3 great Netflix sci-fi movies to watch this weekend (October 16-18)

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Oct 15, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account It might not be widely known, but Netflix has a wealth of great science fiction movies (and TV shows) for those who like to take their imaginations off-planet or into the depths of Earth-based coolness. And with Ben Affleck dominating the Top 10 with his kidnapping thriller, Animals, you might be looking for something a little more out there. Netflix's lineup for U.S. customers gave us a bucketful of new sci-fi movies earlier this month, including a pair of magicians battling it out with some sci-fi tricks up their sleeves, but it also has a wealth of monster madness, including a battle royale with four of them. My top pick is new to Netflix this weekend, and is an 89%-rated Transformers origin story with a star-studded voice cast. 3 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack It’s a classic monster role-reversal where Godzilla’s the bad guy The world’s most famous radioactive monster, Godzilla, has been rampaging through Japan for more than 70 years. And while Netflix has an impressive collection of films about him, fans often rank Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack among the best. The 2001 film picks up from the 1954 original and ignores every sequel since, so you don’t need to have seen any of the others. This time, though, Godzilla isn’t a misunderstood hero. He’s an outright villain, a monster driven by the angry and restless spirits of those who died in World War II. Japan’s only hope is three ancient guardian creatures—fan-favorite Mothra, the three-headed dragon King Ghidorah, who usually plays the bad guy, and the ground-dwelling Baragon (not mentioned in the title because, well, it's already really long). Tenacious TV reporter Yuri Tachibana (Chiharu Niiyama) chases the story while her father, Admiral Taizo Tachibana (Ryudo Uzaki), leads the military’s defense. It’s a stunning movie to behold, it’s campy, and a ton of fun for a weekend watch. Cast Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Shirō Sano, Takashi Nishina, Kaho Minami, Shin'ya Ohwada, Kunio Murai, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shingo Katsurayama, Toshikazu Fukawa, Ryo Kase, Koichi Ueda, Masahiko Tsugawa, Hideyo Amamoto, Ai Maeda, Aki Maeda, Koichi Yamadera, Mizuho Yoshida, Akira Ohashi, Rie Ôta, Toshinori Sasaki, Koichi Kawakita, Masaaki Tezuka, Hinako Saeki Runtime 105 minutes Director Shusuke Kaneko Writers Keiichi Hasegawa, Masahiro Yokotani, Shusuke Kaneko Producers Hideyuki Honma Main Genre Action Executive Producer(s) Shogo Tomiyama 2 The Prestige Christopher Nolan’s dueling-magicians mystery hides a sci-fi trick Christopher Nolan (yeah, The Odyssey and Interstellar guy) made this twisty period mystery between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, even dragging Christian Bale and Michael Caine along for the ride. And who better to helm a film about magicians than a magician himself? Adapted from Christopher Priest’s 1995 novel of the same name, The Prestige follows rival stage magicians in 1890s London—showman Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and gifted craftsman Alfred Borden (Bale). They were once friends and partners who performed side by side, but after a trick went fatally wrong, killing Angier's wife, it turned them into obsessive enemies constantly trying to one-up each other. When Borden debuts an impossible illusion, Angier heads to Colorado to seek help from inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, yes, that David Bowie). Scarlett Johansson co-stars as Angier's assistant, Olivia, and Caine as Angier's engineer, John Cutter. The Prestige has a solid 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Prestige Release Date October 20, 2006 Cast Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo Runtime 130 minutes Director Christopher Nolan Writers Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan Main Genre Sci-Fi Budget $40 Million Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures 1 Transformers One Before they were enemies, Optimus and Megatron were best friends Whether you’re a Gen-Xer (like me) who spent many hours battling your Autobots and Decepticons in your room, or a fan of the countless movies and TV series that were spawned from the legendary toys, Transformers One is a wild animated movie that finally brings the origin story of its two most iconic characters to life, with some A-list voices. Set eons before the Autobots and Decepticons went to war, deep in Cybertron's Energon mines, we find best buds Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) grinding away as robots who can’t transform. With pals B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), they discover that their leader, Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), has been lying to everyone. Once freed and given the ability to transform, Orion becomes Optimus Prime, while D-16, vowing revenge, becomes Megatron, dividing the two forever. Directed by Josh Cooley, who won an Oscar for Toy Story 4, this 2024 animated prequel currently has an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It landed on Netflix on October 15. Transformers One Release Date September 20, 2024 Cast Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm, Vanessa Liguori, Jon Bailey, Jason Konopisos-Alvarez, Evan Michael Lee, James Remar, Isaac C. Singleton Jr., Steve Blum, Jinny Chung, Josh Cooley, Dillon Bryan Runtime 104 Minutes Director Josh Cooley Writers Andrew Barrer, Steve Desmond, Gabriel Ferrari Sequel(s) Transformers Franchise(s) Transformers Main Genre Animation Studio(s) Entertainment One, Hasbro, Nickelodeon Movies Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures A sci-fi weekend that's more than meets the eye From kaiju to magic tricks to robots in disguise, hopefully something on the list above scratches your sci-fi itch this weekend. If not, try using Netflix's secret search codes to pinpoint exactly what you're after. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four Live TV No Price Starting at $8/month