Netflix has happily spent billions of dollars at this point creating its own originals in every genre imaginable, but once upon a time it was also mainly in the business of acquiring movies that other studios may not have wanted. That’s exactly what ended up happening in 2016 when a hidden gem sci-fi thriller popped up, throwing heavily armed soldiers into a war zone against an enemy they couldn’t understand, let alone kill. Imagine Predator in a Call of Duty map and you’ve got this one.
Spectral is streaming on Netflix, and it’s proving to be a winner with audiences. When an otherworldly force wreaks havoc on a war-torn European city, an engineer teams up with an elite Special Ops unit to stop it. We follow DARPA engineer Mark Clyne, who is sent into the conflict to investigate footage captured by hyper-spectral goggles he designed. What initially looks supernatural quickly becomes something considerably more complicated. Clyne joins an elite Special Operations team as they attempt to understand the seemingly unstoppable apparitions and, more importantly, figure out how the hell they’re supposed to fight them.
Originally, Spectral was meant to be released theatrically via Legendary and Universal and was made with an approximate budget of around $70 million, but Universal ultimately pulled it from its planned theatrical release. In the aftermath, Netflix took the opportunity to acquire the distribution rights and released it worldwide in December 2016. While Netflix never disclosed viewing figures for the movie, as they pretty much never do for anything, Spectral still earned a solid 78% Rotten Tomatoes score and has remained available on the streamer for nearly a decade, so clearly this is one of those movies they’re happy they picked up.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Who Stars in ‘Spectral’?
Spectral stars James Badge Dale (The Pacific) as Mark Clyne, Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom) as Fran Madison, Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek) as General Orland, Max Martini (Pacific Rim) as Captain Sessions, Clayne Crawford (Lethal Weapon) as Sergeant Toll, Cory Hardrict (American Sniper) as Alessio, Louis Ozawa Changchien (Predators) as Sergeant Chen, Jimmy Akingbola (Bel-Air) as Sergeant Steve McFadden, Dylan Smith (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) and Philip Bulcock (The Dark Knight).
