Ryan Goslingleads the space story as one man on a mission to save the universe, only to find an unlikely intergalactic friendship with a rock-shaped alien he names Rocky. Emotionally poignant, visually stunning, and a likely contender in several major categories at next year’s Oscars, Project Hail Mary is the gold standard of 2026 sci-fi. But how does it stack up against the rest of this century? How does the Gosling-led favorite hold up? Well, if you’d like to compare the film to arguably the greatest sci-fi movie of the 2010s, you can do so on a free streaming service.
Starting November 1, you can stream Ex Machinafor free on Plex. Written and directed by Alex Garland, the film defined the important early era of A24 as one of its most acclaimed movies. Harry Potter alum Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikanderstar in the film, which scored a Best Original Screenplay nomination and won the Best Visual Effects prize at the Academy Awards. The movie also became the highest-grossing A24 movie of all time worldwide, although this has since been broken multiple times, most recently by the horror gem Backrooms.
COLLIDERInteractive
Long-range scan active
Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment
Collider Survival Assessment Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict
Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range
▦︎The Matrix
◈︎Mad Max
◑︎Blade Runner
▲︎Dune
✦︎Star Wars
Question 01 of 08INSTINCT
The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 02 of 08RESOURCE
You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 03 of 08THREAT
Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY
How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT
Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE
Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 07 of 08MORALITY
Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Question 08 of 08PURPOSE
What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.
Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance
Scan completeYou would survive
▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.
You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file
The Wachowskis’ 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film
Editing.
Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the
actors.
Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot,
recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the
world in front of you.
Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question
◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day.
You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file
Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a
script.
The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and
real stunt performers.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.
Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines
◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file
Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth
nomination.
The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott’s 1982 original.
Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever
he could.
Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the
two movies.
Keeps her head down Private Noir soul
▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and
Original Score.
Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan’s Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher
Walken.
David Lynch’s 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unmade one are both their
own legends by now.
Plays the long game Reads the room Patient
✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope.
You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks’ problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon’s crew to the Ghost’s, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file
The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
John Williams’ score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the
best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever.
Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both
seasons.
The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.
Collects people Shows up Hope merchant
Compatibility readout · top three
1
2
3
Scan filed byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Sci-Fi Desk
‘Project Hail Mary’s Biggest Sci-Fi Competition Arrives This December
Will Project Hail Mary end the year as 2026’s best sci-fi movie? Well, just one major release stands in its way, as the final installment in Denis Villeneuve‘s acclaimed Dune trilogy debuts on December 18. Dune: Part Three will likely prove a big hit at the Academy Awards in its own right, as Paul Atreides’ (Timothée Chalamet) transformation into a villain is complete and Villeneuve’s ambitious trilogy reaches its epic climax.
Ex Machina will be available to stream on Plex starting November 1. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for all the latest streaming stories.
