2022 has a long list of sci-fi movies, both big productions and smaller projects, and the most exciting ones are very different from recent (and popular) sci-fi movies. The sci-fi genre continues to be one of the most popular, profitable, and exciting ones thanks to the variety of stories, characters, and styles that can be told through it. Of course, the sci-fi realm has seen the emergence of some of the biggest names in the film industry, but there are also directors who, even though are associated with other genres, have brought some pretty impressive and memorable sci-fi works.
Dune, all of them bringing different styles to the big screen but ultimately, they were all big productions led by well-known names and backed by some of the most important production companies.
This year’s list of sci-fi movies has a bit of everything and also has some big-budget productions that the audience has been eagerly waiting to watch, such as Tenet have brought recently.
65 is a sci-fi thriller movie written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (writers of Don’t Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde and described as a sci-fi, horror, and psychological thriller all at once. Don’t Worry Darling tells the story of Alice (Florence Pugh), an unhappy housewife in the 1950s who discovers a disturbing truth while her husband, Jack (Harry Styles), hides a dark secret. Last but not least is Everything Everywhere All At Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Swiss Army Man), which follows Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) across multiple universes. All these projects are original stories, aren’t part of franchises, offer bold storylines, and are smaller productions than the most successful recent sci-fi titles: Dune and Tenet.
Tenet and Dune were ambitious big productions with complex and layered storylines (which earned them a lot of praise but were also criticized by some) and were very well-received by critics and viewers (and, all things considered, they performed well in the box office). These projects were also helmed by two of the most notable names in sci-fi – Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve – so there was a level of quality expected from them. The smaller sci-fi movies in 2022 are more exciting than sequels from big franchises and movies from well-known sci-fi directors precisely because they are offering something new from directors who are either not typically linked to the genre or don’t have many movies in their filmographies, and they are also offering bolder (and original) stories, bringing some freshness to the world of sci-fi. That’s not to say, of course, that sequels like Jurassic World: Dominion or Doctor Strange 2 aren’t exciting, but after movies like Dune, Tenet, and Matrix, smaller productions with original stories are more needed.
