We caught up with IWC ambassador Dr Brian Cox at this year’s Watches & Wonders, where he shared his thoughts on which science-fiction film truly impressed him with its accuracy to scientific principles. It didn’t come as much of a surprise when he mentioned a 2007 flick starring Cillian Murphy was worth watching, considering he was brought on as a consultant for the film.

2023 concluded with Oppenheimer, a 3-hour biopic centred around the Manhattan Project and the troubled American theoretical physicist responsible for the birth of atomic warfare, as the third-highest-grossing movie of the year.

RELATED: Christopher Nolan Reveals Why Oppenheimer Isn’t Just A Film, It’s An Experience

It flipped the script on the tired old narrative that films had become too long, or that the sci-fi genre, thanks, in part, to the everpresent superhero fatigue, had become too farfetched and unbelievable for modern audiences to appreciate.

So when we had the opportunity to speak with IWC ambassador (and world-renowned physicist) Dr Brian Cox at this year’s Watches & Wonders, we had to ask him about his preference for sci-fi feature films and his pick for most accurate.

Unsurprisingly, two of Christopher Nolan’s celebrated releases made Cox’s list… but there was one lesser-known Cillian Murphy-led feature that stood out.

The film follows the crew of the Icarus II, faced with a dangerous mission to reignite Earth’s dying sun; a last-ditch effort to save humanity and stop the planet from plunging into the next Ice Age…

OK, maybe it’s a bit farfetched, but Dr Brian Cox revealed that he visited the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) alongside Cillin Murphy to gain a better understanding of astrophysics to prepare for the film… talk about going above and beyond.