The 10 Best Dystopian Movies (IMHO)
I love some dystopia, and there is just so much good stuff in the Hollywood dystopian diaspora. I love the look, I love the music, I love the themes. Tear down society and I am here for it.
(If you want my definition of what dystopia is, you can read this article about my favorite dystopian books.)
As with everything, this is all subjective. But I’ll try to explain why these are my favorites and other contenders don’t quite make the list.
1. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Plot: Decades after the events of Blade Runner, a replicant named K, working as a Blade Runner hunting his own kind, uncovers a secret that could change everything. His search leads him to the missing Rick Deckard and deeper into the mystery of replicant identity.
Why It's Great:
Visually stunning – This movie is really gorgeous. I’m a Villaneuve fanboy anyway, but the shots in this thing are fantastic. A breathtaking cyberpunk world with jaw-dropping cinematography.
Philosophically deep – Questions identity, humanity, and memory.
Expands the original – Builds upon the themes of Blade Runner while telling a powerful new story.
Why I Love Blade Runner 2049?
Yes, I know that it’s a little weird to start this list off with a sequel to one of the best dystopians, but I just like this one better?? I think that it is better paced, looks better (which is not to say anything bad about the groundbreaking effects of the original), and that it just wraps things up in a way I found more satisfying. Plus, c’mon guys: I wrote Variant. I love me some androids, dreaming of electric sheep or not.
2. Children of Men (2006)
Plot: In a future where humans have mysteriously lost the ability to reproduce, civilization collapses into chaos. A former activist is tasked with protecting a pregnant woman—the first in decades—as they flee from oppressive forces.
Why It's Great:
Incredible cinematography – Features long, uninterrupted action sequences. And this isn’t just like a single oner—the famous car scene in the forest is AMAZING, but it’s like one of seven oners that do the same thing. This was really masterfully done.
Realistic dystopia – A hauntingly believable vision of societal collapse. I kinda love the fact that we never learn WHY people became infertile or why someone became pregnant. I don’t think that’s nearly as important as the question of what happens next.
Emotional storytelling – A deeply human story of hope and survival.
Why Do I Love Children of Men?
It highlights the fragility of civilization and suggests that hope—even in the form of new life—is the most powerful force for change. I really love the premise: what if there really was nothing left to live for? Why would you still go to a job, or clean up after yourself? Why would you appreciate art? All of these questions are far more interesting to me than “why did they stop having babies?”
3. Interstellar (2014)
Plot: In a dying world where Earth can no longer sustain humanity, a team of astronauts embarks on a dangerous mission through a wormhole to find a new home for mankind.
Why It's Great:
Scientific depth – Based on real physics concepts like relativity and black holes. And I know you can say that the science is stretched—but it’s stretched really, really well. No, it’s not very likely that when someone gets sucked into a black hole they’ll be able to contact the past, but it’s possible, and the case that Interstellar makes for how it’s possible is excellent.
Emotional core – The father-daughter story that drives the human element. I’ll jump to the finish: this movie is in my top five movies of all time, and it’s because of the heart that it has in it. This movie makes the case that only two things can transcend time, and they’re gravity and love.
Breathtaking visuals – Stunning depictions of the black hole, the foreign planets (mostly filmed in Iceland to get the otherworldliness of them)—and that’s to say nothing of the technology, like the space station, or the ships, or the robots.
Why Do I Love Interstellar?
It explores human perseverance, environmental responsibility, and the idea that love transcends time and space. Of all the dystopias in this list, this one is by far the most hopeful. And because there is so much heart and humanity and love, the thrills are more thrilling, the losses are more devastating, and the wins make you cheer even more.
I acknowledge that Christopher Nolan makes movies that are mind-bending, and that’s all well and good. He does it in all his movies from Memento to Inception. But I don’t think that his other mind-bending movies have anything close to the humanity that Interstellar does.
4. Gattaca (1997)
Plot: In a future where society is ruled by genetic perfection, Vincent Freeman, a naturally born "in-valid," assumes a false identity to pursue his dream of space travel, challenging the system that deems him inferior.
Why It's Great:
Intelligent and thought-provoking – A chilling look at genetic discrimination. As a disabled person myself, and in a family with lots of disabled people, I have witnessed genetic discrimination on a surface level—to see it taken to this extreme is what makes Gattaca (and dystopias generally) so much better.
Minimalist but effective – The movie is subdued. I don’t think that it was ever intended to be a blockbuster—it’s not that kind of movie. But I like that about it. It’s the literary cousin of blockbusters like Interstellar.
Why Do I Love Gattaca?
It critiques eugenics, social engineering, and the dangers of a world that values genetic superiority over human potential.
Let me tell you something about myself: I am firmly in the belief that eugenics are going to be a MAJOR force in the next hundred years. Whether that comes in the form of custom-made genetic babies, or in the form of hiring practices that analyze your genes to see if you’re a good biological “fit” for the company. This is a terrible thing, I think, but I see it coming. And I’d like to say “not in the United States” but… maybe in the United States? We have made plenty of stupid decisions over the years, and one thing we’re notoriously bad at is judging people based on their bodies.
So Gattaca scares me.
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Plot: A genetically modified chimpanzee named Caesar develops intelligence beyond human expectations and leads a revolution against mankind after experiencing cruelty at their hands.
Why It's Great:
Emotionally compelling – Caesar is one of the most sympathetic protagonists in modern sci-fi. The CGI to make him good only gets better in later movies (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes blew my mind) but you really love that ape and empathize with him.
Smart social commentary – Explores animal rights, intelligence, and oppression—and therefore, when we, the audience who have seen the original Charlton Heston Planet of the Apes, see what is being done to these poor apes, we can’t help but see that what we humans are doing to animals will one day be done to us. Which makes it all the more hard-hitting.
Fantastic visual effects – Groundbreaking motion-capture performances, like I said.
Why Do I Love Rise of the Planet of the Apes?
It warns about human arrogance, scientific ethics, and how oppression can lead to rebellion.
Let me take you back in time to when I was 19 years old in a volunteer organization to which I had devoted a whole heck of a lot, and there was a leader who would push us to beyond our limits. It was misery, and a lot of us wanted to quit. And I remember a friend of mine, who outranked me a little, who was asked at a meeting if he had anything to add. And he said “I’m from Idaho and went to a lot of rodeos. And when you get up on the bull, there’s a belt that goes around that bull’s belly that is pulled so tight that you can barely get your fingers under it to hold on. And the thing we learned is that the tighter and tighter you pulled that belt, the harder and harder that bull would buck. And, well, that’s all I have to say.”
And that’s all I have to say about animal oppression, too.
6. The Matrix (1999)
Plot: A computer hacker named Neo discovers that reality is a simulation created by intelligent machines that enslave humanity. He joins a group of rebels fighting to wake people up from their digital prison.
Why It's Great:
Revolutionary special effects – Guys, c’mon. It’s The Matrix. It introduced "bullet time". Everything that it did was being done for the first time, and it completely changed it all.
Mind-bending concept – Explores reality, free will, and simulation theory.
Symbolic storytelling – A metaphor for awakening and questioning authority. And, we know now that it was also a metaphor for The Wachoski’s transgenderism—something which we didn’t know at the time, but looking back makes SO MUCH SENSE.
Why I Love The Matrix?
It challenges blind obedience to authority and societal norms, urging people to question reality and seek their own truths. It is one of those mind-bending movies that has really Big Ideas but you have a hard time even grasping the big ideas the first time around because you’re being dazzled by the spectacle. For that reason, it is endlessly rewatchable.
(My pet theory: The Matrix exists in the same universe as The Terminator movies, and the robots won the war.)
7. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Plot: In a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, a rebel named Furiosa attempts to free a tyrant’s enslaved wives, leading to a high-speed pursuit across the wasteland with the legendary Max. (Did you know his name is Max Rockatansky? It is, so there’s that.)
Why It's Great:
Nonstop action – One of the greatest car chases ever put on film. I’ve read that there wasn’t a script for this movie in the traditional sense, just endless storyboards, as well as the production team working around a table full of car miniatures to choreograph out the action of the movie.
Stunning cinematography – Visually breathtaking despite its harsh setting. This is something that I think is lacking from the sequel, Furiosa. (Furiosa is good, but I don’t think it’s as great, either in style or substance.)
Strong characters – Furiosa and Max are iconic dystopian heroes—and all with very little dialogue.
Why Do I Love Mad Max: Fury Road?
I could go into a shpiel about how it talks about elites exploiting the lower classes, but come on—it’s Mad Max. It’s the ultimate dystopia. It’s when things all go so completely wrong that there’s no chance of ever coming back. It’s a whole new world, and it isn’t a nicer one—but it is an awesome one.
8. Minority Report (2002)
Plot: In a future where crime is predicted before it happens, a top PreCrime officer goes on the run when the system falsely accuses him of murder.
Why It's Great:
Thrilling mystery – Keeps viewers engaged with twists and turns—there are plenty of twists, but most of all I just love the cleverness and inventiveness of this new world.
Innovative world-building – Predictive policing, personalized ads, and future tech feel eerily realistic. Walking into a shopping center and having ads that pop up and call you by your name to sell to you personally? That’s totally something that’s coming just around the corner.
Moral complexity – Challenges ideas of fate and justice.
Why Do I Love Minority Report?
It questions whether sacrificing free will for security is ever justified and warns about government overreach and predictive surveillance. It also, and this is weird, is like a time travel story without the time travel. I know it’s not actual time travel—it’s looking into the future—but it operates in a lot of ways like time travel. I think those tropes (what if you knew the future before it happened) work well here in totally different ways than I’ve seen them before.
9. Wall-E (2008)
Plot: Centuries after humans abandoned Earth due to pollution and waste, a lonely and adorable garbage-collecting robot named Wall-E discovers a small plant that could bring humanity back home.
Why It's Great:
Emotionally powerful – It is at once a silent, heartfelt story about loneliness, but also so romantically effusive. The utter loneliness that we see in Wall-E in all of those early shots are totally overcome in the later space shot where Eve and Wall-E are flying around—dancing—outside the spaceship, with Wall-E using a fire extinguisher as propulsion. That moment is totally free and joyous, but only gets the big payoff because we see how sad he is in the beginning.
Environmental message – Highlights the dangers of consumerism and waste in a way that few other movies do. It’s exaggerated, to be sure—that there is so much garbage that there are literally skyscrapers of garbage—but it nails the point in a way that a non-animated movie probably couldn’t.
Visually stunning – The fact that so much of this movie—at least the first 45 minutes—is done with no speaking at all is just a testament to how goo the visuals are.
Why Do I Love Wall-E?
Wall-E is just joyful. To get personal, I watched Wall-E during grad school while I was living alone, away from my family, and working 80 hour weeks. I was having a panic attack, and I left the office and went to the mall. I tried to watch The Dark Knight, but that was way too intense for my brain at the time, so I went into Wall-E instead. And I fell in love.
10. Waterworld (1995)
Plot: In a future where the polar ice caps have melted, flooding the Earth, a mysterious drifter known as The Mariner fights to survive in an oceanic wasteland while searching for a mythical dry land.
Why It's Great:
Unique world-building – A fully realized, water-based dystopia—a Mad Max of the ocean.
Eco-dystopian themes – A rare, early warning about climate change. At the time it came out we weren’t seeing a lot of climate change movies, but this one nailed it.
Why Do I Love Waterworld?
I could write some big dumb thing about how it warns about climate change, resource scarcity, and human adaptability, but really, like I said above, it’s Mad Max on jet skis. It was the most expensive movie ever made at the time they made it, because it’s just so audacious. It’s endlessly fun.
Also, this wasn’t long after Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves had come out and I just loved Kevin Costner. DON’T COME AT ME THAT MOVIE WAS AWESOME
Which one is your favorite?
