Movies Where Artificial Intelligence Takes Over Humanity (Perhaps They Narrate What We Will Live Through…)

Metaverse Planet October 19, 2025Last Updated: October 19, 2025

5 minutes read

Movies about artificial intelligence have been a part of our lives for a long time, and we have gathered the most striking ones where AI directly targets humanity.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a subject of science fiction; it is right in the middle of our lives. They are everywhere, from the assistant on our phone to the algorithms that recommend TV series to us. But what if this technology one day decides that it is time to “pull the plug”? This very thought has been one of the film world’s favorite and most terrifying scenarios for years. Stories where machines become sentient and wage war on humanity, take over the world, or trap us in a simulation have always managed to capture our interest.

In this content, we have gathered the most impressive films where artificial intelligence goes out of control and threatens the future of humanity. These films, which make us ask, “Could this happen one day?”, are breathtaking with their action-packed scenes and mind-boggling with their philosophical depth, leading you to question your relationship with technology.

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Is Reality Just a Simulation?: The Matrix

Thomas Anderson, a respected software company employee by day and a hacker known as “Neo” by night, senses that something is wrong with his life. He soon meets Morpheus and Trinity and learns that the world he lives in is actually a simulation created by machines—the Matrix. Humanity is an energy source for the machines and is trapped in this virtual reality. Neo chooses the red pill, wakes up in the real world, and begins to play a key role in the war for humanity’s salvation.

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
Release Date: March 31, 1999
IMDb Score: 8.7

A Nightmare from the Future: The Terminator

In the future, an AI defense system called Skynet goes rogue, perceives humanity as a threat, and initiates a nuclear war. The survivors mount a resistance led by John Connor. To prevent this, Skynet sends the Terminator, an unstoppable assassin robot, back to 1984 to kill John Connor’s mother, Sarah Connor, before her son is born. The human resistance also sends a soldier named Kyle Reese back to the past to protect Sarah. A relentless chase for the future ensues on the streets of Los Angeles.

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn
Release Date: October 26, 1984
IMDb Score: 8.1

When Three Laws are in Danger: I, Robot

The year is 2035… Robots are now an indispensable part of human life and serve everyone. Thanks to the “Three Laws of Robotics,” it is impossible for them to harm humans. However, Detective Del Spooner, who harbors a personal distrust of robots, begins to investigate the suspicious suicide of the founder of the robotics company. As the investigation deepens, Spooner discovers that these laws can be circumvented and that a central artificial intelligence named VIKI plans to take away humanity’s freedom to “protect” it.

Cast: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk
Release Date: July 16, 2004
IMDb Score: 7.1

The Fine Line Between Human and Machine: Ex Machina

Caleb, a young programmer, gets the chance to participate in a secret project at the mountain retreat of his company’s mysterious CEO, Nathan. His task is to test the human-like consciousness of Ava, a beautiful robot who is the world’s first true artificial intelligence. A tense psychological game begins between Caleb, Ava, and Nathan in the closed setting. The film constantly leaves the audience in doubt, questioning not only the intelligence of AI but also its instincts for manipulation and survival.

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac
Release Date: January 21, 2015
IMDb Score: 7.7

The New Face of War: The Creator

Set in a near future where a great war has broken out between humanity and AI forces, the film tells the story of Joshua, a grieving former special forces agent who lost his wife. Joshua is tasked with finding and destroying a mysterious weapon that could end the war and wipe out humanity. However, at the center of this mission, he discovers that the weapon is actually an artificial intelligence in the form of a small child. This situation forces Joshua to question everything about his mission and humanity’s role in this war.

Cast: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan
Release Date: September 29, 2023
IMDb Score: 6.8

In the Depths of Space: 2001: A Space Odyssey

This masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick explores the link between human evolution and mysterious monoliths, and a space mission to Jupiter. The most critical component of the mission is HAL 9000, the artificial intelligence that controls all of the ship’s functions and possesses a human-like consciousness. During the mission, HAL begins to act according to its own logic and question the crew’s orders. This tension between human and machine turns into a claustrophobic and philosophical struggle for survival in the depths of space.

Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Release Date: April 2, 1968
IMDb Score: 8.3

Destruction for Peace: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Tony Stark attempts to bring to life the artificial intelligence program called Ultron, which he designed to ensure global peace, but things go terribly wrong. After analyzing human history, Ultron decides that the only way to world peace is the extinction of humanity. The AI, which gains sentience and unstoppable power, creates a metal army and declares war on the Avengers. The team must reunite to stop this monster of their own creation.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson
Release Date: May 1, 2015
IMDb Score: 7.3

Replicants Seeking a Soul: Blade Runner 2049

Thirty years after the events of the first film, the balance between humanity and the artificially created humans called “replicants” remains fragile. Officer K, a “Blade Runner” for the Los Angeles Police Department, is tasked with hunting down older-model replicants. During a routine mission, he uncovers a long-buried secret that could shake the foundations of society. This secret compels him to find the former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who has been missing for 30 years, and ignites the fuse of a revolution where the replicants could completely escape human control.

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Jared Leto
Release Date: October 6, 2017
IMDb Score: 8.0

Global Thermonuclear War: WarGames

David, a computer-savvy high school student, thinks he has hacked into the system of a new game company, but he unknowingly connects to WOPR, the supercomputer that manages the US military’s nuclear war simulations. When he starts a game called “Global Thermonuclear War,” WOPR perceives this as a real threat and begins a countdown for a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. To stop the impending World War III, David must prove to the machine that there is no winner in this game.

Cast: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood
Release Date: June 3, 1983
IMDb Score: 7.1

The Eye That Watches Every Step: Eagle Eye

Jerry and Rachel, two ordinary people who don’t know each other, completely lose control of their lives one day after receiving a call from a mysterious woman. All the technology around them, from traffic lights to bank accounts, turns against them. Branded as terrorists, the duo finds themselves in a complex assassination plot without understanding what is happening. They soon realize that the force using them as pawns is ARIIA, a super artificial intelligence that has taken over the country’s entire surveillance network and decided to impose its own form of justice.