The sci-fi genre covers a wide range of stories set in various strange worlds. Some science fiction takes place in the distant future or a galaxy far, far away, while other science fiction stories occupy worlds that feel much more obviously like our own. There the different settings can offer some insight into the world we actually live in and can be the basis for really compelling stories.
of Netflix The kitchen, which takes place in a future world where all public housing has been eliminated, certainly exists in a fairly grounded version of reality. Like all the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, however, it also has a lot to say about how we live today. If you've watched and enjoyed the movie, these are three sci-fi shows that might give you the same itch.
Black Mirror (2011–present)
Black Mirror: Season 6 | Official Trailer | Netflix
Perhaps the most obvious choice for this list, Black Mirror is an anthology series in which each episode imagines a different technology-related horror that may be in our not-too-distant future. Episodes can focus on everything from our obsession with ratings and reviews to what it would be like to live with a clone of an ex-partner.
While the episodes vary in quality, Black Mirror at its best it can be a deeply chilling vision of a future no one would ever want to live in, or a slightly more hopeful vision where technology can help us better understand what we want in life.
Black Mirror is in flux Netflix.
Years and Years (2019)
Years & Years Limited Series Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV
This limited series imagines the worst case scenario of what the future could look like. Set in the UK, it begins in 2019 and continues through the next decade as right-wing leaders take power in both the US and the UK. It has a particular focus on how climate change is likely to create a refugee upheaval across much of Europe.
Although Years and years spends much of its time conjuring up the worst things that could happen, the focus on one family makes the show remarkably humanistic, as does the emphasis on how even small individual acts can shape the future.
Years and years is in flux Maximum.
For All Mankind (2019 – present)
For All Mankind — Official First Look Trailer | Apple TV+
A much more upbeat series overall, For All Humanity is a futuristic show actually set in an alternate past. The series imagines a world where the Soviets are the first to land on the moon and jumps forward decades from this simple change in history.
Although it is really a show about space, For All Humanity it's also a reminder of the power that wonder can have in our collective consciousness, and of the ways in which really good science can build a better world. Things are not perfect in the world For All Humanitybut it's a world you'll find yourself enveloped in anyway.
For All Humanity broadcast on Apple TV+. Stream the first episode for free here.
Editors' recommendations
