8 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies of the 2000s Worth Revisiting

Here are some of the underrated sci-fi films from the 2000s you absolutely need to check out.

1. Primer (2004)

This indie masterpiece did a lot with a little, having been made on a shoestring budget of $7,000. Two engineers, Aaron and Abe, accidentally discover time travel while tinkering in a garage. No DeLoreans here – just a plain ol' metal box. They use it to manipulate stock prices initially, but then things get complex, leading to multiple timelines and paradoxes.

2. Timecrimes (2007)

Timecrimes is a Spanish-language thriller that deals with – you guessed it – time travel. Héctor is your average guy who stumbles into a time machine while chasing a mysterious woman in the woods. He goes back just an hour and tries to fix a series of unfortunate events, including accidentally stabbing his earlier self. Spoiler alert: Trying to "fix" things only makes them way worse.

3. The Fountain (2006)

Here's one from Darren Aronofsky that might've slipped past your radar. This movie spans over a thousand years, intertwining three different storylines. The first is about a conquistador seeking the Tree of Life for his queen. The second focuses on a scientist struggling to find a cure for his dying wife. The third shows a man in a space bubble traveling with a tree (yep, a tree) to a dying star. What links them all?

4. Pandorum (2009)

Two astronauts, Payton and Bower, wake up from hypersleep on a spaceship with no memory of who they are or what their mission is. Classic, right? They discover they're not alone – there are cannibalistic humanoid creatures aboard. Turns out, they're descendants of the original crew, mutated due to an enzyme meant to help adapt to life on a new planet.

5. Predestination (2014)

A temporal agent is on his last mission to apprehend a terrorist known as the Fizzle Bomber. He recruits a recruit – ha, see what I did there? – who's actually a transgender man named Jane, originally recruited by the agent's past self. As they jump through time, it becomes clear that they're stuck in a loop of events where identities blend into one another.

6. Triangle (2009)

Jess, a young mom, joins her friends on a yachting trip that goes south real quick when they're hit by a freak storm. They abandon ship and board an eerily deserted ocean liner. Then, get this – she starts seeing duplicates of everyone, including herself. They're caught in a time loop, and each loop ends with everyone dying.

7. Ink (2009)

Ink slipped through many radars but deserves your attention. So, every night, two groups, Storytellers and Incubi, enter our world. Storytellers give us good dreams while Incubi give us nightmares. A mysterious drifter, named Ink, kidnaps a young girl's soul to join the Incubi. Her estranged father, John, must navigate through these dream realms to save her.

8. Splice (2009)

Clive and Elsa are two rebellious scientists who decide to take genetic engineering to a whole new level by combining human DNA with that of multiple animals. Hello, ethical minefield! Their experiment results in Dren, a fast-growing, eerily human-like creature. Initially, they're amazed at their creation. But as Dren matures, things take a terrifying turn. She develops predatory traits and an alarming emotional complexity. There's a deeply unsettling twist involving parenting and taboo that takes the story into true horror territory.