Best Tech Movies of the 21st Century

by Kevin Gardner

Since the earliest days of cinema, filmmakers have imagined technological advances that seemed outlandish at the time. Sometimes these technologies remained confined to the realm of fantasy, but others prefigured technological achievements that would follow. An example is A Trip to the Moon, one of the earliest films in existence, that depicted people traveling to the moon in a rocket, a feat that would be accomplished nearly 70 years later.

As technology becomes more significant to everyday life, it inspires people to tell stories about it. Some of these are celebrations of technological advancements while others are cautionary tales about the dangers of becoming too reliant and letting artificial intelligence take over for the real thing. In either case, tech movies can make for engaging storytelling accessible to all audiences.

The Social Network

Facebook was one of the first social media platforms and one of the most successful. To this day, it continues to wield a huge amount of influence and draw scrutiny from critics that argue it has gotten too powerful. The Social Network is a 2010 movie that shows how Facebook was developed by a group of college kids performing their own self service IT and the legal battle that ensued among its creators once it became successful and some of those involved felt that they hadn't received their fair share of the rewards.

Her

Virtual assistants have been around for the better part of a decade now. They use voice recognition software to respond to verbal commands, they have realistic-sounding computerized voices, and they have human names, such as Siri or Alexa. All of this personification is no doubt intended to make mere devices seem more friendly and accessible. Many people rely on virtual assistants without giving thought to whether it is possible to become too attached. Her is a movie that dates back to when the technology was new in 2013 and examines the consequences of investing a disembodied voice with human qualities. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely man who substitutes the ease and responsiveness of artificial intelligence with the perils of a real relationship. He gets close to his virtual assistant, seeing her as a real girlfriend, only to have his heart broken.

Wall-E

Wall-E is a computer-animated movie from Disney and Pixar. Though appealing to kids, it embodies a sharp critique of pollution and commercialism that may resonate more significantly with adults. It is an unspecified future, and humans have abandoned an uninhabitable Earth for life in a space colony. Wall-E is a robot left behind on Earth to clean up the mess. Along with a visiting robot, the unlikely hero goes on a journey to convince humans the planet can be saved after discovering signs of life. Released in 2008, Wall-E earned praise at the time for its unconventional approach to storytelling.

The Martian

While many tech movies focus on the destructive potential of technology, The Martian emphasizes how it can be used to save lives if applied correctly and responsibly. The main character is an astronaut stranded on Mars who must rely on creative thinking to build solutions to the difficulties he faced trying to survive in an inhospitable environment out of the materials available to him.

Minority Report

Minority Report is a science fiction thriller about a law enforcement officer implicated in a murder foreseen by individuals with a talent for precognition. Is it a precautionary tale about the ways that technology can be used against us, or is it a blueprint for future law enforcement techniques? There are those that interpret it either way, but what is undeniable is that this 2002 film by Steven Spielberg is eerily prescient when it comes to technologies such as biometric identification and personalized advertising based on algorithms and buying patterns.

Iron Man

Marvel superhero Tony Stark creates his technological super-suit first to save his life and then to escape from captivity. Iron Man is simultaneously a cautionary tale about the dangers of weapons falling into the wrong hands and a celebration of tech culture.

Though a remarkable tech movie, The Matrix is not included on this list because it was released in 1999, just before the 21st century began.