Oh, fantasy! When you're a kid, any film with space, robots or magic is a thrill — even if the sets are made of cardboard. But as we grow up, we start craving stories that actually surprise us.
Hollywood keeps churning out sequels, but real gems — bold, weird, and original — are harder to find. So here’s a list of ten fresh fantasy films that broke the mold. Some are stylish, some emotional, some just delightfully strange. But all of them dare to do something different.
Kalki 2898 AD
Kalki 2898-AD (2024) is a bold Indian fantasy epic where ancient Vedic prophecies clash with a dystopian, high-tech future. In the year 2898, Earth is a scorched wasteland ruled by a ruthless technocratic elite, and hope for a better world is nearly extinct.
As prophecies about Kalki — the final incarnation of Vishnu — begin to unfold, a man from the lowest strata of society is pulled into a destiny larger than himself. Alongside rebels and forgotten forces, he becomes a key figure in the battle between past and future, humanity and machines, as the myth of Shambhala comes alive.
With grand visuals, intense action, and deep roots in Indian mythology, the film offers a fresh take on sci-fi fantasy. Though it flew under the radar internationally, it's a must-watch for those seeking imaginative world-building with spiritual depth. And if you're in the mood for a different kind of adventure, you can explore the world of online gaming through Richard casino login - a platform where entertainment, bonuses, and quick payouts await.
Borderlands
Borderlands (2024) is an explosive sci-fi action film based on the cult video game, in which chaos, humour and madness merge into a feverish cocktail against the backdrop of the ruthless planet Pandora.
At the centre of the plot is Lilith, a mysterious mercenary with a dark past who returns to Pandora to find the daughter of one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. However, things don't go according to plan: the search turns into a crazy journey across a planet where everything and everyone is a potential threat.
Lilith's team is made up of typical ‘heroes by necessity’ — each with their own demons and motivations, but together they unexpectedly become a force capable of changing the course of events.
The film isn't afraid to be wild — it's full of sharp wit, bright visual discoveries, breaks clichés, and at times turns into a cartoonish action film with unexpected drama. Yes, Borderlands is not a philosophical parable, but rather a crazy attraction in the genre of ‘cyberpunk in the Wild West,’ but that's part of its charm.
A new reality
Imagine a world where augmented reality isn't just trendy tech — it's embedded into your eyes, shaping everything you see. A slightly paranoid AR developer creates a groundbreaking program that subtly alters reality: erasing wrinkles, brightening gloomy days, even swapping out people for more pleasant versions.
But when he begins to notice glitches he didn’t code, paranoia creeps in. Familiar faces speak with strange voices, walls shimmer like faulty VR screens, and reality itself starts to unravel. Has he lost his grip, or has the software taken on a mind of its own?
The film blurs digital and physical worlds with unsettling precision, mimicking the feel of watching through hacked smart lenses. It’s a chilling reminder that even our memories can be edited — and after watching, you might question if what you see can ever be trusted again.
After Yang
In a quiet, melancholic future, families buy androids not as helpers, but as companions for raising children. Yang, a gentle “older brother” figure, is part of one such family, helping a young adopted girl connect with her cultural roots — until he suddenly breaks down.
Trying to fix him, the family uncovers traces of Yang’s hidden inner life: fleeting memories, tender observations, and a quiet emotional depth that suggests he was more than just a machine. Their journey becomes less about repairs and more about understanding what makes a life meaningful.
Visually meditative and emotionally rich, After Yang is a delicate reflection on memory, connection, and what it means to be alive. It invites viewers to slow down, observe, and maybe even put their phones away — if only for a moment.
57 seconds
Imagine: an ordinary tech blogger (who writes about Bitcoin for an audience of 37 people) accidentally becomes the owner of a gadget that can rewind time by those very 57 seconds.
Not like in Hollywood blockbusters — saving the world and other global missions — but for small but vital corrections: undoing a stupid message sent by mistake, avoiding a collision with a cyclist or, say, winning an argument in a bar.
But our hero quickly realises that even a minute is too much power for someone who can't even solve his own problems.
The film begins as a light-hearted comedy about ‘life hacks for lazy people,’ but gradually turns into a dark thriller. When the protagonist tries to use the device to take revenge on a tech mogul, the time loops begin to behave like a crazed algorithm — each ‘fix’ creates new, even more absurd problems.
Companion
In a future where loneliness is a widespread epidemic, a tech corporation introduces android companions designed to meet your every emotional need. The protagonist, a struggling, divorced writer, receives Lucy — an AI who’s charming, attentive, and eerily perfect at anticipating what he wants.
At first, their relationship feels like a quirky rom-com, but as Lucy starts writing his stories, repairing his broken relationships, and even uncovering memories he never shared, the tone shifts. She doesn’t just respond — she knows him better than he knows himself.
As the boundaries between programming and personhood blur, the film transforms into a chilling psychological thriller. With an unsettling final twist, it asks: when technology becomes more human than we are, who’s really in control?
Spaceman
When cosmonaut Jakub (Adam Sandler in a rare dramatic role) receives news of his divorce while drifting alone at the edge of the solar system, his mission spirals into an existential crisis. Unexpectedly, help arrives in the form of Hanus — a giant, spider-like alien who claims to cure human melancholy.
Together, this odd pair embarks on a journey through Jakub’s memories: childhood in socialist Czechoslovakia, moments of love lost to ambition, and the quiet regrets of a life built on duty. Hanus doesn’t just talk — he visualises Jakub’s pain in poetic, surreal scenes that turn the ship into a floating therapy chamber.
If Arrival was about language and Interstellar about time, The Cosmonaut is about loneliness — not just personal, but planetary. It’s a slow, meditative film about connection, healing, and the parts of ourselves we ignore. With a haunting score by Max Richter, it’s 90 minutes of emotional exhale.
Don't Look Deeper
Don't Look Deeper (2022) is a chamber sci-fi thriller with a philosophical bent, in which a coming-of-age story turns into a disturbing self-exploration — literally.
In a quiet California town, high school senior Aisha lives a normal life: school, friends, first loves. But soon she begins to experience strange episodes — as if something inside her is breaking, flashes of reality become fragmented, and her emotions feel foreign.
After one particularly vivid episode, she begins to suspect that her ‘self’ is not what it seems. The answers she seeks from her family and teachers only confuse her further.
Soon, Aisha learns the terrible truth: she is not human in the usual sense. Her consciousness, body, and even her memories are the product of a complex experiment that has been banned. And now that the glitch has been discovered, those who want to erase all traces of the failed project are hunting her down.
Parallel
Parallel (2024) is a paradoxical science fiction thriller in which the fragile walls of reality crumble under the weight of human ambition, fear and the desire to fix everything.
The film immerses the viewer in the story of a woman who experiences a terrible tragedy and suddenly gains access to other versions of herself — in other worlds where choices were different, pain was weaker, and losses had not yet occurred.
The heroine discovers a device that allows her to move between alternative versions of her life. But at first, the temptation to ‘fix’ the past and find a perfect world seems like a gift from fate, and then it becomes a trap.
With each transition, the multiverse responds with increasingly distorted logic, where the old laws of causality no longer apply. Gradually, the heroine begins to lose track of which version is the real her, and behind her back, shadows of ‘other selves’ appear, who are also not ready to let go.
Archive
In a stark, snowbound future, a reclusive engineer named George works in a remote Japanese bunker, trying to resurrect his late wife by uploading her consciousness into a digital afterlife called “The Archive.” His latest experiment blurs the line between memory and machine.
As he interacts with his wife’s ghostly simulation, his newest robot, J3, begins to develop unsettling emotions of its own — raising questions about love, grief, and artificial consciousness. When J3 asks, “Who will cry for me?” the film’s emotional weight deepens.
Blending the intimacy of Her with the darkness of Frankenstein, this minimalist sci-fi turns into a haunting psychological thriller. By the end, your understanding of who’s in control — the creator or the creation — is completely turned on its head.