of survivors in post-apocalyptic Australia seek shelter from an infection that has spread like a plague among the human populace. Evie (Tegan Crowley) and her fellow survivors become separated from her husband John (Scott Marcus). Evie refuses to leave John behind against the wishes of the group. The survivors revolt and abandon Evie to an uncertain fate. With the unexpected arrival of Charlie (Steven Kennedy) what appears to be an opportunity at a new beginning quickly turns to horror as menacing as the infected that pursue them.*
- DirectorJack HellerStarsKevin DurandLukas HaasBianca KajlichAn evil is unleashed in a small town when a logging company sets up shop in the neighboring woods.+ (US 2015).
- DirectorDavid YaroveskyStarsGabriel BassoSean GunnKathryn PrescottA young man suffering from amnesia must dig deep into the far reaches of his mind to remember who he is and save the love of his life before a virus that has infected him takes over.+ (US 2015).
- DirectorJonathan MilottCary MurnionStarsElijah WoodRainn WilsonAlison PillA mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives.+ (US 2015)
- DirectorMarc FurmieStarsJai KoutraeTodd LasanceKendra AppletonFollowing a near-fatal accident, David Chamberlain makes an unprecedented discovery that will not only determine the fate of his family, but of mankind.(US 2016).
- DirectorMatt HullumStarsBurnie BurnsGavin FreeMichael JonesFour losers are thrust into the position of saving the world when they stumble upon a UFO crash site and become genetically equipped to the battle suit on board.(US 2016).
- DirectorGary LundgrenStarsAndrew WilsonSimon TemplemanLeilani SarelleIn 2029 an ex-military drifter risks his life to protect a woman from her dangerous ex in the lawless State of Jefferson. He's aided by his A.I. implant Clyde who proves partner and friend.
- DirectorIlya NaishullerStarsSharlto CopleyTim RothHaley BennettHenry is resurrected from death with no memory, and he must save his wife from a telekinetic warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers.(US 2016).
- DirectorHurt McDermottStarsKelley HazenAndrzej KrukowskiCatherine O'ConnorTwo women confront the unleashing of a terrifying new technology... inside one of their own minds.(US 2016).
- DirectorLuke ScottStarsKate MaraAnya Taylor-JoyRose LeslieA corporate risk-management consultant must decide whether or not to terminate an artificially created humanoid being.
- DirectorChad KapperStarsChristian KapperNatalie WelchTom E. NicholsonIn a post-apocalyptic world where half the population is dead or missing and the sky is full of autonomous drones, a 16-year-old boy named Kitch sets out to find his father, joined by DR1, his drone companion.+ (US 2016).
- DirectorAdam RandallStarsBill MilnerMaisie WilliamsMiranda RichardsonAfter being shot, Tom awakens from a coma to discover that fragments of his smartphone have been embedded in his head--and worse, that returning to normal teenage life is impossible because he has developed a strange set of superpowers.*
- DirectorThomas ZellenStarsCasper Van DienSean MaherAdrienne BarbeauA scientist and a pilot volunteer for a high profile mission to reach the end of the universe. After 13 years, the ship crashes through the end of the universe and into the unknown.(US 2017).
- DirectorDagen MerrillStarsTom SizemoreSarah HabelDominic MonaghanIn the near future, when communications go offline at a remote nuclear power plant isolated in the desert, a young safety inspector, Abby Dixon, is forced to fly out to bring them back online. Once inside the facility, mysterious clues and strange behaviors cause Abby to have doubts about the sanity, and perhaps identities, of the two employees onsite.
- DirectorStéphanie JoallandStarsDakota Blue RichardsKarl DaviesJack McMullenIn the aftermath of an alien invasion, a feisty teenage girl sets out to protect her farm from human scavengers who will stop at nothing in order to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.(US 2017*).
- DirectorJustin BarberStarsFlorence HartiganLuke Spencer RobertsChelsea LopezTwo decades after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.
- DirectorJean-Patrick BenesStarsOla RapaceMicha LescotThierry HancisseIn a future France with many unemployed, big companies run the country. Ares is a loser boxer. When his sister's arrested, he agrees to a new drug, that'll help him win.
- DirectorHong-Seung YoonStarsMi YangWallace HuoShih-Chieh KingWhen her son is kidnapped, the inventor of a time machine teams up with multiple versions of her future self to rescue him.
- DirectorIan TruitnerStarsSunny MabreyLance BroadwayT.J. HobanA deep space mining vessel has been adrift for two years. It is suspected the crew brutally killed each other, but the reason for the bloodbath is unknown. A rescue crew is sent to find if there are any survivors, what happened and why.*
- DirectorShane AbbessStarsKellan LutzDaniel MacPhersonIsabel LucasSet in the future in a time of interplanetary colonization, an unlikely pair race against an impending global crisis and are confronted by the monsters that live inside us all.(US 2017).
- DirectorJoey CurtisStarsPaul SidhuArielle HolmesBranden ColesIn 2307, a soldier is sent on a mission to hunt down the leader of the humanoid rebellion.(US 2017).
- DirectorRyan Gregory PhillipsStarsJuanita RingelingTina FelicianoNina SenicarA modern and unrelentingly tense psychological thriller based on a theory of the origins of shortwave radio frequencies, Shortwave is an unnerving reminder that some stones are best left unturned.(US 2017*).
- DirectorJoe MialeStarsLee PaceBérénice MarloheJason FlemyngIn the war-ravaged Kenyan countryside, a U.S. soldier (Lee Pace) and a French foreign aid worker (Berenice Marlohe) team up to survive an alien onslaught.
- DirectorBrian SmrzStarsEthan HawkeQing XuPaul AndersonAn assassin seeks redemption after being given a second chance at life.
- DirectorAlex HelfrechtJörg TittelStarsÓlafur Darri ÓlafssonFiona ShawOlivia WilliamsA 12-year-old boy rebels after a brutal government labels his father a traitor and imprisons him.(US 2017).
- DirectorFabien DelageStarsDoug RandPhilip SchurerGala Besson1976: Two young journalists leave for the French-Swiss border to investigate a strange case of cattle mutilations and record testimonies for a TV channel. Yet, once they get there, the scientific team they were supposed to meet has gone missing. Escorted by a first-aider, a British biologist and an American forensic investigator, Melissa and David will go looking for the missing team deep into the mountains.
- DirectorClay StaubStarsAmanda SchullShawn AshmoreMilo VentimigliaSeeking a missing woman in North Dakota, an FBI agent and a sheriff focus on her religious zealot husband but discover something far more sinister.(US 2018).
- DirectorEric ZimmermanStarsTriton KingDenny KirkwoodNathan BextonA sci-fi conspiracy thriller, based on real phone messages and testimonials from victims of mind control technology.(US 2018).
- DirectorRob W. KingStarsNicolas CageSarah LindJakob DaviesA dystopian thriller set in the year 2030 that sees the world in a permanent state of economic recession and facing serious environmental problems as a result of global warming.(US 2018).
- DirectorHasraf DulullStarsKatee SackhoffRay FearonJulie CoxAfter a deadly Mars mission crash, mission controller Mackenzie Wilson (Sackhoff) and A.R.T.I. uncover a mysterious Mars object that could alter our planet's future.*
- DirectorFedor BondarchukStarsIrina StarshenbaumAlexander PetrovRinal MukhametovAfter a spaceship crash-lands in the center of Moscow, a young woman finds herself torn between loyalty to her seemingly normal life and the allure of a new state of being promised by one of the aliens.+ (US 2018).
- DirectorEthan WileyStarsSasha JacksonErroll ShandDouglas TaitAs a boy and his guardian wait to be rescued, they soon encounter the mysterious Yeren-- an elusive ape-man creature.+ (US 2018).
- DirectorMatt OstermanStarsCleopatra ColemanShane CoffeyCraig muMs GrantDrones are used in agriculture to optimize production and as sentinels. An employee discovers a connection between his job assisting in suicides and his employers' ownership of the drone manufacturing.
- DirectorChé BakerDallas BlandStarsBilly ZaneBruce SpenceJack ThompsonThe film is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which civilisation has crumbled. A massive electromagnetic pulse has killed all children on the planet with the exception of Molly (Billie Rutherford), the daughter of Jake Slater (Jake Ryan).(US 2018).
- StarsSam RileyJames CosmoRainer BockA British homicide detective investigates a murder in a German-occupied England in a parallel universe where the Nazis won World War II.
- DirectorLuke SparkeStarsDan EwingTemuera MorrisonStephany JacobsenA small group of town residents have to band together after a devastating ground invasion. As they struggle to survive, they realize they must stay one step ahead of their attackers, and work together for a chance to strike back.+ ^
- StarsRadhika ApteManav KaulRohit PathakIn a totalitarian near-future India, a mysterious prisoner is sent to a remote military interrogation center where he turns the tables on his captors by exposing their most shameful secrets and unleashing a demon from Arabic folklore.
- DirectorJonathan BakerJosh BakerStarsMyles TruittJack ReynorDennis QuaidChased by a vengeful criminal, the feds and a gang of otherworldly soldiers, an ex-con and his adopted teenage brother go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.
- DirectorRamin BahraniStarsMichael B. JordanAaron DavisCindy KatzIn a terrifying care-free future, a young man, Guy Montag, whose job as a fireman is to burn all books, questions his actions after meeting a young woman - and begins to rebel against society.+
- DirectorChris EigemanStarsTravis TopeHaley RammDylan EverettTeenagers Jude and June spend seven minutes in a locked closet and emerge in a hostile and dangerous alternate world.*
- DirectorDaniel RobyStarsRomain DurisOlga KurylenkoFantine HarduinA family fights to survive as the streets of Paris fill with a deadly gas.
- DirectorNavin DevStarsDaniel AhmadiHussina RajaB.J. PotterAn addict is trapped to live the same day over and over again when he is placed onto an experimental rehabilitation program that involves memory-looping.+
- DirectorJohn MurlowskiStarsJoel CourtneyCalum WorthyAndi MatichakThree friends making a web series about their town discover that their neighbors are being killed and replaced by creatures who are perfect copies of their victims.*
- DirectorErnie BarbarashStarsScott AdkinsAndy OnTruong Ngoc AnhQuinn steps out of a park fountain in Vietnam with no recollection of who he is or where he came from. As he wanders through the city, piecing together clues to his past, he is relentlessly pursued by mysteriously dangerous figures.
- DirectorVincenzo NataliStarsLaysla De OliveiraAvery WhittedPatrick WilsonAfter hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of tall grass in Oklahoma but soon discover there may be no way out...and that something evil lurks within.+
- DirectorPaul SalamoffStarsLuke HemsworthAnna HutchisonTom AtkinsA group of friends uncover an otherworldly object in a rural field, which they soon discover holds greater secrets than they could imagine.+ (US 2019).
- DirectorEgor BaranovStarsAleksey ChadovPyotr FyodorovSvetlana IvanovaLife on Earth is rapidly destroyed except for a small area in Eastern Europe.+ (US 2020).
- DirectorAdam MasonStarsK.J. ApaSofia CarsonCraig RobinsonIn 2024 a pandemic ravages the world and its cities. Centering on a handful of people as they navigate the obstacles currently hindering society: disease, martial law, quarantine, and vigilantes.+
- DirectorMartin OwenStarsScott AdkinsJohn HannahLashana LynchA space cruiser crashes on a planet that is home to an intergalactic prison.+ (US 2021).
- DirectorCraig MossStarsMakenzie MossO'Neill MonahanEric CalleroEmily and her best friend Christopher start investigating the sudden disappearances of several missing teens in their small town. Realizing there might be something deeper happening, the duo come up against forces they can't even imagine.+
- DirectorMathieu TuriStarsGaia WeissPeter FranzénRomane LibertA woman finds herself locked in a series of strange tunnels full of deadly traps.+ (US 2021)
- DirectorChase PalmerStarsJohn BoyegaOlivia CookeBill SkarsgårdAn idealistic young New York City public defender burned out by the system, on the brink of disbarment, and seeing signs of the universe collapsing all around him decides to rob a multi-million drug deal of one of his clients.+