Technology has always shaped the stories we tell, and some of the best movies and TV shows put technology front and center. These selections capture the thrills and warning signs of the digital age.
6. Black Mirror (2025)
Think about the apps, gadgets, and screens you use every day. Black Mirror takes those ideas and pushes them a little further, enough to be disturbing. Each episode tells a standalone story, often set in a world that seems familiar but has a technological twist that changes everything. From judging people in everyday life to recreating loved ones through AI, the stories feel familiar because they build on technology we're already familiar with.
5. The Social Network: The Social Network (2010)
Before Facebook became a part of everyday life, it was a messy project born in a Harvard dorm room. The Social Network shows how an idea hatched in a late night grew into a platform that began to change the way people connected on campus and beyond.
Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg) plays a college student who initially builds Facemash to compare classmates, then pivots to Thefacebook. The project takes off faster than he expected, and soon tensions begin to appear in his closest friendships.
4. Mr. Robot (2015 – 2019)
Hacking is often represented by green lines of code running across the screen, but Mr. Robot takes a different tack. Rami Malek (Elliot Alderson) plays a closeted cybersecurity engineer and self-made hacker whose life changes when he meets Mr. Robot, played by Christian Slater, who leads a team of hackers bent on taking down a major corporation.
3. Her (2013)
Falling in love with an AI may sound far-fetched, but Her makes it feel surprisingly real. Joaquin Phoenix (Theodore Twombly) plays a lonely writer who buys a new operating system and becomes fascinated by its voice assistant, Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
At first, their conversations are light and sympathetic, but over time, they become deeper. Theodore shares his fears and desires with Samantha, and the bond between them is as real as any human relationship—the kind you see in romantic movies.
2. Ex Machina: Rise of the Machines (2014)
While Her explores the emotional side of AI, Ex Machina looks at its dangerous side. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a young programmer selected through a corporate contest to spend a week with Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the mysterious CEO of his company. Nathan lives in a secluded high-tech house, where Caleb meets Ava (Alicia Vikander), a humanoid robot with a transparent mask and visible circuitry. Caleb is asked to evaluate whether she has human-like intelligence.
1. Inception: The Dream Thief (2010)
What if someone planted an idea in your mind so deeply that you believed it was yours? That question lies at the heart of Inception, a sci-fi thriller that turns the dream world into a place where ideas can be stolen or planted. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief who breaks into people's subconscious to steal secrets.
His work brings him a reputation few can match, but it also leaves him isolated from his family and haunted by his past.