What Are The 11 Best Sci-Fi Movies Nominated for Best Picture?

Over the history of the Academy Awards, science fiction has always been a genre that gets shortchanged. People go in with blockbuster expectations, but the genre often has a lot to say about society, humanity, and life in general.

Still, these movies don’t historically pick up many Academy Awards outside of the technical ones.

That’s why I wanted to tell you about eleven of the best sci-fi movies that were actually nominated for Best Picture that you definitely have to check out.

This is a subjective list that I put in the order they came to me, so if you hate it, blame my memory.

Let’s dive in.

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1. Star Wars

Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

Director: George Lucas

Writer: George Lucas

Absolutely one of the most influential movies of all time, this is the gold standard when it comes to crowd-pleasing science fiction movies.

2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Cast: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Melissa Mathison

Personally, this is the movie that tugs on my heartstrings and is one of the greatest of all time. Spielberg is cooking here with emotions few can tap into.

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain (voice)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke (based on the novel “The Sentinel” and other stories by Arthur C. Clarke)

When people ask to define science fiction, this is the movie I send them to. It’s about the future, about humanity, and it’s so challenging.

4. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis

Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as “Daniels”)

Writers: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

The first science fiction movie to win Best Picture, I felt like it finally helped the genre get to the esteem it deserved.

5. Arrival

Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Eric Heisserer (based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang)

This poetic look at what makes us human could only be seen as we dissect something of not this earth.

6. The Martian

Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover

Director: Ridley Scott

Writer: Drew Goddard (based on the novel by Andy Weir)

This movie is so endlessly watchable. It’s got all of the grounded science fiction I love and contains such a moving performance about what it means to be with other people.

7. Her

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (voice), Amy Adams, Rooney Mara

Director: Spike Jonze

Writer: Spike Jonze

As someone who is obsessed with his phone, this movie hits different. I feel like it predicted a lot of what’s happening to us right now, but it also shows how to cope with loss in such a modern and touching way,

8. Gravity

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón

I still get vertigo watching this movie. Being in outer space and losing control like that is wild, And this is an edge-of-your-seat ride.

9. Avatar

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Dileep Rao

Director: James Cameron

Writer: James Cameron

When this movie came out, it changed VFX and was as big of a blockbuster as Star Wars. It felt like it helped us leap forward.

10. A Clockwork Orange

Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Writer: Stanley Kubrick (based on the novel by Anthony Burgess)

One of the most challenging movies on the list, this movie has some disturbing scenes and scares us into seeing where society can go.

11. Inception

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writer: Christopher Nolan

A massive movie built on such a fun high-concept idea. Nolan takes us into the world of dreams, literally. And lets us steep in just how exciting that can be.

Summing Up The 11 Best Sci-Fi Movies Nominated for Best Picture

Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, and these are also some of my favorite movies.

And they are my picks, but I know this is all subjective. I’m sure you have titles you think should be on here.

Let me know what you think in the comments.