You don’t need a massive budget to make a compelling film. I would argue that sometimes a larger budget can actually be a hindrance to the creative process, because it can lead to more studio meddling in the end product. It’s probably why I prefer short horror films to most mainstream feature-length films in the same genre, because you can really see what directors are capable of with limited time and often a shoestring budget.
With that logic in mind, I dove into the low-budget side of science fiction, and I found some truly genre-defining gems. Some of them were so good that I actually can’t wait to rewatch them as soon as possible.
The Man From Earth
Watch The Man From Earth on Tubi
This was a surprising watch for me, because I did not expect it to work nearly as well as it does. The Man From Earth is a dialogue-driven sci-fi film that might not actually be science fiction, depending on what and who you believe. Taking place essentially in one setting, The Man From Earth focuses on John Oldman (David Lee Smith), a man who may actually be a 14,000-year-old alien, disguised as a university professor.
Throughout the film, John attempts to convince his coworkers that he is who he says, and what follows is nearly an hour and a half of engaging, philosophically stimulating conversations about the nature of life, religion, and mortality. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter to me if John is telling the truth or not. The Man From Earth may or may not be about an alien, but it’s as human as sci-fi gets.
Timecrimes
Watch Timecrimes on Philo
Timecrimes was one of those movies I had to mull over for a few days after I initially watched it. Recommended by a friend whose taste I usually trust, at first, I thought they might have pointed me toward a miss. However, the more I watched Timecrimes, a Spanish sci-fi movie about a man who becomes trapped in a time travel paradox, and read theories about its meaning, the more I appreciated its understated approach to time travel.
Timecrimes doesn’t really feature a lot in the way of hard sci-fi, but its commitment to thrills and believable plot twists makes it a fun, high-octane watch. I’ve actually already rewatched it because of my initial indifference toward it, and I came to realize that Timecrimes has a lot more going on under the surface than one would think.
Aniara
Watch Aniara on Tubi
This Swedish sci-fi film can be a bit of a drag in the pacing department, and, personally, I think it would have been much better with a good fifteen minutes or so cut off from the runtime. Still, Aniara is thoughtfully made, and its many ponderings on life, technology, and just how far the human will can be pushed before giving up. Taking place aboard the eponymous ship of the same name, Aniara is a dystopian sci-fi film about a ship of people who become lost in space as they escape a dying Earth to repopulate on Mars.
Again, Aniara is not a perfect film by any means, but it does a lot of great things with such a minimal amount of money. Its commentary on artificial intelligence, technology as a whole, and how humans use that technology to escape our own realities is definitely timely. It’s a movie I will revisit for sure, and it’s worth watching. But I just wish it were slightly more economical with its runtime and a bit more focused on how it presents some of its themes.
Upgrade
Watch Upgrade on Netflix
I’ve mentioned Upgrade a few times now, as I believe it’s one of the great sci-fi movies no one really talks about right now. A deceptively simple premise paints Upgrade as nothing more than a tale of revenge in a distant future setting, but this is actually much more than that. Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) seeks revenge against the criminals who killed his wife and left him paralyzed.
In order to achieve this revenge, Grey is implanted with an AI device that helps him regain his ability to walk but also enhances all of his other abilities as well, including reaction time and combat skills. Oh, and the AI talks to him as well. What seems like it could be a light, bloody revenge tale with buddy film conventions slowly morphs into something more akin to body horror and ethical questions over the meaning of being human. Upgrade has become my Roman Empire lately.
Neptune Frost
Watch Neptune Frost on Kino Film Collection through Amazon Prime Video
When I speak of the ambition of lower-budget sci-fi, films like Neptune Frost are exactly what I’m talking about. In fact, I have a hard time even describing what sort of film Neptune Frost even is. I just know that it’s pure creative expression at its highest form. Part musical, part Afrofuturistic sci-fi fairy tale, and part musical, this is a film that has the reach and the grasp to craft its tragic romance story in a wholly original way.
Part of me wishes Hollywood would embrace films like this in the mainstream, but I also believe that general audiences probably wouldn’t embrace a film like Neptune Frost. But if you’re in search of something that you’ve never experienced before, this is that film. I’m still kicking myself that I’ve only just now discovered it.
Low-budget sci-fi gives me hope for the future of the genre
While I would obviously love for science fiction to have a resurgence in mainstream Hollywood filmmaking (outside the obvious franchises), seeing the level of talent and genius involved in these lower-budget movies gives me hope regardless. Creative expression that I can connect with will always be more important to me than top-of-the-line graphics anyway. Speaking of movies outside the Hollywood mainstream, check out these foreign horror films that are scarier than anything produced in Tinseltown lately.
