Science fiction is a hugely popular genre and has seen many incredible stories take advantage of its unique elements. From Star Wars to Ex Machina, science fiction can run a large gamut of characters and settings to convey their stories. However, not all sci-fi stories are created the same -- and not all depend on the more obvious tropes of the genre.

Some of the best sci-fi tales available are grounded a bit more than the big, effect-heavy blockbuster films one may expect when it comes to the genre. That doesn't always mean stories that necessarily take place on Earth, but instead, use the genre to tell a more subtle story. Many take an introspective look at the human condition as opposed to placing the focus on gigantic galactic civil wars or space battles. Depending on the movie-goer, a more grounded science fiction film can deliver a far more relatable experience than many of the popcorn sci-fi movies out there.

10 Asteroid City is Wes Anderson's Best Sci-Fi Film

• IMDb rating: 6.5/10

Asteroid City may feature the depiction of an alien emerging from its spaceship to borrow a desert town's tourist attraction, but despite some very sci-fi elements within the film's "story within a story" sequences, the overall narrative exists to explore the human condition over anything else. In the film, the audience watches as a writer struggles to finish his stage play that revolves around the titular Asteroid City, where the characters he writes struggle with the emotional crisis they would go through when they find themselves lost after a lifetime of carrying on the best they could.

As the children featured in the town's youth astronomy convention exhibit their impressive and often astonishing inventions, they represent the promise of life that the adults seem to have been betrayed by. Wes Anderson's Asteroid City may not be as sci-fi as audiences were expecting or hoping for before its release, but it still fits the genre perfectly with its subtle look into the psychology and curiosity of humankind.

9 Robot & Frank Shows the Danger of Robotics

• IMDb rating: 7/10

In Robot & Frank, an aging and dementia-ridden ex-convict is gifted with a robot companion by his disenchanted son. Robot is an advanced robot meant for therapeutic care and helping with everyday tasks. After realizing that Robot's programming does not make a distinction between recreational activities and illegal activities, Frank uses his newfound companion to get back into his old life of crime.

First stealing a library book, these heists eventually graduate to more valuable possessions, such as stealing the jewels of a rich developer looking to renovate the local library. Robot & Frank tells a beautifully artistic sci-fi story of age and the natural inclination to attempt to outrun it while featuring an ending as heart-wrenching as it is heartwarming.

8 The Lobster is Morbidly Hilarious

• IMDb rating: 7.1/10

Popular director Yorgos Lanthimos is no stranger to obscure concepts that explore the psychology of man, and that's very much the case for The Lobster. Colin Farrell stars as a man who is forced to join the community at The Hotel, a facility where people are obliged to find a romantic partner or risk being transformed into an animal after 45 days.

What type of technology is used for such an incredible transformation process isn't fully disclosed to the viewer, but it certainly puts romance and stress to the test -- as does the film itself, which features a few harrowing sequences. Breaking down societal constructs in a way only Lanthimos can, The Lobster makes for a morbidly hilarious approach to sci-fi and can remain grounded through the everyman performance of Colin Farrell.

7 Moon Brings the Concepts of Alien to a More Grounded Story

• IMDb rating: 7.8/10

Sam Rockwell puts in a genuinely underrated performance with his dual role as both Sam Bell and Sam Bell's clone in 2009's Moon. Isolated on the Moon to man the one-person operations used to mine a new fuel, helium-3, for the elusive Lunar Industries, Bell is two weeks away from clocking out of a three-year shift. After crashing his rover while recovering a canister of helium-3, Bell wakes with no memory and is extremely confused.

When his base's artificial intelligence, GERDY, refuses to let Bell leave the base to retrieve the wrecked rover, he's able to fake an incident and get outside. Along with the wrecked rover, he finds something he could never have expected -- his very own doppelgänger. What follows is a tense, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant story of an enslaved man attempting to right the wrongs forced upon him for profit and greed. While the film is just as claustrophobic as something like Alien, Moon shies away from normal sci-fi tropes by keeping itself grounded with the stellar work of Sam Rockwell and all the understandable frustration Sam Bell feels throughout the film.

6 Arrival is One of Villeneuve's Best Sci-Fi Entries

• IMDb rating: 7.9/10

In Arrival, audiences got a true taste of director Denis Villeneuve's ability to take a small, subtle story and present it with an other-worldly scope. For a movie involving an alien invasion and a severe case of displaced consciousness, Arrival can remain grounded and tell an incredibly emotional story about language, love, and trauma.

Long before Dune: Part Two was blowing audiences away with its grandiose sense of adventure, Villeneuve's Arrival was stirring audience emotions in an entirely different way. Not only is Arrival a great example of the commonly over-the-top genre being utilized in a grounded manner, but it also presents movie-goers with a truly unique portrayal of extraterrestrial visitors unlike any that have come since or before.

5 Children of Men is a Dystopian Nightmare

• IMDb rating: 7.9/10

Alfonso Cuarón's classic Children of Men is the epitome of a dystopian nightmare. The film takes place in a world plunged into chaos after humankind has caused everything from global depression and ecocide to endless war and even human infertility. It's been eighteen years since the youngest child was born, and the world is on the brink of destroying itself without any form of direction to speak of.

When Clive Owen's Theo Faron is thrust into the role of finding transit papers for the pregnant woman the world has not seen in a generation, Children of Men becomes a harrowing fight-or-flight where the very existence of humankind is on the line. While the action is intense and the tracking-shot style keeps the tension throughout, the human element of the film keeps this film very grounded, which ultimately makes it all the more relatable. Children of Men truly is a story that explores the human condition unlike any other.

4 Her is a Sci-Fi Romance

• IMDb rating: 8/10

Her is a thought-provoking look into what loneliness, depression and desire can do to somebody who otherwise would be unable to handle it. In Her, Joaquin Phoenix's Theodore Twombly finds himself enamored with his new AI companion, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Samantha proves extremely capable and -- despite being a disembodied voice for most of the film -- can learn new things very easily and grow psychologically.

Eventually, the two form a romantic bond with one another, which only allows Samantha to, in many ways, emotionally evolve even past Theodore. Eventually, Samantha upgrades herself and explains that she has fallen in love with thousands of other AIs in the world. In a decision that truly screams "science fiction," Samantha reveals that she and the other AIs plan to leave the Earth. Being unable to explain to Theodore in a way he -- or the members of the audience -- would be able to completely comprehend makes her heartbreaking decision hit even harder. Her is an outrageously interesting story of lost love that, despite its odd concept, actually proved very relatable for many movie-goers.

3 The Truman Show is One of Jim Carrey's Best Dramatic Roles

• IMDb rating: 8.2/10

The Truman Show follows Truman -- played to perfection by Jim Carrey in one of his earlier dramatic roles -- as he slowly uncovers the fact that he's been the center of a TV show that has been broadcast all around the world for his entire life. For a film from the 90s, The Truman Show includes a very prophetic portrayal of how the media would eventually evolve -- with the world's current 24/7 coverage of popular figures that can be streamed at all hours of the day.

Being watched by directors and producers from a gigantic studio shaped like the Moon, Truman finds himself enclosed in a dome that revolves entirely around him -- complete with businesses, households, and other characters who help form his delusional life. The Truman Show dissects what isolation can feel like even when surrounded by familiar faces, even with so many eyes focused directly on the person in question.

2 A Clockwork Orange is a Harrowing Story

• IMDb rating: 8.3/10

Not a typical science fiction film by any means, A Clockwork Orange can still be categorized as such as it features some of the most prominent hallmarks of a good sci-fi story. Featuring speculative technology that helps completely morph a young man's mental status, A Clockwork Orange is one of the more harrowing glimpses into the cultural horrors that society oftentimes forces on its population.

While the only immediately recognizable sci-fi element is that of a gloomy dystopian England and a clothing style that didn't quite fit the trends of the early 70s, it still manages to tell a very familiar story for fans of the genre -- all while somehow coming off completely fresh, even all these years later. Still, its morbidly grounded atmosphere would cause some second-guessing whether to consider it a true entry into the genre -- rest assured, it is one of the great examples.

1 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Is Thought-Provoking and Intense

• IMDb rating: 8.3/10

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is easily one of the most thought-provoking films of the 2000s. Featuring incredible performances from Jim Carey as Joel and Kate Winslet as Clementine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind introduces the fascinating concept of a medical procedure that allows one to erase anybody from their mind.

What follows is an adventure through the psyche of Joel as he races to stop the highly advanced procedure from erasing Clementine -- a woman who represents the exact opposite ideology as his own, yet a woman he loves more than anything. It's a haunting and ever-so-satisfying story that breaks down the psychology that accompanies a troubled but strong relationship and even helps the audience to better appreciate the loved ones in their own lives. That is no small feat for a sci-fi film, but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind accomplishes it with flying colors.