While sci-fi in general is a wildly popular genre when it comes to movies, there’s a subgenre that is almost as popular — and equally as thought provoking. We’re talking about dystopian sci-fi, stories that doesn’t just dig into interesting science or fascinating new worlds but also explores society as well, digging into things that may appear to be perfect on the surface, but often have nightmarish and oppressive elements. While the reasons and oppressive elements differ, there’s always some element of humanity struggling and protagonists or heroes pushing back (or trying to).
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There are a lot of great dystopian sci-fi films that cover a wide range of things, from emotional suppression, corporations with too much control, rampant consumerism destroying the planet, and even questions about clones. Here are seven great dystopian sci-fi movies that take on those topics and if you haven’t seen them yet, consider this your list of what to watch.
7) Equilibrium
2002’s Equilibrium may have been a box office flop, but the film is a sci-fi gem that you really need to watch. Starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, and Taye Diggs, Equilibrium is set in dystopian, post-World War III world, specifically in the totalitarian city-state of Libria where human emotion is considered the root of all conflict and, thus, anything that stimulates emotion is outlawed. Bale stars as enforcement officer John Preston who, after accidentally missing a dose of the emotion-suppressing drug Prozium II, begins to feel things and ends up questioning everything.
The film has everything. There’s the compelling story about suppression, the importance of art, and human connection. There is also the really well-done action and the innovative “gun kata” combat system developed for the film. And there’s the fantastic performances from the entire cast, especially Bale. Equilibrium is just a very, very good film and it has gone on to be a cult favorite — but if you haven’t already seen it, you definitely need to.
6) Children of Men
Children of Men is easily one of the best sci-fi films of the 21st century. An adaptation of P.D. James’s novel The Children of Men, the film stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, and Michael Cane and is set in the then-near future 2027 (the film was released in 2006) in a world where human civilization is on the brink of collapse thanks to decades of human infertility. With society having fallen into authoritarianism, everything is bleak, but when civil servant Theo Faron (Owen) finds a refugee named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), he tries to help her escape as she is possibly the last spark of hope.
Children of Men is a bleak movie, but it is also a beautiful movie. There are beautiful sequences and shots of the film’s authoritarian and dying world and the cast also turns in some incredible performances of people living in the darkest of times with just the barest glimmer of hope. It’s an incredible watch and plays to some of humanity’s deepest concerns.
5) The Running Man (1987)
While Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man is now in theaters and sticks much closer to the source material, you can’t count the 1987 version of the film out. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this version of The Running Man is a bit darker in some respects. This version reinvents Ben Richards (Schwarzenegger) as a convicted criminal who is forced to take part in state-run game show called “The Running Man” in which prisoners have a chance to earn their freedom by surviving as “runners” from professional killers sent to hunt and execute them.
The film is definitely a big leap from King’s novel, but it’s full of incredible action sequences and is honestly just a lot of fun. Family Feud’s legendary host Richard Dawson in particular has a great turn as the Running Man host in the movie that simply must be seen.
4) Interstellar
While Interstellar is widely appreciated as a great sci-fi film, we don’t always think of the movie as a dystopia, but it is. The film is set in a dystopian future Earth where humanity is facing extinction due to climatological changes and widespread catastrophic blight that has, in turn, led to famine. With the Earth dying, humanity’s only hope is to find a new home on another planet with former NASA test pilot Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) enlisted to pilot a spacecraft through a wormhole as part of the mission.
While the film is arguably about the space exploration and Cooper and his crew’s efforts to save humanity, all of that story is fueled by the dystopian setting. It’s actually something a refreshing take on the dystopia idea as, instead of centering on an authoritarian government as many dystopian sci-fi stories do, Interstellar is instead a hopeful story about human survival and the enduring power of love and family.
3) Never Let Me Go
Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name and boasting a screenplay by 28 Days Later’s Alex Garland, Never Let Me Go is a stunning dystopian sci-fi drama that I’m surprised isn’t more appreciated than it is. Set in a dystopian alternative history, the film centers on three young adults: Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy. The trio spent their childhood at the boarding school Hailsham where they were completely sheltered from the world and encouraged to focus on their health and create art. It turns out, the children are clones raised for the sole purpose of being organ donors — they are destined to die when they are early in adulthood. As their time gets closer, the trio seek to defer their fate by proving their humanity through art.
Never Let Me Go is a beautiful and haunting film with big questions about the nature of what it means to be human, the value of art and its meaning, and even brings up questions about medical ethics. Not an action film or overly science-focused, the film is a quiet, heartbreaking romance that is just too good to not see.
2) The Girl With All The Gifts
While The Girl With All The Gifts is a zombie movie, don’t let that stop you from appreciating it as a great sci-fi dystopia as well. Based on the book of the same name, the film is set in a dystopian future where society has broken down after humanity has been ravaged by a fungal infection spread by bodily fluids that turned the infected into “hungries”. While “hungries” are fast moving, mindless zombies, there is a small group of seemingly normal children who happen to be carriers and they are humanity’s only hope to find a cure.
While it has similar elements to The Last of Us, The Girl With All The Gifts is a fresh take on the idea of zombies and what a way forward in a zombie apocalypse would look like. The film takes on big questions of morality and social evolution and the significance of change — and acceptance of it.
1) WALL-E
You probably weren’t expecting WALL-E on here, but animated movies can be sci-fi dystopias, too and WALL-E might be the best one of them all. Set in a distant future, the movie follows the robot WALL-E on a deserted and unhabitable Earth where he’s been left to clean up garbage left behind by humanity. When he’s visited by the robot EVE, who is there to see if Earth has resumed sustainable life, WALL-E falls in love and ends up pursuing her across the galaxy.
While the story is really a sweet romance between two robots, it’s the human elements of WALL-E that are dystopian. The ecocide that befell Earth is caused by consumerism, neglect, and corporate greed all of which continue even after humanity has fled to spaceships as the megacorporation Buy n Large is still in control. Humanity, for their part, have become helpless and obese due to microgravity and laziness with robots taking care of literally everything. It’s an interesting bit of commentary on society slipped into one of Pixar’s best movies ever.
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