1) Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – A world-building sci-fi sequel to Blade Runner (1982). It’s slow and atmospheric, so for those of you who do enjoy character and world development then this is a worthy match. It has striking lighting and cinematography, matched well with an incredible colour scheme, it is a beautiful and stunning film.

2) Arrival (2016) – From the same director as Blade Runner 2049, another slow burn, more about building the characters than it is about any action. The plot revolves around a language professor attempting to communicate with aliens. It feels realistic as it is an incredibly lengthy process, but it’s more intriguing than you may think. If you enjoyed Blade Runner 2049, you will love this.

3) Ex Machina (2015) – Another slow character driven film. It’s tremendous as it mostly takes place in one room, so all of the attention is on the dialogue and interactions. It’s a film version of a Turing test, and really tries to discover what it means to be human. This is a back to basics sci-fi, dissecting humanity, and adding some depth to the genre.

4) The Matrix (1999) – This is a cult classic and for good reason! It’s slow at first but fantastic action sequences and world building. There’s not much I can say about this masterpiece other than if you missed it, you have to catch up on this cultural hit. It’s also a progressive deeper meaning to this; it’s about a man waking up to his oppression, meant to be representative of the Wachowski’s transitioning to women.

5) Starship Troopers (1997) – From the mind of Paul Verhoeven, comes a blunt satire of the military. Despite it being very obvious in its messaging, at the time it came out, a lot of people disliked it, thinking that it was glorifying war. In some ways the exaggerative violence and blood may have contributed to it, but I think the violence was hyperbolized to make the point about the horrors of war. It’s funny and clever, and much more action packed and more quickly paced than these other movies. If you enjoy action scenes but still want something more meaningful, then I recommend this.