Let’s start by briefly defining what a dystopian film is. The term dystopia is the counterpart of utopia. While utopia refers to an imaginary place or state where everything is perfect, dystopia refers to a state or place where everything has gone wrong. Films that deal with dystopian themes are therefore by definition at least speculative and almost always belong, in one way or another, to the science fiction genre. These films often deal with totalitarian societies or societies that have deteriorated ecologically or socially. You can also search for 9x Movie.
What are the Trending Movies Now a Day?
Dystopian films seem to be one of the current trends in cinema, at least when it comes to the teen market. The Hunger Games proved to be a huge financial success, and in its wake films like Divergent and more recently The Maze Runner have also done well. But none of these films are on this list. Instead of being excellent examples of dystopian films, they might even be proof that we ourselves live in a dystopian society.
Dystopian Films
In this list, you will find twenty of the best dystopian movies ever released on the big screen. As usual, this is not an exhaustive roundup of the best dystopian films of all time, and the list could easily have been expanded to thirty titles, but I decided to stick with twenty in order to keep the selected entries at the highest level.
Fantastic Genre
Some of the films that didn’t make the cut but were still considered include Escape From New York, Robocop, Strange Days, Alphaville, Silent Running and Code 46. Anyone seriously interested in the genre should definitely check out these titles and many more. That said, the twenty titles listed here are all fantastic examples of the best the genre has to offer.
Year of Release
Let’s start with perhaps the most famous title associated with totalitarian dystopian fiction: 1984. The second film adaptation of George Orwell’s novel of the same name, from which the term “Big Brother” comes, was directed by Michael Radford. It stars John Hurt and Richard Burton, who is seen on screen for the last time, and the year of release coincides with that of the title (the first film version was produced in 1956).
Territory Airstrip One
The film is set in 1984 in London, the capital of the territory Airstrip One (formerly Great Britain), which in turn is part of the larger totalitarian state of Oceania. Winston Smith (Hurt) is a bureaucrat who works for the Ministry of Truth. His job is to constantly rewrite history in the interests of the Party and its ubiquitous leader, Big Brother. While free thought is forbidden and everyone is under constant surveillance, Winston keeps a diary of his private thoughts.
Interrogated And Rehabilitated
- Worse, he meets Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), another Ministry of Truth employee, and the two begin a relationship that is also strictly forbidden by the Party. Their relationship lasts a few months but ends abruptly when they are arrested by the Thought Police. Winston is taken to the Ministry of Love to be interrogated and rehabilitated by his old friend O’Brien (Burton), who takes him to the dreaded Room 101, where people are tortured by being confronted with their worst secret fears.
- True to the template, 1984 is a very dark and sinister affair. The future is depicted as particularly bleak, washed out and gray, perfectly expressing the lack of humanity and the omnipresence of the Party. So much so that this film adaptation suffers a bit from its gloomy atmosphere, making it a difficult film to watch.
- John Hurt is fantastic as Winston Smith, whose face perfectly reflects his long existence as a mental torturer, and Burton also delivers an admirable performance in the role of the Party, giving a truly terrifying performance. Hurt was awarded Best Actor at the Fantasporto Film Festival, while both actors won the same prize at the Valladolid Festival.
