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The 13 Best Movies About Scientists and Experiments

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Scientific exploration represents the intellectual pursuit of the unknown. It's a quest for knowledge that has driven many to obsession or even madness, especially when failure looms increasingly overhead.

All kinds of films have been made about enigmatic characters who dedicate their lives to science and experiments. Such films tend to be sci-fi thrillers, but there are also compelling dramas and hilarious comedies that bring fresh energy to the premise.

Here are my picks for the best movies about scientists and their experiments, spanning the gamut of genres but all still worth watching for their own special reasons.

13. Junior (1994)

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Emma Thompson

Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi (1h 49m)

4.7 on IMDb — 39% on RT

Directed by one of the best comedic directors in history, Junior is a cautionary tale of scientific experimentation if there ever was one.

Our story finds two scientists, Dr. Alex Hesse (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Dr. Larry Arbogast (played by Danny DeVito), who have created a new pregnancy drug to cure infertility.

Unfortunately, bureaucratic red tape threatens to derail the duo's experiment: due to ethical reasons, they can't test the drug on real human subjects. So, Alex decides to take the drug himself—and despite precautionary measures, even he couldn't predict what happens next.

Yes, that's right: we're kicking off this list with a movie about Arnold Schwarzenegger impregnating himself! Don't worry, as most of the other films on this list will be more serious. But if you're looking for an easy-to-watch comedy, don't let Junior 's poor critical reception deter you.

12. The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Directed by Robert Wise

Starring James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne

Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller (2h 11m)

7.2 on IMDb — 67% on RT

Directed by Robert Wise, The Andromeda Strain is a classic film to watch if you're interested in movies about scientific experiments.

Dr. Jeremy Stone (played by Arthur Hill) is tasked with leading a team of scientists to contain the spread of an extraterrestrial organism that lands on Earth. However, it soon becomes clear throughout their experiments that they're way out of their depth...

Based on the phenomenal novel by sci-fi extraordinaire Michael Crichton, the film adaptation was lauded for its suspense and its creative use of split-screens long before it was widely used.

11. I Origins (2014)

Directed by Mike Cahill

Starring Michael Pitt, Steven Yeun, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey

Drama, Mystery, Romance (1h 46m)

7.3 on IMDb — 52% on RT

PhD student Ian Gray (played by Michael Pitt) is studying the evolution of the human eye. One day, while attending a college party, he meets a woman with the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen.

Later, several years in the future, what begins as a purely scientific study turns into something much more: an experimental investigation into the origins of the human soul.

Directed by the unconventionally meditative Mike Cahill, I Origins is an underrated sci-fi drama that's well worth your time.

10. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Directed by Ron Howard

Starring Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly

Biography, Drama (2h 15m)

8.2 on IMDb — 74% on RT

Directed by Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind follows the life of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. (played by Russell Crowe), who was a real person and commonly known as John Nash.

Demonstrating himself to be a brilliant scientist and economist, Nash not only gains the attention of the CIA, but eventually starts working there to help advance the field of cryptography.

However, paranoid delusions gradually start to blur the lines between his personal life and reality. Russell Crowe went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for A Beautiful Mind .

9. The Nutty Professor (1996)

Directed by Tom Shadyac

Starring Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn

Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi (1h 35m)

5.7 on IMDb — 64% on RT

The second (and last) comedy on our list is another terrific adaptation of a classic piece of literature: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , which was written by Robert Louis Stevenson back in 1886.

Exactly 110 years after publication, Stevenson's novella was given a comedic spin with The Nutty Professor .

In a bid to win the heart of his dream woman, Sherman Klump (played by Eddie Murphy) is desperate to lose weight. So, he conducts an experiment using his vast knowledge of biochemistry.

While he does successfully lose an enormous amount of weight, it comes at a terrible cost... The Nutty Professor stars Eddie Murphy in an impressive seven roles, and it's a laugh-out-loud affair.

8. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Directed by Rupert Wyatt

Starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow

Action, Drama, Sci-Fi (1h 45m)

7.6 on IMDb — 82% on RT

Planet of the Apes started as a novel in 1963, which was turned into a film series in 1968, then rebooted into another film series in 2011 starting with Rupert Wyatt's acclaimed Rise of the Planet of the Apes .

Will Rodman (played by James Franco) is a chemist who's experimenting on chimpanzees with an innovative new serum that's one step closer to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. However, the serum has unforeseen effects on the primates...

Featuring Andy Serkis as ape leader Caesar using revolutionary performance capture technology, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is one of the best cautionary tales of science gone awry.

Remaking this iconic franchise was a risky decision given that there was a previous reboot attempt in 2001 with Planet of the Apes , which went nowhere due to all kinds of production difficulties. Fortunately, Wyatt pulled it off and the resulting series is just fantastic.

7. Hidden Figures (2016)

Directed by Theodore Melfi

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe

Biography, Drama, History (2h 7m)

7.8 on IMDb — 93% on RT

Directed by Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures is a biographical film that brings us an incredible story that should've been told long ago. Fortunately for us, we get to experience it now.

The narrative follows three women scientists: Dorothy Vaughan (played by Octavia Spencer), Katherine Goble Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), and Mary Jackson (played by Janelle Monáe).

Despite their instrumental contributions to America's success during the Space Race, these women were buried and remained unrecognized for years. Why? Simply for being African-American.

Hidden Figures is the tough but inspiring journey of how these women worked to gain the respect that they deserved without ever giving up even in the face of constant discrimination and harassment.

6. The Theory of Everything (2014)

Directed by James Marsh

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior

Biography, Drama, Romance (2h 3m)

7.7 on IMDb — 80% on RT

Stephen Hawking is a man who needs no introduction, but in case you've been living under a rock for the past several decades, suffice it to say that he was one of the most brilliant minds of modern science.

In The Theory of Everything , we get to see his genius on display as he excels at the University of Cambridge, where he published all kinds of groundbreaking works on theoretical physics.

However, perhaps more interestingly, we're given insight into his tumultuous personal life and the challenges he faced as a victim afflicted by ALS (a neurodegenerative disease that affects muscle control).

With a heart-melting score and stunning performances from Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything truly encapsulates the human desire to understand the world we're born into.

5. Contact (1997)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Starring Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt

Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi (2h 30m)

7.5 on IMDb — 68% on RT

Based on the 1985 novel by Carl Sagan, Robert Zemeckis adapted the grounded sci-fi drama to great success.

Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) is a SETI scientist who makes a breathtaking discovery: an alien transmission.

After establishing contact with extraterrestrials using radio waves, Arroway leads an experiment to create a machine according to the instructions of said extraterrestrial communicators.

While Contact is mostly interesting for its thought experiment of a premise than its characters, the result is still one of the most intriguing movies about a scientific experiment. If you're in search of a realistic take on sci-fi concepts, you can't miss this one.

4. Annihilation (2018)

Directed by Alex Garland

Starring Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson

Adventure, Drama, Horror (1h 55m)

6.8 on IMDb — 88% on RT

When writer-director Alex Garland is at the helm of a film, you know you're in for an experience unlike any other. He's had his ups and downs, but when he's hot, the results are unforgettable.

Annihilation follows a group of women scientists of varying fields who are tasked with investigating the origins of a supernatural entity that has arrived on Earth. The thing is, previous explorers either haven't returned or have come back changed in some way...

Starring Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, they venture into the enigmatic quarantined zone called "The Shimmer" to collect data and uncover what's causing the mutation of plants and animals.

With Annihilation , Alex Garland successfully crafted another worthy entry into his filmography and the cosmic horror canon.

3. The Imitation Game (2014)

Directed by Morten Tyldum

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode

Biography, Drama, Thriller (1h 54m)

8.0 on IMDb — 90% on RT

Cryptanalyst Alan Turing is well-known today as the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, but that wasn't always the case. In fact, he was ostracized while he was alive for being gay.

In this superb film directed by Morten Tyldum, we get to see the fantastic legacy he left behind, as well as his role in ending one of the most gruesome conflicts in history: World War II.

During WW2, the Nazis communicated using messages that were encrypted by their Enigma machine. Alan Turing was approached by British intelligence officers in 1939 and hired to break the Enigma codes, as he was the only one with enough expertise to do it.

Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as the man who almost single-handedly decided the fate of World War II with his brilliant brain is both insightful and gut-wrenching.

2. Awakenings (1990)

Directed by Penny Marshall

Starring Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Julie Kavner

Biography, Drama (2h 1m)

7.8 on IMDb — 84% on RT

Penny Marshall's drama Awakenings isn't just well-written, well-acted, and emotionally affecting—it's based on a true story.

Dr. Malcolm Sayer (played by Robin Williams) is a neurologist studying catatonia. When he begins implementing a new treatment of L-DOPA in coma patients, he's initially disappointed by the results. However, there's eventually a breakthrough when one patient suddenly wakes up.

For the first time in years, Leonard Lowe (played by Robert De Niro) is able to see the world through his own eyes again.

As Dr. Sayer uncovers the reason behind Leonard's sudden awakening, the two of them fear that this experiment may not last. In fact, it may very well be a race against the clock. In the end, Awakenings is an underrated gem that will absolutely have you in tears.

1. Oppenheimer (2023)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon

Biography, Drama, History (3h)

8.5 on IMDb — 93% on RT

Why is Oppenheimer at the top of this list? Maybe it's recency bias. Or maybe it's the massive cult-like following the film had pre-release. Or maybe it's the glowing reviews that came after its release.

All combined, Oppenheimer still sticks out in my mind as the best film about a scientist and his experiments.

J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) is a brilliant theoretical physicist who's headhunted to lead a team of scientists tasked with creating the world's first atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer is tense and suspenseful as director Christopher Nolan employs his trademark nonlinear narrative style to create total immersion in Oppenheimer's race against time and persecution.

The film is doubly effective as a cautionary tale, which is why I'm ranking it at number one. Oppenheimer is cinema's best depiction of a scientist haunted by his greatest achievement and tormented by his own legacy.

Oppenheimer's most impressive experiment came at massive cost: the fate of the entire world. Few films have managed to establish stakes so monumental and deliver a climax worthy of said stakes.

The 20 Best Movies About Human Experiments

A relatively common trope in horror films and psychological thrillers, the concept of human experiments is truly horrific due to the realities of their existence. From World War II Nazi experiments to the birth of psychology field testing, the implantation of testing humans has resulted in a lot of suffering, but also a lot of knowledge about human behavior.

Therefore, the of human experimentation often results in two sides – that the overall good of knowledge counterbalances anything bad that can come out of the experiment, which is the mentality commonly seen in the experimenter, and the counterargument that nothing good can come out of anything bad is generally led by the subjects or victims.

From 1930’s Frankenstein to 1960’s French science fiction to today’s exploitation of horror films as seen in the “Saw” and “Human Centipede” franchises, the theme has had a long tradition.

20. Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)

Don Edmonds’ endeavour into the nazisploitation genre follows Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne), a Kommandant of a Nazi prison camp. She conducts sadistic scientific experiments to fellow women in order to prove to the higher ranked officers that women are more capable of enduring pain than men are, and therefore should be allowed to fight in the German armed forces, since the Nazi military are in dire need of reinforcements.

Besides torturing women, every night she chooses male prisoners and rapes them and after she finishes with them, she castrates and kills them.

Even though the film is not for the light-hearted and extremely exploitative (hence nazisploitation), the sex-addicted sadist Ilsa is patterned after real-life murderous female Nazi camp personnel Ilse Koch and Irma Grese.

Before the film begins, there is a notice saying: “The film you are about to see is based on documented fact. The atrocities shown were conducted as ‘medical experiments’ in special concentration camps throughout Hitler’s Third Reich.

Although these crimes against humanity are historically accurate, the characters depicted are composites of notorious Nazi personalities; and the events portrayed, have been condensed into one locality for dramatic purposes. Because of its shocking subject matter, this film is restricted to adult audiences only. We dedicate this film with the hope that these heinous crimes will never happen again.”

The film was followed by three sexploitation sequels, Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (1977) and Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia (1977).

19. Re-Animator (1985)

Stuart Gordon’s science fiction horror comedy loosely based on the H. P. Lovecraft episodic novella “Herbert West–Reanimator” follows Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs), a medical student, as he successfully brings his dead professor back to life, but finds that there are horrible side-effects which end up re-killing Gruber.

West moves away to continue his experiments with the help of fellow medical student, Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), as they try convince the University’s Dean, Dr. Alan Halsey (Robert Sampson), about the possibilities of reanimation of the dead.

Originally, Gordon was going to adapt Lovecraft’s story for the stage, and then planned to make a half-hour television pilot, and then reformatted the pilot and the twelve episodes which were planned to follow to be maximized to an hour.

Eventually they decided on making a standard film since the majority of the horror fan bases were found to watch films more than television. Gordon and his writers, Dennis Paoli and William Norris, also intended it to be a period piece at the beginning of the 20th Century, but found it to be too over-budget and hence landed on adapting it to modern-day Chicago.

The fast pace, deadpan humour and bloody special-effects led to the integration of B-grade thrillers, surrealist art and 80s comedy and to an overall cult classic.

18. The Boys from Brazil (1978)

Franklin J. Schaffner’s British-American science fiction thriller based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin follows young Barry Kohler (Steve Guttenberg) and retired Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier) as they track down a secret organization of Third Reich war criminals, including the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck), the infamous Auschwitz doctor, who are, themselves, tracking down 94 seemingly random men in different countries, including Austria, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, the United States, and kill them.

Lieberman follows Kohler’s leads and begins travelling to investigate the suspicious deaths of these men. He meets their widows and is astonished to find an eerie resemblance in their adopted, black-haired, blue-eyed sons, who all have similar mannerisms despite being from different places and speaking various languages.

Lieberman also discovers strange similarities with regards to the assassinated men’s cold attitudes towards the boy, the mother’s affectionate bond, and the ages of the parents during the time of adoption. The reason behind the uncanny resemblance is astoundingly chilling as Schaffner utilises iconic actors to tell an original tale that reimagines history and questions the “what if” attitudes of World War II.

The film gained three Academy Award nominations in the following categories – Best Actor (Laurence Olivier), Film Editing (Robert Swink) and for Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith). Gregory Peck was also recognised at the Golden Globes, earning a nomination for Best Actor is a Drama.

17. The Sylvian Experiments (2010)

Hiroshi Takahashi’s Japanese horror follows two sisters, Miyuki and Kaori, who are daughters of two neurosurgeons, Etsuko Ōta and Yukio. They all see a documentary of a secret experiment where the Japanese, Manchu, and Russian subjects’ temporal lobes are electrified until the subjects are strangely able to project a blinding white light.

Years later, Etsuko plans on conducting a similar experiment and recruits her daughter, Miyuki, as well as others to commit mass suicide assisted by Etsuko’s assistant, Hattori, as part of their initiation into the experiment. Miyuki wakes up inside a facility and is told that she has died and is currently astral projecting.

After having lost contact with her sister for six months, Kaori tracks down her last movements as she sees and talks to her in her dreams. Soon, her mother takes Kaori to the facility to learn about the experiment.

Etsuko reveals that she and Kaori have always wanted to become enlightened by the true reality beyond the current one in order to achieve a spiritual evolution. Takahashi, known as a screenwriter of “Ring”, once again utilises the source of thought through video since the documentary they initially saw sparked off their quest for enlightenment through experimentation.

16. Exam (2009)

Stuart Hazeldine’s psychological thriller, set in a parallel version of present-time United Kingdom, follow eight candidates as they sit for an employment assessment exam for the company, DATAPREV.

The Invigilator explains that the exam is 80 minutes and consists of only one question, but there are three rules that if broken, lead to disqualification. They must not talk to him or the armed guard at the door, they must not “spoil” their paper, and they must not leave the room. Each desk contains a question paper with the word “candidate”, followed by a number, from one to eight.

Set in real time, the exam begins and it is revealed that the papers are blank. One candidate is immediately disqualified, leaving the remaining seven – nicknamed Black, White, Brown, Dark, Blonde, Brunette, and Deaf – referring to their skin and hair colours, to realize that they can talk to each other and work together.

“White”, who is arrogant and rude, takes control of the group as they try to figure out how to reveal any hidden questions on the paper. The group manipulates tricks and uses each other in hopes of their disqualification. The scenario soon becomes dangerous, but they cannot talk to the armed guard or the invigilator for help.

Nominated for a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut, Hazeldine’s film makes incredible use of a single location, a few actors, and a tense countdown clock to the end of the exam, and subsequently, the end of the film. With multiple twists and turns, one wonders what job could be so important for such a chillingly claustrophobic interview, and Hazeldine does not disappoint.

15. Dead Ringers (1998)

David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller based on the lives of Stewart and Cyril Marcus and on Bari Wood and Jack Geasland’s novel “Twins”, follow Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Jeremy Irons) who are identical twins and gynecologists who specialise in female fertility treatment.

The more confident and cynical of the two, Elliot, seduces women patients and when he eventually gets bored of them, passes them off to the shy and passive Beverly, without the women even realising that they have switched.

However, soon Beverly gets a girl by himself, Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold), who realises the difference between the two brothers.

The two become close, but she soon leaves town for work, sending Beverly into a depressive episode and leading him to abuse prescription drugs, become slave to paranoid delusions and see “mutant women” with abnormal genitalia. He must “fix” these women and commissions metallurgical artist Anders Wolleck to create a set of strange gynecological instruments specifically for operating on these fictional, mutant women.

Cronenberg, who is a master of body horror, is no stranger to graphic imagery and psychological dishevelling. Another film of his which could fall under this list is “The Fly” (1986), which follows Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric scientist who has just successfully managed to create a teleportation device, and is anxious to use it himself.

10 Replies to “The 20 Best Movies About Human Experiments”

A Clockwork Orange (1971) Men Behind the Sun (1988) Martyrs (2008) The Human Centipede (2009) Experimenter (2015) The Stanford Prsion Experiment (2015)

Experimenter (2015) is actually very good! I liked that movie.

I’d also site A Clockwork Orange.

Also, for what it’s worth, Bruce Joel Rubin’s original screenplay of Jacob’s Ladder didn’t include the, imo, wholly unnecessary, military conducting experiments upon soldiers unwittingly via violence-enhancing hallucinogenics to advance (or explain away) the plot, or muddy it up, depending upon one’s take on it! …considering that it’s essentially a story about the human soul’s brief time between earthly existence and the afterlife.

Initially, the story was more overtly rooted in Christian themes, iconography and metaphysics (Dante’s Inferno, Meister Eckhart, winged angels, fire and brimstone, etc) but when it was decided to remove the more obvious Heaven and Hell references and imagery and instead make those elements more symbolic and suggestive, the military drugging soldiers shtick, although an unfortunate fact of how the military operates, was likewise brought to the table to help make the already-confusing-to-American-audiences story of Jacob’s Ladder a bit more cohesive/palatable for audiences accustomed to Large Print stories (the screenplay was written in the 1970s, and no studio would touch it for many yrs)

Don’t get me wrong–the plot still works with that 11th hour military bit added in while not completely ruining the central spiritual gist of the story …but after knowing that Rubin’s org screenplay was much broader in scope, and even creepier–Jake’s subjective experience was initially going to accompany the biblical Apocalypse, with all of NYC turning into a Hades–the whole military/drugging angle seems like an clunky, unnecessary red herring of sorts that wasn’t needed to explain to audiences what was happening to the protagonist. For those interested, Rubin’s screenplay–along with many of his ruminations on writing the story–is, or used to be, available in paperback book form.

<<o. ★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★:::::::!!be425p:….,..

Does this book have the same name? Sounds interesting.

‘Altered States’ ??

<<o. ★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★✫★:::::::!!be201p:….,….

Top 2 should be Shutter Island and The Skin I Live In.

Please, please edit your lists before they are published. There are many good lists here that I won’t share because of typos and mistakes. Makes the site look like amateur hour.

I hope people who create word games and other internet activities that require English words, see your comment. Because I am an educated adult, I usually immediately recognize misspelled words. But what about the young learner and those just learning to read? There are a good many people who accept the written word as “gospel.” Whatever one writes for the general public should ALWAYS be correctly spelled!

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The 13 Best Movies About Scientists and Experiments (Whatnerd)

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Top 25 Experimental Films

2. In the Mood for Love

3. An Andalusian Dog

5. The Seventh Seal

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11. Open Your Eyes

12. Rashomon

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14. Irreversible

15. Timecrimes

18. Possession

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40+ Movies And Shows With Experiment In The Title

Get ready to unleash your inner scientist with this electrifying roundup of movies and shows that play with the word "experiment" right in their titles. From eerie sci-fi thrillers to mind-bending dramas, these picks are sure to spark curiosity and maybe even a bit of mad scientist laughter.

Whether you're in the mood for some classic lab-coat chaos or contemporary bioethical puzzles, there's something here for every flavor of science enthusiast. So grab your popcorn because these titles are about to turn your movie night into a full-blown experiment.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Belko Experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment

The Jamie Kennedy Experiment

Experiment in Terror

Serial Experiments Lain

Experiment Perilous

The Love Experiment

The Experiment

The Harrad Experiment

You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment

The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition

The Chaos Experiment

Unlocked: A Jail Experiment

The Selection: Special Operations Experiment

Science Max: Experiments at Large

Human Experiments

Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment

Experiment Alcatraz

The Doctor's Horrible Experiment

The Quatermass Experiment

Philadelphia Experiment II

Beach Babe Experiment

The Terror Experiment

The Ouija Experiment

Videogame - a loop experiment

The Ganzfeld Experiment

The St. Francisville Experiment

Philadelphia: The Great Experiment

The Sylvian Experiments

The Alaska Experiment

The Ouija Experiment 2: Theatre of Death

The Possession Experiment

Claws - The Heligoland Lobster Experiment

Experiment Kinship

The Roman Experiment

The Goebbels Experiment

Teen Big Brother: The Experiment

The Tim Ferriss Experiment

The Afterlife Investigations: The Scole Experiments

Experiments in the Revival of Organisms

The Ghost Mountain Experiment

Experiment in Torture

• Entertainment
• Watchworthy

Lists for every cinephile and "movie guy" on your virtual trivia team.

10 Best Science Movies of All Time

It’s rare that science and art shake hands. But when they do, the results are more often than not spectacular. And the spectacular results of the union between science/maths and arts are clearly visible in the below list of movies. There is no denying that filmmaking is more art than science, but these movies make no qualms about celebrating science.. Isn’t that wonderful? Here is the list of top movies ever for science lovers. You can watch some of these best science movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu.

10. Pi (1998)

‘Pi’ is notable for its covering of an array of themes including religion, mysticism and the relationship of the universe to mathematics. The story about a mathematician and the obsession with mathematical regularity contrasts two seemingly irreconcilable entities: the imperfect, irrational humanity and the rigor and regularity of mathematics, specifically number theory.

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9. Coherence (2013)

‘Coherence’, a story of eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events, is essentially based on a scientific theory referred to as Schrödinger’s cat theory. Schrödinger’s cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935.  In simple terms, it is the possibility of existence of multiple simultaneous realities at the same time. Read more..

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8. Predestination (2014)

Predestination’s a befitting reality to how time-travel movies are made, and how uncertain they are. It embodies a timeless traveller, revolving in time between 1945 to 1993 in search of the fizzle bomber. The film is based on a concept known as predestination paradox. Predestination paradox is a sequence of events (actions, information, objects, people) in which an event is among the causes of another event, which in turn is among the causes of the first-mentioned event.  Read more..

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7. Interstellar (2014)

‘Interstellar’ uses the science of interstellar travel, relativity, blackholes, wormholes and fifth dimension as a tool to tell an emotional father-daughter story.  Many of the theories that ‘Interstellar’ uses, haven’t yet been proved; so it’s virtually impossible to portray them on-screen. But in any case, it is hell lot of fun to try to solve the puzzle that ‘Interstellar’ is. You just need a little patience and multiple viewings to completely get the film. Read more..

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6. Upstream Color (2013)

It’s next to impossible to pinpoint one thing that ‘Upstream Color’ is about, but on a broader perspective it explores the symbiotic relationship between man, animal and nature through personal journey of two individuals to self discovery after they have been stripped off everything they know and posses. Metamorphically, ‘Upstream Color’ is multi-layered, but primarily it’s about the things that are outside and beyond our control. Read more..

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5. Donnie Darko (2001)

‘Donnie Darko’ follows the adventures of the troubled title character as he seeks the meaning behind his Doomsday-related visions. The time-line in the story is directly dependent on the audiences’s ability to remain coherent and adapt to understanding the concept of “Time Travel”. Even though it is dense with ideas and nearly impossible to understand in one-viewing, very few films enjoy such cult following. Read more..

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4. The Matrix (1999)

Way more than just a movie, ‘ The Matrix ’ has been nothing short of a phenomenon. It changed the way people looked at the world around them and even turned them cynical. A film that virtually introduced the rather terrifying concept of simulated reality, it asked a number of vital philosophical questions about humanity and its actual purpose. Till today, not every question that the film asks has been answered.

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3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2003)

I know many might find its place here on this list surprising, but ‘ Eternal Sunshine .. ‘ is as much a film about science as it is a love story. The concept of memory-erasing that the film is based on is so mind-boggling that most of the first-time viewers find themselves in a maze of complex theories. Ultimately, the film intertwines science and romance with magical results.

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2. 2001: Space Odyssey (1968)

Loosely inspired by a short story named ‘The Sentinel’ penned by Arthur C. Clarke; who co-scripted the screenplay along with Kubrick; the movie chronicles the journey of a crew of scientists to Jupiter along with the sentient computer HAL 9000. ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ dexterously uses science and space travel to dig deep into philosophical theories ranging from existentialism to evolution. Read More..

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1. Primer (2004)

‘Primer’ is not just a film; it is an elaborate science puzzle. In short it is about two friends who (sort of, accidentally) invent a form of time travel. Initially, they think of using it just to make money, but soon selfishness and shortsightedness lead them to create so many overlapping timelines (at least 9) that they lose control of themselves, their friendship, and the technology. To fully understand each and every aspect of ‘Primer’ requires multiple viewings. When you finally “get” the film, don’t be surprised if you feel ecstatic and victorious, not very different from how you feel when you are able to solve a difficult puzzle.  Read more.. 

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The Top 10 Movies About Science

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• Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
• B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College

Movies that deal directly with science can be hard to come by. Fortunately for science lovers, there's a small group of certified classics, each of which takes on a challenging topic, from the perils of atomic weapons ("Dr. Strangelove") to the ethics of animal testing ("Project X") to the dangers of microorganisms ("The Andromeda Strain").

Weird Science

This John Hughes classic from 1985 tells the story of two teenagers' attempt to make a virtual girl using a computer. The science may not be strictly accurate , but the movie stands out for its sheer entertainment value.

Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Stanley Kubrick's 1964 dark comedy about the perils of the atomic bomb features Peter Sellers in three different roles, along with George C. Scott and Sterling Hayden. There's also a subplot about fluoridation. The film is certain to entertain science nerds with a bleak sense of humor.

Real Genius

This 1985 sci-fi comedy stars Val Kilmer as a science whiz kid who develops a chemical laser. In 2009, an episode of MythBusters explored the question of whether the film's final scene—which involves laser-popped popcorn—is scientifically accurate. (Spoiler: it's not.)

The Atomic Cafe

Libra Films 

This documentary is a collection of archival clips from the dawning of the Atomic Age. The U.S. government propaganda makes for some interesting black humor.

The Absent-Minded Professor

Robert Stevenson's 1961 comedy starring Fred MacMurray is a Disney classic and much better than the remake "Flubber." In 2003, the film was re-released in a digitally colorized version, though the black-and-white version is still available online.

The Andromeda Strain

Based on the book by Michael Crichton , this 1971 thriller concerns the outbreak of a deadly microorganism in the American Southwest. There is a lot more science to this film than any other on this list, with the exception of "The Atomic Cafe."

Love Potion #9

20th Century Fox

This 1992 romantic comedy actually features main characters who are chemists. There isn't any serious science, but the film, featuring a young Sandra Bullock, is silly and sweet and great fun.

Prince of Darkness

Universal Pictures

John Carpenter's 1987 horror flick looks at the science of evil, as a priest invites a physics professor to examine a cylinder containing a strange green substance. Although the film explores the supernatural, it also contains actual science. Poorly reviewed when it was first released, "Prince of Darkness" is now a cult classic.

Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images 

Jonathan Kaplan's 1987 movie takes a look at the ethical considerations of animal experimentation. Matthew Broderick delivers an excellent performance as an Airman assigned to keep watch over a chimpanzee that can communicate in sign language.

The Manhattan Project

Hulton Deutsch / Getty Images 

This sci-fi thriller from 1986 features John Lithgow as a nuclear scientist hired by the U.S. government to work on a top-secret project in upstate New York. Trouble ensues after a teenager breaks into the lab and steals some of the scientist's plutonium. The film was written and directed by Marshall Brickman, who won an Oscar in 1977 for co-writing "Annie Hall."

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