20 Best Science Fiction Movies Released Since 2000
4. Enter the Void (2009)
Gaspar Noe’s surreal art film Enter the Void does its best to defy generic definition, and yet its out-of-this-world drug trip premise and extreme luminescent visuals couldn’t place it anywhere better than the science fiction canon.
Young American Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) deals drugs in a hazy, neon Tokyo – but not for long. After taking a hefty toke of DMT and discussing the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Oscar is fatally shot by the police in the opening act, and finds his soul separated from his body. The disembodied Oscar spirit experiences the rest of the film floating not just above the action and city streets, but detached from time itself, dipping in and out of the events of his life that led him to this point.
Noe takes the idea that we see our lives flash before our eyes when we die and supercharges it, in typical fashion, using psychedelic drugs. The non-linear story, first-person viewpoints, long takes and visual palette of stomach-churning pastels and neons, soft focus and aggressive lighting, all make Enter the Void unlike any other film in or outside of the genre. The story is full of shocks and sharp turns, leading us to a final, see-it-to-believe-it sequence featuring an Oscar’s soul-view of his friend inseminating his sister, followed by a scene potentially suggesting his own rebirth…
It’s bold, experimental, and would make even the titans of the genre glad they didn’t have to film it.