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Sci-fi movies you may have missed...

Vesper

There’s scarcely been another recent movie with as much imaginative beauty as this 2022 indie release. In a future when Earth’s ecosystem has collapsed, an intrepid 13-year-old girl wanders through a forest wasteland seeking to unlock the potential of some unusual seeds. Hulu

Linoleum

Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn lead this lighthearted and wonderful recent sci-fi domestic fable. Gaffigan plays the host of a kids’ science show who dreams of becoming an astronaut. Seehorn is the wife who’s lost faith in him. Then odd things start crashing to Earth in their neighborhood. Hulu

Significant Other

A backpacking trip that’s supposed to be highlighted by a marriage proposal turns into a sci-fi nightmare for a young couple played by Jake Lacy and Maika Monroe. Turns out, there’s something otherworldly in the woods. Paramount+

The Artifice Girl

This small, smart 2023 indie release revolves around Cherry, a sophisticated AI entity that presents as a young girl but was created to ensnare sexual predators. As Cherry evolves, ethical questions take the foreground.

$6 on demand

Unidentified Objects

This winningly offbeat roadtrip movie gets rolling when a sex worker who believes she’s made contact with aliens persuades her neighbor, a dwarf, to accompany her for a meetup with the extraterrestrials in remote Canada. $4 on demand

Slash/Back

Aliens meet their match in a foursome of Inuit girls who use wit and makeshift weapons to defend their village in a clever riff on classic creature features. Shudder