The Franchise Age

Modern sci-fi is dominated by franchises — Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar consume most of the genre's budget and attention. These films often substitute spectacle for the philosophical inquiry that defined the genre's peak. The technology to show anything has coincided with fewer films that ask meaningful questions.

But independent sci-fi pushes back. Ex Machina explored AI consciousness with intimate precision. Arrival used alien contact to examine how language shapes perception. Everything Everywhere All at Once turned multiverse theory into a story about immigrant family bonds.