10 Underrated Science Fiction Movies You Must See

10. Pi (π)

Years before he briefly revived Mickey Rourke's career with The Wrestler, steered Natalie Portman to Oscar glory with Black Swan, and freaked out just about everyone who saw mother!, US filmmaker Darren Aronofsky made his debut with this very unusual, ultra low-budget 1998 indie.

Pi's status as a science fiction film might be disputed by some, but then it's hard to narrow it down to any specific genre: it might be classed as a psychological thriller, there are clear horror overtones, and even hints of fantasy.

All in all, though, Pi deals with the potential of the human brain, the untapped regions within yet to be accessed - and the bizarre possibilities of such an endeavour. This surely qualifies as science fiction.

Sean Gullette (who also co-wrote the story with Aronofsky and Eric Watson) stars as Max, a genius mathematician working on a theory that numbers can explain everything in nature. Attempting to make stock market predictions via the mathematical constant pi, Max's computer churns out a seemingly random number which turns out to have very significant ramifications.

Max soon finds himself being followed by mysterious strangers, with all manner of sinister forces amassing around him in order to capitalise on his 'discovery'... or is it all just a paranoid delusion?

It sounds confusing as hell, and - well - it is. But you don't need to understand the mathematics to be captivated by the incredibly tense, oppressive, mind-bending atmosphere the film generates.