Dystopia, Baby! My Top 5 Dystopian Films to Celebrate The Dumpster Fire That is 2024
Big "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" energy
Is it me, or are there are some serious dystopian vibes out here in 2024? From a number of precarious global elections threatening democratic institutions, to climate change fucking up the planet, to wars on multiple continents, to out-of-control inflation, to AI about to run amok, it’s all feeling very 1936 in Catalonia up in here. Like shit is about to kick off in a deeply fucked way.
What does one do in such a time? Well, I employ a very “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” type of attitude towards life, which means, essentially, try to understand as much as possible, prepare as well as you are able, and enjoy yourself to the fullest possible extent. And when all else fails? Escapism baby!
Here’s a list of my favourite dystopian films, that make me feel a lot better about the world as it currently stands – because hey, at least we’re not that bad yet.
So without further ado – check them out!
5. The Road
I’ve read a lot of Cormac McCarthy, but not this one. And judging by the bleakness of the film (even for McCarthy) I think it’s one I’m content to give a miss.
The story follow a post-apocalyptic United States, peopled only by survivors of a catastrophic event, the specifics of which are left deliberately vague. Across this landscape, The Man (played by Viggo Mortensen) and his son, The Boy, travel to the sea, though what they expect to find there is never clear. The Man, ominously, carries a gun with just two bullets with him.
This is an incredibly grim film, unsurprisingly. Part of it was filmed in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which gives it an especially chilling contemporary resonance. But if you’re looking for any kind of respite from the depression-fest, you won’t get it. Hope for a better future just isn’t even hinted at – there isn’t a glimmer of it. Early on in the movie, The Boy’s mother (and The Man’s wife) walks out into the nuclear winter to die, unwilling to live in a world with no hope, populated by roving cannibals and increasingly desperate humans.
1000% here for her decision btw.
4. V for Vendetta
First let me say that as a general rule, I really don’t enjoy superhero movies. However, I enjoyed the graphic novel of this quite a bit, and the film adaptation is pretty faithful, so I’ll allow it. Plus it’s got Hugo Weaving chewing up the scenery and the Wachowskis behind the lens, what more do you want from your dystopia, honestly? It does unfortunately also have Natalie Portman doing the worst British accent known to man, but you can’t win them all.
Set in a future Britain where Christo-Nationalist Fascism has well and truly taken over, V for Vendetta is about a masked hero who takes a stand against the government and their Fox-News-esque national broadcast network by re-enacting elements of Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot.
It tackles a lot of pertinent issues including what happens when you combine fascist-backed news-media for an amalgamation entertainment and fear-mongering with an apathetic populace. It’s also just a lot of fun.
And who among us has not fantasised about blowing up the government and starting all over again?1
Worth a watch for sure.
definitely not me low-paid government security worker who monitors my digital footprint, definitely not me.
3. WALL-E
I adore Pixar. I un-ironically think that, up until the past five years or so, have been making some of the best films, animated or no around. And WALL-E is probably one of the best things they’ve ever done.
It’s one of the prime examples of a “kids’ movie” that really isn’t – there’s actually not a ton for kids to love here. The first twenty minutes of the film has no dialogue at all, and what dialogue there is is extremely minimal until at least the second third of the film. And the subject matter is pretty grim. Corporations have rendered planet Earth a barren wasteland incapable of supporting human life and so, all the humans have taken off on a space cruise until life on Earth can be supported again.
The hero, WALL-E, is a little robot whose job is to search for something living as proof that humans can return to Earth. He’s also a sweet, romantic, showtune loving little weirdo – you will be amazed how a pair of sweet little robot eyes can tug at your heartstrings. The action of the film really kicks off when he finds a small living plant and accidentally calls the ship back to Earth along with a robot named EVA, with whom WALL-E falls instantly in love.
It’s not at all a depressing movie on the surface. It’s sweet and cute and lots of fun. But like a lot of Pixar movies, when you scratch the surface, it’s quite dark. Humans have been reduced to obese, jelloid blobs permanently attached to their chairs, who are unable to walk and unwilling to be distracted from shopping, junk-food and TV. There are clues throughout the film that the cruise ship has been sailing for far longer than anyone imagined.
But even with grim subject matter, it’s a story grounded in hope – and it’s so sweet. More than worth a watch if you’ve never seen it.
2. Aniara
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If WALL-E is a film grounded in hope, Aniara is grounded in absolute despair. It’s an extremely effective dystopian film for this reason, but it’s also a film that I don’t particularly want to watch again. It’s also a movie I think about regularly, even today, years after I first watched it.
It’s a Swedish-Danish film that tells the tale of a ship carrying humans from a failing Earth to the colonies on Mars and gets knocked off course by a piece of space debris. The ship’s captain and crew soon announce that this has taken their trip from a three-week cruise to a two-year odyssey.
As society begins to unravel onboard the ship, mass suicides, cults and addiction become more frequent and eventually, the people onboard discover the secret that the captain and crew have been hiding from them all – there is no end to this voyage, they are drifting in space and their ship has become a sarcophagus.
It’s a really effective film. It’s also pretty horrifying. Recommend.
1. Children of Me
Not only is this one of my top dystopian movies, it’s one of my top movies period. It originally flopped upon its release, but it’s gone on to become a cult classic and also consistently ranks highly in top science fiction/dystopian and even just all-around films of all time now. It’s so well deserved.
Set in a bleak future (at the time – it’s nearly current now) London, where humans have lost the ability to reproduce, Britain has been taken over by a fascist government and refugees are kept in cages and transported to crime-ridden ghettos. In this setting Theo, a man who’s lost it all and is just trying to get through the day, stumbles onto a miracle – a West African refugee teenager named Kee who happens to be pregnant.
The only hope for a future for humanity lies in Theo and his friends getting Kee to a rebel group called the Human Project, who are anchored offshore – but of course, very little goes to plan.
It’s the subtle details that make this movie so excellent. Alfonso Cuarón creates a dark, hopeless and yet unnervingly plausible Britain, using what issues were rampant at the time (and remain worse so today) and taking them to a higher degree. Climate change and pollution are hinted to have played a part in human infertility, refugees are brutalised and treated like animals, fascist propaganda is screamed at citizens from every vantage point and the rich watch it all unfold from the comfort of their penthouses – which are, presciently and brilliantly depicted as being adorned with Banksy originals.
This movie has aged brilliantly and it’s little wonder why. The direction is impeccable (special shoutout to the one-track shot in the car - IYKYK). The cast (including Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine) are all faultless. And the story is even more prescient now than it was then.
Bits and Bobs
Woof. That was grim. I’m sorry. But also not sorry. Go watch them, they’re all brilliant. And then watch something silly and lovely because, much as life is scary and chaotic, it’s also beautiful and magical. As should your escapism be! On this note, lately I’ve been…
Watching: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. Guys, this is so adorable. And not sad at all. I mean, some of it is. You will probably cry. But it’s sad in the “isn’t life wonderful and worth it” way that we could all use more of. It’s like Queer Eye for the soul.
Listening to: Classy with Jonathan Menjivar. I came across this podcast on numerous Best of 2023 lists and decided to give it a go – so glad I did. It’s about the class-related “chasms between us that are really hard to talk about, but too big to ignore.” It’s so thought-provoking and the guests are wonderful. It has definitely made me squirm and made me think. Love it.
Reading: Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, as per my book club. We almost unanimously hated it and I am still strongly of this opinion. It was essentially a book about awful people being awful to one another and while I definitely am not of the opinion that a protagonist needs to be good or likeable at all, I do think they have to be interesting, and they just weren’t. I could not see the point of this book. I have heard (though cannot say as I have not read it) that Normal People is better.
That’s all for now! May your 2024 be less dystopian than you think.
I also loved Children of Men the book - a bit different from the movie. Not sure about watching Aniara or The Road - I don't know if my heart could take it