Beavis and Butt-Head Creator Mike Judge’s Political Satire Is a Must Watch And It Just Hit Netflix

The 2000s was a great time for movies. Audiences had a huge range of films across numerous genres to indulge, with movies such as Iron Man and The Dark Knight changing the superhero genre forever, while fantasy fans got the first six films in the Harry Potter franchise and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. There were even some films that have gone on to be pop culture touchstones, like Kill Bill and Mean Girls. But the 2000s didn’t give audiences big hits. It also gave moviegoers films that may not have been the biggest draws upon first release but have become cult favorites in the years since — and one of them just landed on Netflix.

Directed and co-written by Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge, Idiocracy opened in theaters in 2006 and as of September 28th, the movie has just arrived on Netflix, making it easier than ever to watch. Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews, and more, the science fiction comedy film was a box office bomb, but the film’s humorous take on a dystopian, anti-intellectual society has grown in popularity.

What Is Idiocracy About?

Idiocracy follows U.S. Army librarian Joe Bauers (Wilson) who, along with a sex worker named Rita (Rudolph) end up participants in a government experiment into suspended animation with Joe being chosen because he was the most average person in the armed forces making him quite literally an “average Joe”. However, the experiment is suspended indefinitely and the two aren’t awakened for 500 years. The world they return to is wildly different, one where America has gotten dumber over time and, somehow, Joe might just be its only hope.

Read Next

A Pixar Movie With 83% on RT Just Hit Disney+ (And There’s a Good Chance You Haven’t Seen it Yet)

Upon its release, Idiocracy didn’t exactly wow critics. Common criticisms of the film focused on not quite getting the film’s humor as parody, and while the movie didn’t do particularly well at the box office either, it didn’t take long for the film to develop a cult following, something that has kept this almost 20-year-old comedy on many must-watch lists.

Idiocracy Is a Movie You Can’t Watch Just Once

Part of what makes Idiocracy an enduring classic and a must watch is how it manages to be almost timeless despite very much being a product of its time and the fact that each time you watch it, you’ll probably find something new. With themes about misinformation, commercialism, consumerism, and overpopulation that feel scarily familiar almost two decades later, there’s a lot that’s still relatable in Joe’s story.

Idiocracy is also a movie that remains fresh with each successive watch. Judge, who directed the film as well as co-wrote it with Ethan Cohen, packed a lot of details, sight gags, and even background jokes in the film, so many so that they’re almost impossible to catch in just one watch. Viewers find something new each time they press play, which also helps to make the movie a new experience that simultaneously is familiar and challenging. And, of course, if that’s not enough to sell you on Idiocracy, Terry Crews’ President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho is iconic.

Idiocracy is now streaming on Netflix.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!