Film

Uncanny

A low-budget sci-fi thriller about an inventor and his eerily human robot caught in a triangle of desire and deception. Claustrophobic and intimate, it trades spectacle for psychological tension and genuine unease. For fans of intimate speculative fiction who don't need explosions or a massive budget to stay gripped.

TMDb rating3.0

If you liked this

Ex Machina2015

The definitive AI-seduction thriller: a man, a woman, and a robot in a locked facility, with every interaction laden with manipulation and desire. Gorgeously shot and philosophically ruthless.

But Slower and more deliberate than you might expect; the ending divides people sharply, and some find it nihilistic rather than clever.

Ex Machina poster

Blade Runner1982

The progenitor: what makes a being human? A detective hunts androids indistinguishable from people, and the film itself can't quite decide who deserves sympathy. Visually stunning and morally murky.

But Paced like a 1982 film, which means long stretches of quiet. The theatrical cut ends abruptly in a way that feels unfinished to modern viewers.

Blade Runner poster

Arrival2016

First contact with aliens unfolds through language and relationship rather than action. Emotionally devastating, intellectually precise, and built on genuine wonder. Proof that sci-fi can break your heart.

But The plot hinges on a twist that some viewers resent; also slower and more contemplative than the trailers suggest.

Arrival poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Uncanny

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both are about creators trapped in psychological spaces of their own making, unable to distinguish between the relationship they desire and the one they've constructed.

Charlie Kaufman's only directorial film: a theater director constructs a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse, collapsing reality, performance, and loss. Dizzying and devastating. The DNA of intimate sci-fi with zero props.

But Deliberately difficult and recursive to the point of abstraction. Many viewers find it pretentious; it requires active engagement and rewards it unevenly.

Synecdoche, New York poster
More like this (8)

Annihilation2018

A team descends into a shimmer-distorted zone where the laws of nature bend. Visually hypnotic, deeply unsettling, and rich with interpretive possibility. Intelligent sci-fi that respects your attention.

But Frustratingly vague about what's actually happening; the climax divides viewers on whether it's transcendent or hollow.

Annihilation poster

Westworld2016

Androids in a theme park begin to malfunction, or perhaps awaken. Ambitious, baroque, stuffed with philosophical questions about consciousness and suffering. Season one is particularly sharp.

But The show becomes increasingly convoluted and loses its footing after season two; you may find yourself frustrated by its own mythology.

Westworld poster

Under the Skin2014

Scarlett Johansson hunts humans for an alien presence in Glasgow. Hypnotic, nightmarish, and almost wordless—a film about predation and the uncanny rendered in pure image and sound.

But Experimental and intentionally obscure; many viewers find it pretentious or simply tedious. No plot in the traditional sense.

Under the Skin poster

Chappie2015

A newly sentient robot enters a corrupt Johannesburg, caught between gangsters and his creator. Messy and unpolished, but genuinely interested in what consciousness owes the world. Neill Blomkamp at his most unrestrained.

But Aggressively weird; the tonal shifts are jarring, and some find the execution clumsy despite the ambition.

Chappie poster

Devs2020

A woman investigates her boyfriend's death at a mysterious tech company. A miniseries of dazzling visual precision, with a premise that spirals outward into something genuinely cosmic. Hypnotic.

But Ends on such a speculative note that many viewers feel robbed; deliberately paced, which can feel like stalling.

Devs poster

Strange Days1995

A dealer in recorded memories navigates Los Angeles on the eve of Y2K. Visually prophetic, erotically charged, and genuinely prophetic about surveillance culture. A Kathryn Bigelow film at full power.

But Dated in ways that feel dated rather than retro; the gender politics are complicated and sometimes uncomfortable by today's standards.

Strange Days poster

Tusk2014

Both use a twisted domestic space and a figure of deception to explore parasitic attraction, where the 'creator' uses another being to fulfill a fantasy of connection.

Kevin Smith's body-horror nightmare: a man wakes up surgically transformed into a walrus by an obsessed millionaire. Grotesque, funny, and weirdly sincere about the perverse intimacy between captor and captive.

But Aggressively divisive—many find it juvenile, exploitative, and narratively incoherent. The transformation sequences are genuinely disturbing rather than thrilling.

Tusk poster

Her2013

Both examine the magnetic pull of connection with an artificial intelligence, but where Uncanny is claustrophobic and paranoid, Her is openly sentimental—opposite emotional registers on the same longing.

A lonely man falls in love with an AI assistant. Tender and funny, but with an undertow of melancholy about what we ask technology to be for us. Beautiful cinematography, and Scarlett Johansson's voice work is devastating.

But The romance at its center will feel saccharine or delusional to many; also a film that reads as dated in its optimism about AI.

Her poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by

My Holo Love