Arthouse movies aim to challenge and provoke viewers, giving those brave enough to check them out an experience they’re unlikely to have felt before, with certain experimental or unusual elements being contained within. What can be considered “arthouse” is therefore quite broad, with certain movies pushing boundaries more than others. The broadness also allows various films of differing genres to be considered arthouse in nature, and so it follows that one sub-genre is arthouse science fiction.
Sci-fi movies can get pretty strange already, when not also trying to be arthouse, given they depict stories often set in the future and/or revolving around otherworldly creatures/beings/technologies.The following films go one step beyond the bounds of “standard” sci-fi and instead become arthouse sci-fi, also being examples of films that are more or less great, in any event. They’re ranked below, starting with the very good and ending with the all-time classics.
15’Alphaville' (1965)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Image via Art Theatre Guild
Few filmmakers have earned the title of “arthouse director” quitelikeJean-Luc Godarddid during his lengthy careerspent making movies. The vast majority of his output pushed boundaries in one way or another, and indeed, watching a Godard film often proves to be a confusing or even alienating experience. That being said, he didn’t branch out into the science fiction genre all that often, but put his own spin on sci-fi at least once, asAlphavilledemonstrates.
This odd and patiently paced film takes place in the future, and its loose narrative follows a private detective as he embarks on a series of strange missions within the city of Alphaville. It takes certain film noir tropes and blends them with sci-fi elements in a way that’s typically unusual, as one might expect from Godard. It’s not an easy film to watch, butit’s interesting and unique; those qualities are hard to deny.
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14’The Falls' (1980)
Director: Peter Greenaway
Running for a brazen 195 minutes, the novelty ofThe Falls’ runtime is dwarfed by the oddity of its structure, to the point where calling it a feature film feels potentially inaccurate.It’s made up of almost 100 snippets/sequences that each explore a different individual and their reaction to a mysterious catastrophic eventthat apparently killed much of the world’s population, and impacted the survivors in unexpected ways.
It’s very much representative ofPeter Greenawayat his most boundary-pushing, though once one gets past the runtime ofThe Falls, a good deal of it can actually prove pretty entertaining. Like Godard, Greenaway is a noteworthy arthouse filmmaker who doesn’t tend to make movies within the sci-fi genre, which ensuresThe Fallsis valuable for demonstrating just what he can do within the realms of science fiction.
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13’High Life' (2018)
Director: Claire Denis
It’s reasonable to callHigh Lifeone of themore underrated sci-fi films in recent years, but at the same time, it’s understandable why a movie like this might not resonate with a huge number of people. Its premise makes it sound simple enough, given it’s about a man and his infant daughter getting by as the last survivors of their crew while stuck in outer space, but the structure, pacing, and some of the content withinHigh Lifecan prove to be uncomfortable.
It’s relatively slow and grim, too, with various flashbacks showing how the two survivors ended up in the unenviable position they find themselves in. Anyone not turned off by such qualitieswho wants to see a non-traditional story about survival and enduring set in space, however, might find something likeHigh Lifeto be worth checking out.
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12’Upstream Color' (2013)
Director: Shane Carruth
Upstream Coloris one movie that’s genuinely very hard to describe, and even if it might not be “arthouse” in the way some classic arthouse films are, it nevertheless retains the feeling of being mysterious, vague, perplexing, and compelling. It’s all very expressionistic, broadly and seemingly being about two people drawn together while they both deal with past traumatic events from each of their histories that continue to impact them.
Its director wasShane Carruth, who’s best known for making another confounding piece of science fiction: 2004’sPrimer, which is asci-fi film with a famously low budget.Upstream Colordoes feel a little more artful and open to interpretation, as while Primer, at its core, deals with time travel,Upstream Colorplaces its sci-fi elements on the sideline, and feels most interested in exploring the human conditionin all its unwavering complexity.
Upstream Color
11’Melancholia' (2011)
Director: Lars von Trier
Like the aforementionedUpstream Color,Melancholiais another somber yet hard-to-forget blend of sci-fi and drama that’s more concerned with exploring human emotions than science fiction concepts/ideas, necessarily. Various characters are shown dealing with grief and strained relationships, all the while the sci-fi elements come about because this is all happening while a strange new planet approaches Earth, threatening to collide with it and destroy all life in the process.
Lars von Trier often makes heavy and troubling films, andMelancholiais no exception to this… though it’s perhaps a little more approachable and digestible than some of his other works. The titular emotion – which can make one feel as though one’s life is ending – is consistently contrasted to a broader event that has the chance of genuinely being world-ending. As such,Melancholiachallenges its viewers to feel sad and nervous for most of its 135-minute runtime, but in the end, provoking emotions that are difficult to sit with is something that arthouse films often aim to do.
Melancholia
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
10’Poor Things' (2023)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' directorial output so far has been defined by its strangeness and the filmmaker’s trademark eccentricity, as though none of his films feel derivative or repetitive, they’ve all lately been carrying his distinct mark.Poor Things, already up there as one ofthe better movies of the 2020s so far, seesLanthimos making what might be his most fantastical/sci-fi movie yet, as well as - perhaps more subjectively - his funniest film. It’s also a weird one. This is Lanthimos, after all.
It’s a colorful, sometimes psychedelic, sexually explicit, and surprisingly funny take on aFrankenstein-esque story, revolving around a woman being brought back to life and going on a strange adventure filled with self-discovery, wonder, and occasional terror. It certainly counts as a work of arthouse cinema from the strange yet gorgeous visuals alone, and that it’s also out-there with its subject matter while having a consistently strange tone just makes it feel all the more artsy (in a good way).
Poor Things
9’The Man Who Fell to Earth' (1976)
Director: Nicolas Roeg
The Man Who Fell to EarthpresentsDavid Bowieas you’ve never seen him before, and the legendary musician (and occasional actor) gives one of his best-ever performances here. The film’s narrative is simple, though the ideas it explores end up being complex, with it broadly depicting what happens when an alien being comes to Earth on a mission to save his home planet, yet finds himself slowly brought down physically and morally by all the terrible human beings he meets.
It’s a cynical piece of science fiction, observing the world and its cruelty through the eyes of someone unfamiliar with Earth, and consistently brought down by what the planet contains. Perhaps appropriately for a movie about an alien,The Man Who Fell to Earthdoesfeel otherworldly and even alienating at times with its visual languageand approach to storytelling, but these risky creative decisions do ultimately serve to give the film a haunting and memorable atmosphere/narrative.
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8’Solaris' (1972)
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Some might argue that2001: A Space Odysseywould qualify as an arthouse sci-fi movie, but then a few years on from that one’s release,Andrei Tarkovskycame out with something that’s even artsier and stranger.Solarisand the aforementionedStanley Kubrickfilm do sometimes get compared, owing to their similarly ambitious narratives/themes, the fact both are quite long, the slow yet purposeful pacing found in each, and thefact that Tarkovsky was very publiclynot a fan of2001.
Solarisis perhaps more of a psychological drama than it is a science fiction film, following a psychologist as he goes to a space station to help the cosmonauts there, all of whom are suffering from some mysterious mental condition. It’s a perplexing and eerie film, andlooks deep within the human mind and the insurmountable secrets and mysteries contained within; arguably as vast and daunting as outer space itself.
7’Memoria' (2021)
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Demonstrating well and truly the notion that you can havea great film with minimal plot,Memoriais one of the most perplexing yet fascinating sci-fi movies in recent memory. It revolves around a woman who begins hearing strange voices in the night, and becomes increasingly concerned about finding their origin. As things go on, she slowly comes to terms with the fact that there might not be answers at the end of the road, and so too might the audience have to accept such a notion.
Memoriais very, very slow-paced, and insistent on providing a uniquely immersive atmospheremore than telling a traditional story or even showcasing much by way of character arcs. Yet when watched with the right mindset,Memoriais hypnotic in all the best ways, owing toApichatpong Weerasethakul’s unique directorial style andTilda Swinton’s understated and compelling lead performance.
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6’Hard to Be a God' (2013)
Director: Aleksey German
One ofthe dirtiest and most brutal sci-fi filmsof all time,Hard to Be a Godtakes place on a planet other than Earth, yet the population’s medieval-like lifestyles make it feel like a particularly dark fantasy/drama at times. Running for almost three hours, much of the premise involves a group of scientists tasked with going to the planet and advancing the population living there, only for things to go wrong when said scientists find themselves preferring to play god instead.
It’s an extremely difficult and exhausting experience by design, andHard to Be a Godoffers essentially nothing by way of easy answers or even a hint of optimism for human nature itself.It goes to some remarkably dark places and showcases a series of horrifying sights, making it one of the most challenging and singular pieces of science fiction cinema of all time.
