5 Great Cyberpunk Movies Nobody Remembers

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Cyberpunk is a truly captivating branch of science fiction, and many classic films showcase its themes. Movies like The Matrix, Blade Runner, Akira, RoboCop, The Terminator, and Total Recall all explore the compelling combination of high-tech futures, crumbling societies, powerful corporations, technologically-enhanced humans, constant surveillance, and resistance movements – elements that make it a rich setting for storytelling.

While films like The Matrix and RoboCop became iconic, many other cyberpunk movies haven’t achieved the same level of success. Numerous films within the genre, or heavily inspired by it, were overlooked and ultimately forgotten after their initial release. These underappreciated movies deserve to be rediscovered, as they demonstrate the surprising range and flexibility within cyberpunk as a genre.

Hardware is the Definition of a Cult Classic Cyberpunk Film

South African filmmaker Richard Stanley has faced a lot of challenges in his career. He’s best known for being fired from the set of 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau after just three days – a famously difficult production that kept him from directing another film for twenty years. Stanley first gained attention with his 1990 low-budget sci-fi thriller Hardware. While the film was a modest success, earning almost four times its $1.5 million budget, critics weren’t very impressed.

I stumbled upon this really unique film a while back, and it’s gained a dedicated following over the years. It centers around a space marine who, in a bizarre turn of events, gives his artist girlfriend a… well, a murderous cyborg! This cyborg, named M.A.R.K. 13, is a fantastic piece of sci-fi design. It quickly becomes clear this isn’t just some random piece of tech he found in the desert; it’s a government project built to wipe out humanity as a solution to overpopulation on a post-apocalyptic, irradiated Earth. It’s a wild ride, and seriously inventive.

Now, this robot is actively following his girlfriend around her apartment, having rebuilt itself from scraps and things found around the house. That’s exactly the kind of gritty, futuristic idea you’d expect from cyberpunk, and it’s a shame the movie didn’t find a wider audience. It’s likely many viewers would have really enjoyed it.

Possessor Mixes Body Horror and Cyberpunk to Stomach-Churning Effect

Brandon Cronenberg, though early in his directing career, has quickly established himself as a fan of body horror, much like his famous father, David. His films, Antiviral and Infinity Pool, are full of disturbing and graphic imagery that will appeal to fans of the genre, especially because of their unique blend of cyberpunk elements with the gore.

The movie Possessor centers on Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough), a skilled assassin who uses advanced technology – a virtual reality headset and a brain implant – to take control of other people’s bodies and carry out hits for her company. Things get complicated when she connects with the mind of Colin (Christopher Abbott), and their identities start to blur in disturbing ways. While its graphic and unsettling nature likely won’t appeal to everyone, Possessor is a must-see for cyberpunk enthusiasts who aren’t easily disturbed, featuring truly shocking visual effects like bodies merging and reforming.

Ignoring the disturbing physical transformations, the film’s vision of a bleak, technology-dominated future will likely resonate with fans of cyberpunk and science fiction. While some moments feel distant and otherworldly, others – like the scenes showing intrusive data collectors using virtual reality to spy on people’s homes just to sell them curtains – feel unsettlingly relevant to our current world.

Repo Men is a Shamefully Lesser-Known Entry in Jude Law’s Filmography

Before winning an Emmy Award for directing a drama series, Miguel Sapochnik started his film career with Repo Men. This darkly humorous and action-packed cyberpunk movie features Jude Law and Forest Whitaker as Remy and Jake, repo agents who reclaim artificial organs from customers unable to pay their bills.

When Remy receives an artificial heart from the company he used to work for and experiences the same struggles as the people he once pursued, he has a change of heart and goes on the run. Repo Men is a really fun and exciting movie that deserved to do better in theaters. Sadly, it wasn’t a hit with audiences or critics and ended up largely forgotten on DVD. That’s a shame, because it was a stylish and thought-provoking film with great performances from Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber, John Leguizamo, and Alice Braga.

If fans of cyberpunk were to find this, they’d likely enjoy it. It includes many common themes of the genre – like biotechnology, powerful corporations, the gap between rich and poor, virtual reality, and advanced technology – and has plenty of exciting action to make up for any weaknesses in the story.

Split Second is Both a Bad Blade Runner/Alien Ripoff and a Fun Cyberpunk Hidden Gem

Let’s be honest: Split Second isn’t a great movie. It’s easy to see why some people call it a cheap imitation of Blade Runner and Alien. In fact, the filmmakers even cast Rutger Hauer—the star of Blade Runner—hoping to connect this film about a rebellious cop in a futuristic, flooded London with that classic cyberpunk story, as he hunts a dangerous serial killer.

It’s not surprising that the film’s monster—a creature resembling a blend of the Xenomorph and Venom—clearly echoes Scott’s other famous sci-fi work. But even though Split Second borrows heavily from better movies, it still has value. Despite its low budget, the film effectively creates a gritty, cyberpunk version of London, complete with dark, noir visuals, bright neon lights, and rain-soaked streets.

The movie deserves recognition for its imaginative ideas – a city underwater because of climate change and the unusual psychic link between the main character and a strange creature. While the film doesn’t fully succeed, it was surprisingly forward-thinking for its time. If you’re in the mood for a retro, cyberpunk thriller and enjoy classic B-movies, Split Second is worth checking out.

Upgrade Was Overshadowed by its Director’s Follow-Up Film

Leigh Whannell, an Australian writer and director, has become a leading figure in the horror genre over the past twenty years. He’s best known for co-creating the popular Saw and Insidious franchises with James Wan, which allowed him to start directing. While his directorial debut, Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), was reasonably well-received, he truly broke through with the critically and commercially successful The Invisible Man in 2020.

Between horror projects, Whannell directed an action/sci-fi film about a man paralyzed until a cutting-edge chip restores his movement. Driven by revenge, he then uses this technology to hunt down his wife’s killers. Upgrade clearly demonstrated Whannell’s talent for action filmmaking, featuring impressively dynamic camera work and a fantastic physical performance by Logan Marshall-Green as the lead.

This movie is a thrilling and surprisingly funny ride, with a script that offers more depth than you might expect. It cleverly uses familiar themes from cyberpunk stories, particularly around the idea of powerful corporations pulling the strings. The central mystery – an accident involving Marshall-Green and a new technology called the STEM implant – takes some unexpected turns. Just when you think you understand what’s happening, the movie throws a curveball: the implant isn’t just a tool, it’s become self-aware and is driving the plot as it tries to evolve into something more human.

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2026-05-28 21:38