What if there are still movies set in a more remote, totalitarian society than we see here in the real world?
I don’t know when I’ll finish writing this article, as my 9-to-5 life is a nightmare. It’s safe to say that we won’t forget November 2024 anytime soon. Many cinephiles online watch a lot of classic noir with the hashtag #noirvember. I like to cleanse my October horror palette with sci-fi. Particularly if they tackle real-life issues and politics in a dystopian setting. It’s a different kind of horror.
However, we all know that truth is stranger than fiction nowadays. Saying Idiocracy has become a cliche at this point, and there’s no doubt 1984’s Big Brother is watching us online and in other methods of surveillance in our neighborhoods. However, there are still some movies we can watch and think our reality is not as crazy as the world that film is taking us.
Here are my 10 picks for the top dystopian films that are still stranger than our reality. So, turn off the news, log off social media, and enjoy these movies.
10 Logan’s Run
Kicking off the list, Logan’s Run is a film about a domed city where people reaching their 30th birthday die under the disguise of being “renewed.” Logan’s Run may not be as good as the rest of this list, but it is still fun pulpy 70s Sci-Fi. The ageism in this society is bizarre, but it’s the thought of living in a dome that freaks me out.
9 Dredd
Once botched in 1995, the popular comic book about cops who combine the duties of judge, jury, and executioner was reimagined for the big screen again in 2012. This cult classic is a badass action film with Karl Urban as the title character. Mega City One is a dystopian wasteland of tall buildings enclosed in darkness. Very similar to Hong Kong’s demolished Kowloon Walled City, and with these executioners. It still makes the real-life Armed Forces look weaker. I said, ’cause, in reality, we’re getting there.
8 Escape from NY
In Carpenter’s version of 1997, the entire island of Manhattan is turned into a prison during the Cold War. We can assume the Berlin Wall never fell, the war continued, and crime went up so much due to the social and political turmoil. Though Mr Carpenter made this world looks good, it is still a fucked up place to live. So we can only wish we were Snake Plissken or someone who comes close to his level of badassery and coolness.
The post-Giulliani Manhattan we live in today is gentrified, and only the rich can afford to live there. So, who wants to be there anyway. Let the rich lock themselves in there.
7 Soylent Green
Soylent green is…no spoilers. Moving on.
6 Delicatessen
Speaking about food.
In this French sci-fi black comedy, a butcher owns an apartment building. Like other films by Marc Caro and Jean Pierre-Jeunet, it is a surrealist tale that looks like a Children’s book but is way more sinister. Delicatessen can be morbid, but there is some tenderness in that crazy world.
5 12 Monkeys
I was undecided between the bureaucratic nightmare Brazil or the time travel one, 12 Monkeys. It’s hard to choose between Terry Gilliam’s dystopian films. I gave the edge to the psychological time travel adventure to prevent an apocalyptic plague. As a result of time travel, Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt both gave one of their best performances.
4 Planet of the Apes
Though the modern Planet of the Apes trilogy is a series of good films, they couldn’t be here without the one that started it all. The second flick starring Charlton Heston is a sci-fi classic that spawned a franchise of countless follow-ups, books, toys, etc. Why dystopian? The apes have their own totalitarian society in which humans are enslaved. I guess there’s something about our intelligence that turns any species into greedy beings.
3 Mad Max: Fury Road
One of my favorite movies from the past 10 years, the fast-paced sci-fi action film gets even better with multiple viewings. The first time, I enjoyed the thrill ride in the movie theater. When rewatching it and watching this year’s prequel, I fully understood the post-apocalyptic world and Immortan Joe’s tyranny. If it’s been a while, rewatch it with the antagonist in mind.
2 Children of Men
Alfonso Cuaron’s modern masterpiece occurs in a world where women are infertile. It is in an unlikely hero in Clive Owen’s disillusioned bureaucrat who will rebel and save the last glimpse of hope. I’m a nerd for long takes, and the car scene is one of the best single-take action sequences ever made.
1 Stalker
Like all the other Andrei Tarkovsky films, Stalker is slow-paced, poetic, and fucking complicated. It’s ironic and something out of a dystopian world that this film is on the list as Logan’s Run. It’s the kind of film to watch early with a cup of coffee and not at night with a beer. But your patience will be compensated with one of the most thought-provoking and satisfying films ever. It’s like you will enter The Room alongside the characters.
