There’s not a lot of action on the sci-fi front in Hulu’s new movies for February. But there is a very special film on loan from Disney+: Wall-E, the 2008 winner for Best Animated Movie at the Oscars, and an incredible sci-fi story that still resonates nearly two decades later.
The only other sci-fi film of note added in February is Things Will Be Different, a different take on traveling through alternate timelines that gets the most out of its exceedingly small budget. You can find these films and the rest of the best sci-fi movies on Hulu below.
If you’re curious about what’s available in science fiction on other streaming services, we also have guides for the best sci-fi movies on Netflix, as well as the best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video. For more options, check out guides for the best new movies to stream and the best movies on Hulu.
If you’re looking for more films to watch, remember that Hulu is part of the Disney Bundle. That includes the basic Hulu subscription (with ads), Disney+, and ESPN+, all for just $17 a month. That’s a great deal, and you don’t even have to travel to the future for it.
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WALL·E (2008)
95%
8.4/10Would the last human on Earth please turn out the lights before you go? Pixar’s Wall-E shares its name with the last robot living on Earth, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the all-time great animated movies. Wall-E (Ben Burtt) can barely speak and large portions of the movie go by without any dialogue. Yet the visual storytelling is so strong that you don’t need the words.
After centuries of pursuing the fruitless task of cleaning up Earth all by himself, Wall-E has gained sentience as well as a nostalgic appreciation for humanity’s artistic achievements. When Wall-E meets a female robot called Eve (Elissa Knight), it’s love at first sight for the little guy. The amazing thing about watching these two robots come together is the warmth and emotional moments they share on an epic journey that will change the fate of Earth.
Things Will Be Different (2024)
62%
5.2/10There’s no better way to slip the cops than by hiding out in an alternate timeline where they aren’t looking for you. That’s what siblings Joseph (Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy) try to do in Things Will Be Different. After pulling off a successful robbery, they go to a prearranged spot and crossover to another world to beat the heat.
If only it was that easy to get back. Instead, Joseph and Sidney find themselves stuck in the other world and wondering if they can ever get home. It’s especially a nightmare for Sidney, because her young daughter is still on the Earth that she came from.
Pacific Rim (2013)
65%
6.9/10Few films have captured the sensation of a live-action anime like Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim. Del Toro directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Travis Beacham about a future world where mankind built giant robots — Jaegers — to fight giant alien monsters — Kaiju — that invaded the Earth through an underwater portal from another dimension.
Seems simple enough, right? Things get complicated because Jaegers can only be piloted by two people, and they must be “drift compatible” to make the mental connection work. Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) is the only Jaeger pilot able to briefly fly it solo following the death of his co-pilot and brother, Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff). But Raleigh doesn’t have time to stay retired and out of the game. The aliens are making a major push to finish the invasion, and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) may be the only other pilot compatible with Raleigh if she can get past her own trauma.
Surrogates (2009)
45%
6.3/10Considering the Surrogates movie predates the pandemic by 11 years, it sure feels like a timely response to that. This film is based on the comic book miniseries by Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele, which envisions a world where many people don’t leave their homes at all. Instead, they remotely pilot surrogates, humanoid robotic bodies that often look like their hosts. But with synthetic bodies to play with, surrogates can be anyone they choose to be.
FBI agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) is estranged from his wife, Maggie (Rosamund Pike), whose surrogate addiction is even worse than his. While investigating the mysterious death of surrogate users, Tom’s surrogate is destroyed, forcing him to face the outside world for the first time in years. And if Tom can’t figure out who’s killing surrogate users, then millions may die.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
63%
6.7/10The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy opens with a zany song sung by dolphins, and it only gets more ridiculous from there. This adaptation of Douglas Adams’ beloved sci-fi/comedy novel captures the late author’s sense of humor. Plus, it has the perfect straight man in Martin Freeman. His character, Arthur Dent, is an otherwise ordinary guy who just became the last human male alive.
It’s a good thing that there’s a woman, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), who also escaped the destruction of the Earth. But before Arthur can have any kind of relationship with Trillian, he’ll have to survive his misadventures with her alongside Ford Prefect (Mos Def), Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), and a clinically depressed robot named Marvin (Alan Rickman).
I, Robot (2004)
59%
7.1/10The worlds of Isaac Asimov and Will Smith collide in the 2004 adaptation of I, Robot, but the real star of the show is an android named Sonny (Alan Tudyk). Sonny is everything that robots aren’t supposed to be —friendly, emotional, and heartfelt. However, the issue at hand for Detective Del Spooner (Smith) is whether Sonny is also a murderer.
Sonny’s creator, Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), went out of his way to befriend Spooner. That connection comes into play as Spooner investigates Lanning’s death. Sonny forcefully insists that he’s innocent, but it’s not the whole story. There’s a deeper mystery at hand, and unless Spooner can get to the bottom of it, the dynamic between humans and robots will dramatically shift in favor of the machines.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
64%
7.2/10Alien: Romulus takes place between the first two movies in the franchise, and its throwback aesthetic echoes Alien more than its sequel. A young woman named Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her friends live and work on a space station run by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. And their corporate overlords won’t let them escape this life.
Rain and her adoptive android brother, Andy (David Johnsson), soon join a small group that plans to salvage materials from an abandoned Weyland-Yutani space station in order to get out from under their contracts. Instead of a better life, the only thing waiting for them are the gruesome results of experiments gone wrong. The facehuggers are on the prowl for fresh victims, and the Xenomorphs won’t be far behind.
Donnie Darko (2001)
71%
8.0/10Donnie Darko may not look like a sci-fi story, but that’s only because the movie doesn’t immediately telegraph the twist that moves the story in that direction. The only thing Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) knows is what Frank the Rabbit (James Duval) tells him: The world is going to end in 28 days.
Donnie’s sisters, Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Samantha (Daveigh Chase), as well as their parents aren’t sure what to make of his sudden shift in personality after an incident that should have killed him at their home. Donnie even starts a romance with the new girl in town, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone). Still, Frank, who appears as a man in a hideous rabbit costume, drives Donnie to do things that make people think he’s going crazy.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
66%
6.9/10Three hundred years after the life of Caesar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows viewers what it looks like when apes have inherited the Earth. Some apes, like Eagle Clan, thrive in nature, including young Noa (Owen Teague), who seeks an eagle of his own. However, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) represents the other extreme as he enslaves Eagle Clan and other apes to give himself a human-like empire.
A human girl named Mae (The Witcher’s Freya Allan) has something that Proxmius wants in order to expand his power. Mae tentatively befriends Noa and his new ally, Raka (Peter Macon), in an alliance against Proximus. But Mae’s secrets force Noa to question whether he can trust her or any other human.
Crimes of the Future (2022)
67%
5.9/10Boss Level (2021)
56%
6.8/10
