5 sci-fi movies on Netflix you need to watch in May 2025
Table of Contents
Table of Contents Paul (2011) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) Venom: The Last Dance (2024) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) Mirage (2018)
Sci-fi is a genre that continues to grow on Netflix. Thanks to a deal with Warner Bros., several notable blockbusters are on Max and Netflix, including Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Dune: Part Two, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Warner Bros. isn't the only studio with movies on Netflix. Venom: The Last Stand hails from Sony, while Sonic the Hedgehog 2 comes from Paramount. Those movies are two of our recommendations for May. Keep reading for the other three.
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We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Paul (2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a comedic duo best known for the satirical Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Between Hot Fuzz and The World's End, Pegg and Frost tried their hand at a more mainstream comedy with Paul. Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) are British comic book nerds who travel to the United States to attend San Diego Comic-Con.
During their journey through UFO country, the duo find Paul (Seth Rogen), a clever alien who escaped captivity from a military base. After hearing Paul's story, Graeme and Clive agree to help him find his spaceship. The trio must work quickly due to the federal agents after Paul. Paul is a fun road trip movie that successfully parodies popular sci-fi films. Think of it as a badge of honor, Mr. Spielberg.
Stream Paul on Netflix.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Sonic the Hedgehog has to be one of the unlikeliest billion-dollar franchises. It appeals to kids and their millennial parents — the children love the talking hedgehog, while their parents are nostalgic about the video games. Though it's unconventional to start with the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is the Sonic live-action entry on Netflix.
Sonic (Ben Schwartz) now lives in Green Hills with the Wachowskis. Sonic becomes a vigilante to win over public perception, but the results have been mixed so far. When the Wachowskis leave for Hawaii, Sonic is attacked by Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and his new echidna partner, Knuckles (Idris Elba). Sonic teams up with his partner, Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), to find a magical emerald before it gets into Robotnik's hands.
Stream Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Netflix.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
Speaking of unlikely billion-dollar franchises, Venom is the only character to break through with audiences from Sony's failed Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). To their credit, the Venom movies don't take themselves too seriously. Tom Hardy and creative partner Kelly Marcel leaned into the buddy comedy aspect between Eddie Brock and Venom.
It's the final countdown for Eddie in Venom: The Last Dance. Eddie and Venom are still on the run after Doctor Strange's spell transports them back to their world. Eddie and Venom now face battles on two fronts. First, the military still wants to talk to Eddie after fighting Carnage. However, the more pressing enemy is a Xenophage sent by Knull, the creator of the symbiote. This truly is the last dance, as Eddie and Venom must make a decision that will alter the fate of the world.
Stream Venom: The Last Dance on Netflix.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
People have called the Ghostbusters for 40 years when something strange comes into the neighborhood. In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the gang is heading to New York City, where these supernatural defenders first got their start. After the events of Afterlife, Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), her children Trevor and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), and Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) relocate to New York City to revive the Ghostbusters.
The new crew joins forces with ghostbusting legends Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) and Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd). Their next mission involves a magical orb that frees a nefarious force that could start a second ice age if they succeed in building an army. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire plays the hits as the formulaic story still works for fans of the original.
Stream Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire on Netflix.
Mirage (2018)
Time travel rules in cinema are surprisingly universal. How time travel is presented may differ from movie to movie, but one rule remains constant: If you change the past, it will affect the future. Dr. Vera Roy (Adriana Ugarte) learns this lesson the hard way in Mirage, a Spanish drama by director Oriol Paulo.
Vera and David Ortiz (Álvaro Morte) move into a new house with their daughter Gloria (Luna Fulgencio). Vera learns that 25 years ago, a boy named Nico (Julio Bohigas-Couto) lived in this house before tragically dying. One night, Vera somehow makes contact with Nico through the TV and warns him about his death. This saves Nico's life. However, the decision transports Vera into a new reality without her daughter. Now, Vera must figure out how to find Gloria and restore her reality before it's too late.
Stream Mirage on Netflix.
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Watch "Windfall" on Netflix now 'The Platform' (and its sequel, "The Platform 2") are excellent dystopian thrillers that center on a tower block prison where inmates are paired up across dozens of individual vertical levels and fed each day via a slowly descending concrete platform. The people at the top enjoy a lush banquet, while those towards the bottom are lucky if there's even scraps left by the time it reaches them. OK, so the political allegory here isn't exactly subtle. And frankly, lacking subtlety is a sort of running theme in 'The Platform,' but the bones of the movie are very solid, and watching protagonist Goreng (Iván Massagué) attempt to survive this nightmare prison is gripping. This is another one where you definitely won't want to be eating while watching. The scenes of inmates on the lower floors having to pick the remaining morsels of already chewed-up chicken bones and lick dirty plates clean just for meager sustenance are pretty revolting. 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