Since Fritz Lang set Metropolis (1927) in a futuristic, urban dystopia we’ve been mesmerized by on-screen droids. Here are some of the latest, best, and brightest robot movies and series to stream right now.
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Documentaries
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AlphaGo (2017)

Greg Kohs' astounding documentary about the Google DeepMind Challenge Match explores how Lee Sedol, South Korea's world champion Go player, fares against AlphaGo, a computer program developed by DeepMind Technologies that mastered the game through artificial intelligence. The film is not just about a game. It is about life. As one viewer put it, AlphaGo is "a battle of epic proportions leading to philosophical implications concerning the future of the human race". Can a computer be better than a human? (YouTube, Google Play, Prime Video)
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Series

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Black Mirror (2011–2019)

Exploring a twisted, high-tech multiverse where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide. The British series Black Mirror delves into anxiety about the  technological developments dealt with in an alternative reality or near future. Each episode is unique. In one, you may enter a reality in which people have chips in their heads that record all events. In another, antagonist Robert Daly imprisons and abuses avatars of colleagues in a virtual world he may not be able to control. (Netflix)

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Westworld (2016 - 2019)‍

Westworld is HBO’s addictive reboot of the classic 1976 movie with Yul Brynner. The storyline is similar: a theme park populated with robots entertains humans living out wild west fantasies including shoot-outs and cyborg romances. Thirty years later however, the park is struggling to find fresh ways to entertain guests, and a technical glitch means robotic memories are no longer completely wiped out once visitors leave the park. (HBO Max, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play)
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Better Than Us (2018) ‍

The first Russian sci-fi series purchased by Netflix, Better Than Us is a slick thriller set in 2029. China's one-child policy has led to a shortage of women so an engineer programs a robot, Arisa, to become a wife and the mother of adopted children. Arisa’s creator dies, however, and she is sold to a Russian robotics company before she accidentally kills a man and goes on the run. (English language, Netflix)

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Person of Interest (2011 - 2016)

An ex-CIA agent and a programmer try to save lives with surveillance A.I. that sends them the identities of civilians involved in impending crimes. Person of Interest fully transitioned to a science fiction drama in Season 2, questioning super-intelligence and other issues at the heart of artificial intelligence. (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play)

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Lost in Space (2018 - )

Lost in Space is a rethink of the legendary 1965 series following a family of colonists whose spaceship veers off course. In 2046, the Robinson family is sent to colonize the Alpha Centauri star system. An alien robot breaches the Resolute's hull, however and they crash into a nearby planet. (Netflix)

The Mandalorian (2019 - ) 

A bounty hunter travels to the outer reaches of the galaxy in The Mandalorian, a space western created by director Jon Favreau (The Wolf of Wall Street). It is the first live-action series in the Star Wars franchise, and critics and fans love every step. Pedro Pascal (Narcos) plays the masked hero. (Disney+) 

Humans, Seasons 1-3 (2015 - 2018)

Set in a parallel present, the trendy gadget for busy families is a Synth - a humanoid. Humans follows one particular family living in the suburbs with a machine that may not be content to be just their servant. (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Apple TV)

Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009)‍

The Galactica crew protect a small civilian fleet, the last of humanity, as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, but the Cylons resurface. The series is part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The New York Times placed the show on its 2019 list of ‘20 Best TV Dramas Since The Sopranos’. (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, BBC iPlayer in the UK) 

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021 - )

Cloned humans aim to eliminate the Jedi, branding them traitors who must be executed under an Order 66 diktat. They come up against a unit of elite, experimental clones who travel through a changing galaxy in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. Fans love the series - with a solid 8.3/10 ranking on IMDB and 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes - although critics aren’t so smitten. (Animated, Disney+) 
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Movies

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Interstellar (2014) 

Mike Nolan’s Interstellar robotics are so seamlessly integrated that A.I. almost steals the movie. You’ll want to keep your eye on Tars, one of four ex-US Marine tactical robots, along with Plex, Case, and Kipp, that inhabit the Interstellar universe. (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Pay)

The Matrix franchise (1999-2021) ‍

In a dystopian future, humanity and intelligent machines co-exist but who is really in control? Computer programmer Thomas Anderson, using the hacker alias ‘Neo’ (Keanu Reeves), is drawn into an epic story of rebellion. (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play)

Ex Machina (2015)‍

Caleb, a programmer for a search engine company, participates in an experiment to evaluate the human qualities of a humanoid A.I. Ava is far more clever than Caleb realizes, however, and he finds himself attracted to a robot whose memory will soon be wiped out. (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play)

Blade Runner: 2049 (2017)

Los Angeles Police Officer K (Ryan Gosling) unearths a secret that could plunge society into chaos. He sets out to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), an ex-blade runner who's been missing for 30 years. The 2017 film is the sequel to the not-to-be-missed 1982 Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner. (Amazon Prime, Hulu, Google Play, Apple iTunes, HBO Max)

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Her (2013) 

joaquin Phoenix star as the lonely writer Theodore Twombly who falls for Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), a computer operating system with accelerated learning capabilities. Romance blooms but is it more than a love of gadgets? 

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I Am Mother (2019) 

This Australian film explores the bond between a robot mother and child living in a shelter after the end of the world. I Am Mother examines the love-hate relationship with artificial intelligence in a compelling, enjoyable, watchable film. (Netflix) 

The Terminator franchise (1984-2019) ‍

Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the franchise in 1984 as The Terminator, a cyborg assassin disguised as a human who travels from 2029 to 1984 for a hit job. Meanwhile, Skynet, an artificial intelligence system, threatens to trigger a nuclear holocaust. The action classic was followed by five sequels including (above) 2019’s The Terminator: Dark Fate. (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play)

Honorable Mention‍

Honorable mention goes to Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001); Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015); Dr. Who (2005 - ); Passengers (2016); I, Robot (2004); Archive (2020); Chappie (2015); WALL-E (2008); and the Transformers series (2007- 2022). 

Robot favorites‍

A special shout out to Star Wars’ R2D2, C3PO and L3-37; 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000; Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Data; Battlestar Galactica’s robot race of Cylons; the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series’ paranoid android Marvin; and The Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man.