The best science fiction movies to watch on Netflix in December 2024

We’re more than halfway through December, which means 2025 is just around the corner, with a slew of new films to look forward to. But before that, there are still plenty of decent sci-fi movies to watch on Netflix this month to tide you over until the new year!

This month we have a Michael Bay action thriller about transforming robots that spawned an entire cinematic franchise, a gritty and noisy cyberpunk thriller starring Logan Marshall-Green, and a cult classic pulp adventure set in an alternate universe from the 1930s full of gigantic flying robots!

Let’s see what this month has to offer!

Editor’s Choice: Transformers

Director: Michael Bay
Form: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel

Despite the fact that it only came out a year earlier Iron man And The Dark KnightMichael Bays Transformers feels completely disconnected from almost every CGI-heavy blockbuster that came after it. Where superhero movies were more ironic and sarcastic, Transformers is a shockingly sincere film, with overwhelming heart and virtually no cynicism – despite being a film based on a toy brand.

I’m not here to tell you Transformers is good – it’s absolutely good, but you should already know that. What I need to do here instead is tell you to look again Transformers for a brief look at what the blockbuster films of the 2010s could have looked like. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than what we got, but it’s fascinating to rewatch this film now that it looks completely different from everything that came after it – with the exception of its own sequels, of course. —Austen Goslin

Director: Leigh Whannell
Form: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson

Upgrade is perhaps the best cyberpunk film of the past decade. The story follows a man who becomes paralyzed after a terrible car accident, which was orchestrated to kill his wife. To get revenge for her death, he accepts a computer chip that takes control of his body, granting him incredible strength, speed and agility.

It’s a recognizable enough concept, but Upgrade manages to keep the film feeling fresh and original, thanks in large part to the extremely funny script and the excellent performance of Logan Marshall-Green, who delivers some of the film’s funniest moments as an unfortunate passenger for the violence and chaos that are his body causes. —A.G

Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow

Director: Kerry Conran
Form: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Giovanni Ribisi

Kerry Conran’s 2004 pulp adventure is a labor of love. Created together with his brother, production designer Kevin Conran, Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow Jude Law plays Joseph Sullivan, a mercenary pilot with the call sign “Sky Captain,” who teams up with his journalist ex Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) to stop a mad scientist from terrorizing the world with his army of giant flying robots.

The film is an unapologetic tribute to the adventure series of the 1930s, with dieselpunk designs and towering skyscrapers flanked by spotlight beacons and floating zeppelins. Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow‘s use of ‘virtual backlot’ technology would greatly influence the look and production of films as 300 And Shame city. Conran hasn’t directed a film since, but if this is the only film he ever makes, it would be a nice legacy for him to leave behind. —Toussaint Egan