5 Movies And TV Shows Recommended By Andy Weir

Andy Weir, like the protagonists in his books, is known for being chatty. The author of the best-selling sci-fi novels turned revered blockbusters “The Martian” and “Project Hail Mary” has never been hesitant to share his pop culture opinions, whether he’s expressing his issues with Christopher Nolan’s space epic “Interstellar” or weighing in on the scientific accuracy (or lack thereof) of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity.” Weir’s feisty takes have also landed him in hot water on more than one occasion, which is another trait he shares with the heroes of his stories, tellingly enough.

Luckily for him (and whoever, if anyone, handles his public relations), Weir mostly tends to talk about stuff that he likes — a practice in keeping with the optimism and spirit of solidarity that characterizes much of his literature — and sticks to criticism of the constructive variety. In addition to being a self-admitted Trekkie, he’s sung the praises of Seth MacFarlane’s “Star Trek”-inspired series “The Orville” and gone on about the ways that Isaac Asimov’s writing shaped his own approach to the sci-fi genre. Weir’s interests extend well beyond the realm of science fiction as well, as evidenced by the many non-sci-fi films and TV shows he’s previously recommended to the general public.

Indeed, of the five titles listed below (all of which Weir has shouted out in one way or another), you may note that only one of them is strictly of the sci-fi variety. Yet, look a little closer, and it will become clearer why these movies and series speak to him the way they do.

More than 30 years removed from its initial theatrical release in 1995, “Apollo 13” remains first-rate Competency Porn. Honestly, it’s easy to forget just how much of the Ron Howard-directed docudrama consists of scenes of folks simply being good at their jobs. Even when the titular 1970 lunar mission goes terrifyingly sideways partway to the Moon, its crew strives to maintain their composure like the champs they are. All the while, the NASA flight controllers on the ground at Houston work around the clock to come up with solutions to the dilemmas at hand as swiftly yet diligently as possible

Most of all, it’s obvious that this movie helped to foster Andy Weir’s love of crafting fictional stories about scientists and technicians solving life-or-death problems related to outer space. “I’ve often described ‘The Martian’ as that scene in ‘Apollo 13’ where they have to make the one air canister work with the other one. ‘The Martian’ is just an entire book of just that,” as he told GQ earlier this year.

Of course, there’s plenty more to admire about “Apollo 13.” Besides the A-grade performances by its three main leads (Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and the late, great Bill Paxton), there are the zero-gravity scenes on the Apollo 13 itself — sequences that have barely aged a day thanks to Howard’s decision to shoot them practically by sticking his actors in NASA’s infamous “Vomit Comet.” (Unsurprisingly, this created some very real puke problems for the film’s cast and crew.) In the end, however, it all comes back to the NASA technicians on Earth. As Weir put it, “I remember a joke from long ago that goes, ‘You might be a nerd if you think the real heroes of ‘Apollo 13′ were the flight controllers.’ I was like, ‘They were!'”

“Back to the Future” isn’t exactly what you would call a work of hard science fiction, not least of all when stacked up against Andy Weir’s way more scientifically rigorous outlook in “Project Hail Mary” and “The Martian.” But Weir knows that, and he doesn’t hold Robert Zemeckis’ smash-hit film about an everyday teenager (Michael J. Fox) who’s inadvertently flung from 1985 to 1955 via a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his crackpot scientist buddy (Christopher Lloyd) to unrealistic standards. “I think everybody agrees it’s a great movie because ‘Back to the Future’ didn’t put a lot of effort into explaining the details or the physics of how it works,” he told GQ. “Its approach to explaining the science behind time travel was, ‘Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.’ And that’s fine. I didn’t worry my pretty little head about it. I enjoyed it.”

Notably, Weir didn’t have anything to say about the social commentary in “Back to the Future,” as he’s become somewhat notorious for (wrongly) deploring the overt political storytelling in franchises like “Star Trek.” Rest assured, though, Zemeckis’ classic comedy has a distinct satirical streak in the way that it depicts the 1950s as being far less wholesome than certain folks liked to pretend back in the ’80s (and even now). It might not go to the same extremes as David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” but “Back to the Future” is still a rebuke of the decade’s Americana and portrays the era as a time of prejudice and sexual repression with a violent underside. The movie simply employs puckish humor and whiz-bang sci-fi action to make its medicine go down easier, much like Weir’s books (whether he’d cop to that or not).

Sticking with movies directed by Robert Zemeckis: Andy Weir cited 2000’s “Cast Away” as an influence on “The Martian” when interviewed by Read It Forward in 2016, and that very much tracks. “Cast Away,” after all, is the film where Tom Hanks’ character Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems analyst who’s obsessed with punctuality and efficiency, spends most of the narrative alone trying to stay alive in an environment that’s often actively hostile. In his case, he might be stranded on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean in the wake of a terrible plane crash (with naught but a volleyball that he names Wilson to keep him company). But functionally? Chuck’s only slightly better off than Mark Watney is when the latter is presumed dead and accidentally left behind on Mars by his fellow astronauts in “The Martian.”

At first glance, “Cast Away” and “The Martian” are, admittedly, different beasts thematically. Of the two celebrated titles, the former is all about Chuck being forced to reevaluate his priorities in life … whereas Mark, if anything, only falls harder in love with science than he was before over the course of his adventure. On the flip side, they’re also both stories about individuals having to solve one problem after another if they’re to have any hope of making it to tomorrow. More so, for all of its existential sadness, “Cast Away” is ultimately just as hopeful as “The Martian” when it comes to the idea that people are capable of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles and emerging all the wiser for it. As for “Project Hail Mary,” it’s basically “Cast Away” in space if Wilson came to life and was Chuck’s quirky roommate. (I kid, but only sorta.)

Of all the entries on this list, this one might be the biggest outlier. Not because it’s bad; quite the opposite, “Death by Lightning” — Netflix’s utterly engrossing, wilder-than-fiction adaptation of Candice Millard’s 2011 book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President” — was readily one of the best TV shows of 2025. But what does Mike Makowsky’s historical miniseries about the real-life events that led to the U.S. President James A. Garfield (Michael Shannon) being assassinated by his mentally unwell ex-superfan Charles J. Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen) have to do with the literature of Andy Weir?

The author didn’t provide any clues when he recommended “Death by Lightning” on social media, but his GQ interview might hold the answer. As Weir admitted to the outlet, he feels that “character depth and complexity” are his “biggest weakness” as a writer. Whether you agree with that or not, that’s in no way an issue with “Death by Lightning” and surely part of why Weir admires it so much. Macfadyen’s Guiteau, in particular, is one of the most beguiling characters in recent memory. With his unflatteringly curly beard and wide-eyed bluster, you understand how this sadsack would be driven to violent action by extreme rhetoric, between his lack of a firm support system and obvious psychological problems.

Guiteau’s not alone in that respect; other players, like Garfield’s incorrigible Vice President Chester A. Arthur (Nick Offerman) and conniving opponent Roscoe Conkling (Shea Whigham) are as colorful and unpredictable as those in any other story, fictional or not. No doubt, Weir’s one of many writers who wish they could come up with characters as memorable as these.

If you think this list feels more than a little dude-centric, you’re not alone. Thankfully, in a refreshing change of pace, that brings us to “Russian Doll,” one of Netflix’s best original shows ever and a series that Andy Weir was quick to voice his support for following its debut in February 2019. The show stars Natasha Lyonne (who also co-created “Russian Doll” with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler) as Nadia Vulvokov, a software engineer who’s struck in a rut of not-so-healthy behavior. Literally: When Season 1 begins, Nadia suddenly finds herself caught in a time loop that begins on the night of her 36th birthday and continues until she dies, only for the cycle to repeat itself. However, unlike other time loop stories, things change slightly every time that Nadia repeats this process … and she’s not the only one in this predicament on that particular night.

Funnily enough, “Russian Doll” has more in common with “Project Hail Mary” than you might realize. Weir’s book opens with its lead, Ryland Grace, waking up on a spaceship far, far from Earth with no idea who he is or how he got there. It’s only as his memories come back piece by piece that Ryland begins to fully understand not only the purpose of his cosmic mission but also his flaws as a person. Essentially, Nadia undergoes the same arc in “Russian Doll” (both in Season 1 and the more convoluted yet ambitious Season 2), as she gradually confronts the ways her troubled upbringing shaped her and sets out to not only treat those around her better but to allow herself to be helped by others as well. Yes, some folks would sooner get trapped in a time loop (or risk their life in outer space) than go to therapy.