You don’t have to start an amazing sci-fi movie with an absolutely amazing or technically dazzling shot, as something like Jurassic Park shows. That movie has a great opening scene, but the first shot of the movie isn't particularly memorable. It’s some trees rustling. It’s fine. But it’s “shoot her!” and the rest of the scene – especially the way it teases and doesn’t clearly show any dinosaurs – that makes it a great opening.

The most interesting sci-fi movies about the future do more than predict gadgets. They show what people might become once technology, power, desire, fear, loneliness, class, and ambition start rearranging daily life. A great future on screen feels designed all the way down to its habits.