A Terminator Star's Action Movie On Hulu Will Scratch Your '80s Sci-Fi Itch

If "Predator: Badlands" delivering the most radical "Predator" movie since the original didn't satiate your nostalgia for '80s sci-fi action, then "Osiris" might be for you — especially since it features the great Linda Hamilton. The movie debuted in 2025 but is essentially a tribute to movies like "Predator" and "Alien," combining over-the-top action with hammy dialogue and a bare bones plot to deliver some classic thrills.

We're surely at the tail-end of the widespread '80s nostalgia exemplified by the likes of "Stranger Things" (which is set for a grand finale with season 5). Now that Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" has flopped at the box office, the path is surely clear for the '90s and early 2000s nostalgia that has been hovering for some time to fully descend. But that doesn't mean our collective love for '80s action will ever die, which is why "Osiris" is definitely worth a look.

This 2025 sci-fi actioner comes from writer/director William Kaufman, who has pumped out a series of low-budget, high-octane actioners over the last decade or so and is, as Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com put it, a man who "specializes in action movie cheapies about soldiers and square-jawed men of action." That's pretty much what you're getting with "Osiris," except in space. The film boasts all the macho bravado of an '80s action movie and also happens to feature an icon of the decade in Linda Hamilton. If that sounds intriguing, read on for a full introduction to this surprisingly competent homage to the decade that gave us Rambo, "Aliens," and "The Terminator."

"Osiris" stars Max Martini as the leader of an elite Special Forces team who, in the midst of a firefight, find themselves suddenly abducted by aliens. When they awaken onboard the creatures' ship, they're forced to fight their way out, facing off against aliens that look more like some sort of "Gears of War" abominations than anything else. But in order to do so, the soldiers, who are basically the colonial marines at this point, have to unite with a group of survivors led by Linda Hamilton's Anya.

Hamilton is, of course, known for playing Sarah Connor in two legendary "Terminator" movies (and one "Terminator" movie where pretty much everything went wrong). But she had a prolific career outside of that unmatched action franchise, including starring roles in "Children of the Corn" and "Dante's Peak" alongside two guest roles (including a hidden one) on one of the greatest sitcoms of the '90s, "Frasier." Now, the 80s icon will be joining "Stranger Things" for its fifth and final season, which couldn't be a better place for her given the show's indebtedness to the decade in which she became a star.

If you can't wait for Netflix's biggest show to return, "Osiris" should tide you over, especially since the reviews aren't as bad as you might expect for a low-budget actioner of this sort. Sure, a 50% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes isn't ideal, but there's only one review from a top critic, the aforementioned Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com, who seemed to like the movie quite a bit, writing, "It's never surprising nor smooth enough to warrant more than qualified praise, but "Osiris" will make you sit up and ask: Wait, who made this?"

"Osiris" has several other things working in its favor beyond a legend like Linda Hamilton and competent direction. For one thing, the alien makeup effects were crafted by special effects maestro Todd Masters of MastersFX. The company became legendary for its work on "Child's Play" and "The Predator" and has more recently contributed to the bloody, franchise-best "Final Destination Bloodlines." Masters not only designed the alien suits and animatronic heads but acted as a puppeteer on "Osiris," so even if you're not totally convinced by the B-movie stylings of the film, you're getting some quality craftsmanship on the VFX side.

What's more, audiences seem to be quite taken with the movie if the Letterboxd page is anything to go by. Viewers are calling "Osiris" fun, decent action fare, and most seem pleasantly surprised by William Kaufman's command of action sequences. Perhaps that has something to do with the movie's streaming success. "Osiris" hit select theaters at the same time it went to video on demand on July 25, 2025. But it failed to make much of an impact, as you might expect from what is essentially a direct-to-VOD actioner. Now, however, the movie has hit Hulu and, according to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks viewership data across the streaming platforms, has climbed the charts, debuting at number two and climbing to number one as of November 19, 2025.

So, if you want to see an 80s icon in a loving homage to the movies of the decade with some solid creature effects and better-than-average action sequences, you could do a lot worse than "Osiris," which is streaming on Hulu right now.