Harry Potter Star’s 108-Minute Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Officially Streaming for Free

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Published Oct 31, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 3000 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom. You can also hear Jake every week as the resident film and TV journalist on Track Radio.

The sci-fi genre is so beloved that the competition to be called a "masterpiece" is incredibly high. In the modern era, only a few sci-fi efforts stand out as true masterpieces, with one debuting earlier this year. Directed by the duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary is the defining film of the first half of 2026 and was called "the first great film" of the year in a 9/10 review from Collider's Ross Bonaime.

Ryan Gosling leads the space story as one man on a mission to save the universe, only to find an unlikely intergalactic friendship with a rock-shaped alien he names Rocky. Emotionally poignant, visually stunning, and a likely contender in several major categories at next year's Oscars, Project Hail Mary is the gold standard of 2026 sci-fi. But how does it stack up against the rest of this century? How does the Gosling-led favorite hold up? Well, if you'd like to compare the film to arguably the greatest sci-fi movie of the 2010s, you can do so on a free streaming service.

Starting November 1, you can stream Ex Machina for free on Plex. Written and directed by Alex Garland, the film defined the important early era of A24 as one of its most acclaimed movies. Harry Potter alum Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander star in the film, which scored a Best Original Screenplay nomination and won the Best Visual Effects prize at the Academy Awards. The movie also became the highest-grossing A24 movie of all time worldwide, although this has since been broken multiple times, most recently by the horror gem Backrooms.

'Project Hail Mary's Biggest Sci-Fi Competition Arrives This December

Will Project Hail Mary end the year as 2026's best sci-fi movie? Well, just one major release stands in its way, as the final installment in Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed Dune trilogy debuts on December 18. Dune: Part Three will likely prove a big hit at the Academy Awards in its own right, as Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet) transformation into a villain is complete and Villeneuve's ambitious trilogy reaches its epic climax.

Ex Machina will be available to stream on Plex starting November 1. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for all the latest streaming stories.