Science in everyday conversation can feel distant— something conducted behind closed laboratory doors, far from big screens. Yet that impression overlooks a long history. Science fiction has existed for centuries, from Frankenstein to early speculative tales of space travel and mechanical life. Long before modern blockbusters, writers were vividly imagining futures shaped by discovery and invention.
However, when films dramatise genetics or quantum theory, they do more than entertain. They turn abstract principles into metaphors for regret, free will and choice. In doing so, cinema quietly reshapes how we imagine science itself, not just as a method of discovery, but as a language for human dilemmas.
In this sense, pop culture acts as a bridge. Scientific ideas woven into films, television, and books help audiences engage with concepts that might otherwise feel distant or technical. References to Avengers: Endgame, Jurassic Park and Apollo 13 are now used in classrooms and science communication to explain cloning, space engineering and chemistry. These narratives anchor understanding and spark curiosity, even if they sometimes simplify reality. A dinosaur resurrected from DNA or astronauts calculating survival against impossible odds may dramatise science, but they also make abstract ideas accessible.
This interplay reflects a deeper relationship between science and culture. Gianrocco Tucci of Sapienza University of Rome describes them as a ‘duelling duet’, constantly confronting and provoking one another. Science offers methods, evidence and critical thinking; culture absorbs these into values, habits and belief systems. Through what Tucci terms ‘practical induction’, scientific activity gradually reshapes social behaviour — from public health practices to digital communication norms.
However, Tucci warns against imbalance. When scientific authority hardens into scientism, all knowledge is reduced to what can be experimentally verified. Meaning, ethics and human experience cannot be confined to laboratory proof. For him, science and culture must remain interdependent, not hierarchical.
This cultural influence extends naturally into philosophy, particularly in discussions surrounding quantum physics.
Dr M S Ram Karthik, a theoretical physicist, observes: “Quantum physics is philosophical by nature because it relies on abstract postulates beyond everyday intuition. Science fiction often exaggerates these ideas, but many concepts once considered fantasy—such as quantum teleportation and state cloning—have since become scientifically meaningful. While films are rarely realistic, they play an important role in sparking curiosity, as long as audiences remember they are watching science fiction, not textbooks.”
Siddhant Nayak, assistant professor of philosophy at SVKM’s Mithibai College of Arts, views this tension as productive. “Both physics and philosophy are concerned with reality,” he says. “Physics studies how nature behaves, while philosophy asks what reality is and how we know it.” Drawing on Immanuel Kant, he notes, “Kant argues that we know the world only as it appears to us, filtered through limited senses and reason.” Modern physics, Nayak adds, does not render philosophy obsolete; it intensifies its relevance by exposing the assumptions beneath scientific claims.
Cinema readily transforms such uncertainty into narrative fuel. Multiverses fracture timelines, and time loops trap characters in existential puzzles. Filmmaker Mouli Kanala calls quantum theory “the perfect cinematic shortcut as it gives you intrigue and flexibility without rigid realism.” Yet he also warns, “When ‘quantum’ becomes shorthand for ‘don’t ask how’, the story loses coherence. Mystery should deepen meaning, not replace it.”
Popular storytelling, therefore, sits in a delicate space. It can shed light on difficult ideas through character and emotion, yet it can just as easily blur the boundary between hypothesis and imagination. Its strength lies not in perfect accuracy, but in accessibility. A science-fiction spectacle may never teach mathematics, but it can ignite the desire to understand what lies behind the spectacle.