Something that kept me and many other sci-fi fans coming back to Netflix pre-2020s was its burgeoning library of mid-budget sci-fi movies — these weren't necessarily good, and some were absolutely rubbish, but they were still a fun watch for fans of the genre. After watching Prime Video's latest movie, however, I think Amazon's top-rated streaming service is taking the crown instead.
The movie I'm talking about is called Elevation. It was released in theaters in the US in late 2024 but in many other parts of the world, including the UK, it's being billed as a Prime Video movie. That's how I saw it, after its streaming release in February.
Elevation stars Avengers star Anthony Mackie alongside Deadpool actress Morena Baccarin and Maddie Hasson. It's set in a world in which invasive creatures kill anyone who travels below an elevation of 8,000 feet, causing humans to live in mountain communities. But when Will (Mackie) needs to travel to the city of Boulder in Colorado to get medical supplies for his ailing son, he ventures through the dangerous territory to fight the predators.
As its 56% Rotten Tomatoes score suggests, Elevation isn't an amazing movie, and it's definitely the kind of story you've seen before. But with its promising premise, well-realized world and some decent performances from its talented cast, it's one that sci-fi fans might still enjoy.
"Decent premise, bad execution, fine for sci-fi movie night" was, for a while, the theme of Netflix's release slate. For example, the first few months of 2018 brought us The Cloverfield Paradox, Mute, Cargo, TAU and Extinction, all passable (depending on how generous you are with that term) movies that gave genre fans something to talk about.
That's not the case anymore, and it really feels like Netflix has given up the ghost with this kind of mid-budget sci-fi film. The first two months of 2025 brought us a grand total of zero sci-fi movies (this article was written ahead of the release of The Electric State), and in fact the last real sci-fi movie on the platform was arguably mid-October's Phillippine zombie movie Outside.
The sci-fi movies that Netflix does release are increasingly awful; just look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores of Atlas, Spaceman and the two Rebel Moon to see that they gave up "passable" a long time ago. Plus, these bigger-budget releases miss some of the charm and grit that mid and low-budget sci-fi has (both on streaming and in the indie scene).
So could Prime Video be stealing the streaming crown for mid-budget 90-minute sci-fi movies? It's starting to seem that way with the imminent release of Ash. This movie, one of my more anticipated ones of 2025, is coming to Shudder in the US but Prime Video everywhere else.
Ash stars 3 Body Problem's Eiza González as the sole survivor of a space station calamity and Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul as a mysterious man sent to rescue her, who could be a savior or someone bringing her even more harm.
I haven't seen much coverage of Ash yet (intentionally) but it sounds like an interesting premise and that's a solid lead duo.
Streaming audiences are fickle (I know, I am one) and this sci-fi sea change has started to make Prime Video the best place to watch science fiction movies (its massive library of third-party films is another draw). And while Apple TV Plus may be making a name for itself with sci-fi TV shows, for movies, Prime Video now takes the lead.
