Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix For Star Trek Fans

Star Trek fans will enjoy streaming these Netflix movies.

By Kevin C. Neece | Published

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With new series constantly in production, it’s a great time to be a Star Trek fan. But if you’re a Trekkie who still wants more intellectually stimulating and ethically challenging science fiction, including some options for the whole family, we’ve got you covered. Here are five of the best recent sci-fi movies for Star Trek fans on Netflix right now.

Space Sweepers (2021)

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Star Trek fans will relate to the themes of this South Korean Space Western on Netflix and will surely enjoy the film’s action and characters. In the future, when Earth has become uninhabitable, a new orbital colony is being constructed by the UTS corporation. However, only the elite and wealthy are being allowed access, while the rest of humanity is left on the planet.

When a team of space sweepers, who gather up space debris to sell to UTS discovers a terrorist-created weapon of mass destruction, they are forced to navigate a potentially disastrous situation. The film features a multicultural world in the midst of a crisis with strong ethical implications, exploring the morality of a class system rooted in capitalism. 

Stowaway (2021)

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This Netflix film is a co-production of the US and Germany that explores an ethical dilemma that seems pulled straight from a Star Trek episode. On a two-year mission to Mars, a crew of three discovers a fourth person (Shamier Anderson) unconscious in another part of their ship. With limited supplies and no way to support all of the people aboard the vessel for the trip, the team is confronted with an agonizing choice.

Also starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, and Toni Collette, Stowaway is directed by Joe Penna, whose previous film Arctic received enthusiastic reviews at the 2018 Cannes film festival.

The Adam Project (2022)

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Star Trek fans will recognize Nyota Uhura herself, Zoe Saldaña alongside Ryan Reynolds in this Netflix gem. Reynolds stars as Adam Reed, a fighter pilot in 2050 who steals a time jet to travel to the past and save his wife, Laura (Saldaña). Crash landing, he encounters his 12-year-old self (Walker Scobell). Together, they work to repair his jet and save the future.

Scobell is a particular standout in this film, which is accessible to younger and older audiences alike. Its technology and premise will have many rings of familiarity for Star Trek fans, who will be rewarded by its action, heart, and charm.

Cargo (2019)

From the quirkier corners of Netflix, Star Trek fans will appreciate the “bottle episode” nature of this Indian sci-fi comedy, as well as its dark humor and philosophical ideas. Set aboard a spaceship that prepares souls for reincarnation, this film follows Prahastha, a set-in-his-ways scientist whose isolated, regimented world is upended by his new astronaut partner, Yuvishka Shekhar. The two work together to recycle souls after death.

Premiered in the spotlight section of the 2019 MAMI Film Festival, this oddball, low-budget film has been called a future cult classic and has been praised for its unusual humor and offbeat approach to matters of life, death, and life.

See You Yesterday (2019)

This Netflix offering has elements Star Trek fans enjoy: time travel, social relevance, and the unintended consequences of technology. When a brilliant young science whiz’s brother is shot to death by a racist police officer, she invents time travel technology to go back and save him. But as her pursuit of a future altered to rescue her brother continues, she runs into the complications of time travel.

Nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, See You Yesterday came away with the prize for Best First Screenplay for Fredrica Bailey and Stefon Bristol, who is also the film’s director. Opening to positive reviews, this creative sci-fi drama was produced by Spike Lee.