The most exciting sci-fi, fantasy and horror films of 2018

Alita: Battle Angel

James Cameron has been working on this drama, based on a manga series about an amnesiac cyborg, for the best part of two decades. But now he’s bogged down in a billion Avatar sequels, so Robert Rodriguez is directing instead.

Annihilation

Alex Garland’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to the quietly disturbing Ex Machina stars Natalie Portman as a biologist on an expedition into a quarantined area of the US that is rife with nasty paranormal goings-on. It’s based on Jeff VanderMeers’ award-winning Southern Reach books, and the author has called the film “extremely horrific”. Which is encouraging.