Collider has published a ranked list of the best R-rated "soft sci-fi" films, a genre that leans on speculative technology as a backdrop for exploring human themes such as grief, identity and power rather than hard science or action. The piece argues that the R rating gave directors freedom to pursue darker, more emotionally honest storylines and endings without needing to appeal to a wider box-office audience.

Among the films highlighted are "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, which uses a memory-erasing procedure to examine heartbreak and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; "Blade Runner 2049" (2017), Denis Villeneuve's slow-paced, visually striking sequel starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, which questions identity and consciousness; and "Brazil" (1985), Terry Gilliam's satirical vision of a stifling bureaucratic dystopia starring Jonathan Pryce, notable for the director's protracted battle with his studio over its bleak ending. The full list numbers six films in total, each praised for using genre trappings to tell deeply personal stories.