Riddick

Riddick is currently streaming in the US on Netflix, and in the UK on Sky Go and Now TV Cinema, and it earns its premise rather than just borrowing genre trappings. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 4,448 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Vin Diesel's performance is the anchor the more ambitious scenes need. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Netflix.

Riddick is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. What makes Riddick work is that the ideas never crowd out the people having them. Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction. Vin Diesel and Nolan Gerard Funk lead a cast that makes the ambitious moments land. Riddick came out in 2013. Riddick resists the temptation to explain everything, trusting the audience to sit with ambiguity. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Viewers burned by ambitious sci-fi that could not sustain its premise should give Riddick a chance. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Vin Diesel grounds the bigger ideas in something human. Once you are in, you will want to talk about it.