This underrated Tom Cruise’s best stand-alone sci-fi is finally set to land on Hulu

As Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has graced the screen for over two decades. Starting in 1996, the Mission Impossible franchise has continued to grow and reach new heights of fame and commercial success. With such praise, the big brains in Hollywood are bound to want to cash in on the popularity by launching an IP-based franchise. However, one of Cruise's best films remained standalone despite its acclaim. That's Edge of Tomorrow, the 2014 film directed by the Swingers director Doug Liman.

This Tom Cruise film is a dystopian actioner that is often considered one of the best action films of the 2010s. Set in the near future, it shows him caught in a Groundhog Day-like scenario of experiencing the same battle over and over again. Christopher McQuarrie co-wrote its script before joining Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible realm with Rogue Nation (2015). McQuarrie worked with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth on this screenplay based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 novel All You Need Is Kill.

What is Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow about?

The official plot synopsis, per Warner Bros. Pictures, reads:

"An alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop-forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again...and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski. And, as Cage and Vrataski take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy!"

Tom Cruise plays Major William Cage, while Emily Blunt co-stars as Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski. For her performance, Blunt received a Critics Choice Award, which honored her as the Best Actress in an Action Movie in 2025. Cruise was also nominated for his performance besides the film's visual effects and production teams.

What to expect from Edge of Tomorrow?

This 2014 action flick is one of the finest sci-fi action thrillers from the decade that allowed Tom Cruise to portray his acting range in an entertaining genre vehicle. He has proven that he has brilliant comedic chops (case in point: 2008's Tropic Thunder) and can pull off intense dramatic roles devoid of elaborate stunts (case in point: 2004's Collateral and 1999's Magnolia). Edge of Tomorrow offered him to combine all those talents in a thrilling blockbuster.

Although underseen, this Tom Cruise film was highly praised by the critics. In his review, Slant Magazine's Jake Cole wrote,

"Doug Liman’s sci-fi action thriller remains one of the most enjoyable American blockbusters of the previous decade."

David Sims from The Atlantic said,

"Edge of Tomorrow is the perfect mix of blustering action and sci-fi thinky nonsense that is best enjoyed without picking at it too much."

Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson wrote,

"This is the kind of thoughtfully constructed movie that other summertime blockbusters should aspire to be more like, clever and cool and never giving you that ho-hum sense that you've seen it all before."

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) will be available to watch on Hulu from June 1, 2025, onwards.