5 sci-fi movies on Netflix you need to watch in November 2024

Netflix’s sci-fi collection continues to grow with each passing month, and November is no different. Tom Cruise movies always play well on streaming. While the Mission: Impossible franchise movies are on another service, Oblivion is now streaming on Netflix. It’s the first collaboration between Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski before Top: Gun Maverick.

Another new addition this month is Time Cut, a new time-traveling slasher set in the early 2000s. Those are two of the five recommendations for sci-fi in November. Other selections include a G.I. Joe origin story, a little-seen genre thriller, and a Netflix original.

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+.

Oblivion (2013)

Tom Cruise is reprising one of his most famous characters, Ethan Hunt, in 2025’s Mission: Impossible 8. Cruise’s Jack Harper in Oblivion is not on the same level as Ethan Hunt, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, or Jerry Maguire. However, Oblivion is probably on the shortlist of underrated Cruise movies.

In 2077, Earth is uninhabitable after nuclear devastation suffered 50 years prior. Jack Harper (Cruise) is a repair technician working on one final mission before he joins a group of survivors near Saturn. With two weeks remaining on the job, Jack rescues Julia (Olga Kurylenko), the woman he’s secretly been dreaming about, from a crashed spaceship. Julia’s arrival triggers a series of events that question Jack’s entire reality, forcing him to grapple with a battle that affects mankind’s future.

Stream Oblivion on Netflix.

Time Cut (2024)

Take a trip down nostalgia lane and travel to the early 2000s in Time Cut, a new Netflix slasher. Time Cut begins in 2024 with Lucy Field (Outer Banks star Madison Bailey), a brilliant teen living in the shadow of her murdered older sister, Summer (Antonia Gentry). At a nearby barn, Lucy discovers a time machine and transports herself to 2003.

Lucy heads to her high school to consult her science teacher about time travel. She discovers her opportunity to reverse the past and stop the murderer from his killing spree. With Summer’s murder two days away, Lucy decides to risk her future by intervening in the past to save her sister. Time Cut isn’t Scream, but nostalgia fans looking for a quick horror will find some fun in the sci-fi slasher.

Stream Time Cut on Netflix.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is an example of a good idea with decent execution. Snake Eyes also doesn’t feel like the previous G.I. Joe movies, which is a good thing. Director Robert Schwentke tried to make a gritty drama with G.I. Joe characters and a distinct visual style, and it worked, more or less. After witnessing the death of his father 20 years prior, a young boy grows up to be Snake Eyes (Henry Golding), an underground fighter with elite combat skills.

Snake Eyes attracts the attention of Yakuza boss Kenta Takamura (Takehiro Hira) and joins his organization after being promised the identity of his father’s killer. However, Snake Eyes refuses to kill Tommy (Andrew Koji), Kenta’s cousin and heir to the Arashikage clan, an ancient ninja clan. Snake Eyes now gets a chance to train in the ways of a ninja and gain a new home. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is decent despite its bad rep, but give it a try and decide for yourself.

Stream Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins on Netflix.

Predestination (2014)

Predestination is the Ethan Hawke movie you’ve probably never heard about. A time-traveling agent (Hawke) is sent to New York City in 1975 to stop a bombing by the fugitive known as the “Fizzle Bomber.” The agent fails and, in the process, suffers multiple injuries. His superiors force him into retirement after completing one final mission.

The agent is then sent to 1970 in New York City to work as a bartender. It’s here he meets “The Unmarried Mother” (Sarah Snook), a customer who writes confession articles under a pen name. While in the past, the agent decides to go after the Fizzle Bomber and prevent the attack from ever happening. While it may take a few times to understand the plot, Predestination is a fun genre movie that will be remembered as Snook’s coming-out party as an actor.

Stream Predestination on Netflix.

Awake (2021)

In Awake, humans cannot sleep due to a global disorder that causes insomnia. Jill (Gina Rodriguez) is a former U.S. Army medic working as a security guard. Jill steals drugs from her job and sells them to make ends meet. She’s also the mother of two children: Noah (Lucius Hoyos) and Matilda (Borderlands star Ariana Greenblatt).

One day, everything that uses electricity malfunctions and causes widespread panic. The sleep-deprived society grows increasingly violent and irrational. Jill learns that Matilda might be immune to insomnia, which makes her the key to society’s survival. Now, Jill must keep Matilda alive long enough to bring her to a research center to see if a cure can be developed.

Stream Awake on Netflix.