10 Cyberpunk Movie Masterpieces Every Sci-Fi Fan Needs To See

With the popularity of series like Altered Carbon and the impending release of The Matrix 4, cyberpunk is seeing a ripple of resurgence. Fans of the genre haven’t always had a steady stream of options, given its hallmarks–dystopian environments, cybernetic implants, humanity’s breakdown, and radical change–have often been confused with post-apocalyptic films like Mad Max: Fury Road or even the Cyborg series.

Unfortunately, all cyberpunk films aren’t created equal, and for every big-budget offering like Blade Runner 2049, there’s a low budget Nemesis, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less of a worthwhile contribution. Cyberpunk films with fewer resources have to be creative with their special effects and their actors, but they often capture the essence of the genre in innovative ways, becoming masterpieces in their own right.

10 Upgrade

With an AI implant that can enhance the human body, mugging victim Grey Trace has a second chance against after the attack that left him hospitalized and his wife dead. The billionaire inventor who selected him as a test subject expects something in return however and has a secret agenda he executes while Trace goes after the thugs.

In the vein of classic cyberpunk films like Johnny Mnemonic and Blade Runner, Upgrade has many of the tropes and cliches of the genre but manages to feel fresh, with action sequences that wouldn’t feel amiss in John Wick. 

9 Nemesis

In the future, criminals have enhanced themselves with cybernetic components, prompting police officers to do the same. One disillusioned cop ends up being attacked by a band of cyborg criminals and left for dead, only to become one of the augmented members of the LAPD. Eventually, he becomes a hired gun and begins to realize the criminals who attacked him are fighting for humanity’s future.

Nemesis had been in development since the ’80s, and by the time of its release in 1992, audiences felt it retained too much of the archetypes of that earlier era. Regardless, for a low budget action movie, it has a visceral quality that adds to the grittiness often associated with the cyberpunk genre. It spawned several direct-to-video sequels.

8 Hotel Artemis

In the year 2028, and riots are plunging Los Angeles into chaos, a group of thieves finds their way to Hotel Artemis, a members-only bastion for members of the criminal underworld looking to be healed by The Nurse. She offers the most technologically advanced healing processes available – when she isn’t juggling arms dealers, assassins, and cops.

It may not have as many technological bells and whistles as other cyberpunk films, but it has certain socio-political tones and anarchist leanings typical of the dystopian world favored by the genre, and a strong performance from Jodie Foster as The Nurse.

7 Repo Men

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, humans can extend their lives by purchasing synthetic organs. Should they ever default on their payments, the Union will send Repo Men to forcibly remove them without mercy. When one agent becomes the recipient of an artificial heart, he ends up in the same position as his previous victims, and his partner hunts him without remorse.

Based on the cyberpunk book The Repossession Mambo by Eric Garcia, Repo Men feels like a closer and closer reality, despite the fact that modern medicine and technology all point to organs eventually being fabricated from cloned human tissue, not metal and wires.

6 ExistenZ

David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ is as strange as any of his movies but introduces a unique blend of horror into the cyberpunk genre. It focuses on a game designer who creates a virtual reality simulation called “eXistenZ”. Crazed fans begin to stalk her, and she seeks help from a man who agrees to let her implant the video game pod into his body.

A cult classic since its release in 1999, eXistenZ is still often underrated and unseen. It blurs the line between reality and fantasy in a way that is both exhilarating and terrifying, especially given Cronenberg’s signature grotesque visuals.

5 The Lawnmower Man

When a mentally disabled man is given an experimental regiment by an eccentric doctor, he enters a computer-simulated world to augment his intelligence. Over time, he becomes more cognitively aware, and eventually even develops psychic powers. He begins to understand that people in his life have taken advantage of his simpleton ways, and the “lawnmower man” plots his revenge.

The Lawnmower Man may seem dated by today’s standards, especially given the proliferation of films focusing on virtual reality like Ready Player One, but for its time it explored themes that had rarely been touched on before and was based on a story by Stephen King.

4 Strange Days

In the near-future of dystopian Los Angeles, a former cop illegally peddles the memories and emotions of other people’s lives as part of virtual reality recordings. Most of the clips are tawdry, but one shows a murder, and while attempting to solve the killer he discovers that the conspiracy to cover it up goes all the way to the LAPD.

The mid-’90s saw a boost in cyberpunk and sci-fi movies as the internet offered the freedom of information while parts of the country saw massive amounts of civil unrest. Strange Days, filmed just after the Rodney King riots, examines issues of technology and classism in a screenplay written by sci-fi raconteur James Cameron.

3 Freejack

Set in 2009, Freejack postulated that, eventually, humanity would have cracked the code for time travel, and dying tycoons would be able to engage bounty hunters to travel back to prior eras and kidnap healthy viable bodies to transfer their consciousness into. When one unlucky racecar driver manages to get free from his captor, he finds himself forced to survive in a strange and bleak futurescape.

Dismissed as gimmicky upon its release in 1992, it nevertheless boasts a strong cast illuminated by Mick Jagger, Anthony Hopkins, and Emilio Estevez, as well as some compelling visual effects and set designs.

2 Elysium

As of 2154, humanity is divided into two classifications; the ultrarich and the ultra-poor. The affluent live in a luxurious space station with their every need met, while the poor scramble to survive on Earth with dwindling resources. A man augmented with cybernetic enhancements decides to level the playing field, but a powerful government official vows to maintain order no matter the cost to human life.

Neill Blomkamp, who wowed with the sci-fi thriller District 9 again provides a dystopian cyberpunk future in Elysium that amplifies today’s socio-economic disparity. Its themes are uncomfortable to explore but are necessitated by the ever-widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, and the latter’s exploitation.

1 New Rose Hotel

Adapted from William Gibson’s popular short story, New Rose Hotel is a classic cyberpunk tale set in a dystopian future filled with megacorporations and stunning technological advancements. It focuses on two corporate headhunters who specialize in helping coveted scientists jump from one corporation to another without getting killed, and the genius scientist they ensnare by enlisting a callgirl to persuade him.

Gibson was known for intricate world-building within his cyberpunk novels, and the film does its best to adhere to his works with its own stylish interpretation. It weaves Gibsonian exposition about humanity’s over-reliance on technology with bursts of action, making it ponderous for some and fascinating for others.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1344 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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