2016 Movies : Sci-Fi

With Katsuyuki Motohiro • Naoyoshi Shiotani

In a futuristic Japan, the Sibyl System is charged with keeping the peace. Using extensive surveillance and biological monitoring to gauge the likelihood that individuals will commit a crime, the police are able to use weapons called Dominators to remove potential criminals from the population before they become a problem. Confident with the success of the System within their own borders, the Japanese government has begun to export the technology to other countries, planning to ultimately spread the System across the globe.

When the state of SEAUn brings the Sibyl System in to test its effectiveness, it becomes a haven of peace and safety—for a time. Eventually, terrorists from SEAUn begin appearing in Japan, somehow slipping through the System’s security and attacking from within. Desperate for answers, Inspector Akane Tsunemori is sent overseas to bring the terrorists to justice. But when her investigation forces her into a standoff with an old ally, will she be able to pull the trigger?

With Kirsten Dunst • Adam Driver • Joel Edgerton • Michael Shannon • Jeff Nichols • Brian Kavanaugh-Jones • Sarah Green • Sam Shepard • Glen Basner • Christos V. Konstantakopoulos • Scott Haze • Jaeden Lieberher

In the sci-fi thriller Midnight Special, writer/director Jeff Nichols proves again that he is one of the most compelling storytellers of our time, as a father (Michael Shannon), goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers.

What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately his father risks everything to protect Alton and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever, in this genre–defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human.

With Corrin Evans • Jared Boghosian • Kristen StephensonPino • Nick Clark • Carol Anne Watts • Andrew Olson • Myron Natwick • Larrs Jackson • Tom Lewis

Following a near-death experience in a car crash, teenager Cassie Stevens finds herself haunted by a shadowy figure... something has followed her back from the other side. As these visions escalate, Cassie discovers that everyone haunted by this specter has died. No shrink can help her, only a priest, Fr. McCready, who can perform the only remedy Cassie may have—an exorcism. Will it work, will she die? Or will it free the demon…

With Lachlan Nieboer • Simon Pummell • Nora-Jane Noone • Nick Blood

The organization Brand New-U identifies networks of Identicals—people who walk like you, talk like you, but are walking through different, better lives—and helps their customers make a life upgrade: eliminating the better-life donor, and relocating their client to that brand new life. Slater seems to have the perfect life, the perfect job and the perfect girlfriend. But when Slater’s girlfriend is abducted by Brand New-U, and a corpse left in her place, he is forced to become an Identical. As he moves through a series of parallel lives, he becomes more and more obsessed with finding his girlfriend, but what he must find in the end is himself.