A dystopia is the opposite of a utopia (an imaginary community that contains near perfect qualities), a community or society that is both undesirable and frightening. Tyrannical governments and environmental disaster are just two of the usual characteristics of a dystopian society. Dystopian fiction is distinct from post-apocalyptic fiction despite there being various overlaps. However, dystopian societies are tied with stories set in the future in many fictional works. For the purposes of this month’s Friday Film Club blog, we will indeed be looking at four films that focus on dystopian futures with some post-apocalyptic influences. And if you happen to be worried about precuring these films during the holidays, well don’t be, because only one of them is only available on DVD.
Let’s begin, with the Tom Cruise vehicle Oblivion (2013), directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick). Based on an unpublished graphic novel of the same name written by Kosinski himself, it pays homage to 1970’s sci-fi films but is truly a love story at heart. Alongside leading man Cruise (Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire), it additionally stars the likes of: Morgan Freeman (Bruce Almighty, The Dark Knight), Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, The Death of Stalin), Andre Riseborough (Happy-Go-Lucky, Birdman), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Black Hawk Down, Gods of Egypt) and Melissa Leo (The Equalizer, Olympus Has Fallen). Back in 2017, scavenger aliens destroyed the Moon, subsequently invading the Earth. Though the humans won the ensuing war, the Earth was left uninhabitable in the fallout.
In the present day, some 60 years later (2077), Jack (Cruise) and Victoria (Riseborough) are the last humans left on the Earth. While Jack travels around repairing drones that hunt down any surviving scavengers, Victoria is his communications officer, in turn they both report to mission commander Sally (Leo) once a day. Sally resides aboard the ‘Tet’ space station in orbit, however all three are due to depart to join the surviving colonists from Earth on Titan (a moon of Saturn) in two weeks. Though both their memories have been wiped, Jack continues to dream of his pre-war life with an unknown woman.
One day, when escaping a scavenger trap, Jack discovers the scavenger sending coordinates somewhere and follows them to a lakeside cabin he built himself (complete with vegetation and clean water & filled with mementos from Earth’s cast). After a UFO seemingly falls from the sky to the coordinates, Jack finds a spaceship named The Odyssey there with five humans aboard in sleeping pods. Four of the pods are destroyed by a drone but Jack manages to save one, which so happens to contain the woman in his dreams, NASA astronaut Julia Rusakova (Kurylenko) who has been asleep since the war began. When the two return to the crash site to retrieve the ship’s black box (flight recorder), they are captured by scavengers before they can access it, taken to their human leader Malcolm (Freeman), it is here that they learn the shocking truth about the scavengers before Malcolm releases them to uncover the rest of the war’s secrets for themselves.
While praised for its visual and effects, the film was criticized by some for both its ending and overall plot. Andrew O’Hehir’s (Salon) more positive review called it, “sly, surprising and visually magnificent,” but I think Todd McCarthy (The Hollywood Reporter) summed it up the best when he stated, “Oblivion is an absolutely gorgeous film dramatically caught between its aspirations for poetic romanticism and the demands of heavy sci-fi action.” This sci-fi enthused love story is available to watch only on e-stream. If the incredibly intriguing intro for this feature doesn’t make you want to watch it, I don’t know what will, you can view by clicking the link below:
We turn back the clock 50 years now to the 2027 set Children of Men (2006), directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity) it is based upon a 1992 P.D. James novel of the same name. The dystopian drama is headlined by Clive Owen (Sin City, King Arthur), joined by actors including: Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave, Doctor Strange), Pam Ferris (Matilda, Nativity!), Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, The Gentleman) and sir Michael Caine (The Italian Job, Batman Begins). By 2027, two decades of human infertility (inability to reproduce babies) has left society on the brink of collapse, human activities have caused ecocide (destruction of the natural environment), and the UK has effectively become a police like state in which immigrants are arrested and either imprisoned or executed. The immigrant situation is due to the UK being flooded with refugees fleeing their own nations chaos, as they are one of the few still to have a functioning government (that all sounds eerily similar to the way things are now in reality!).
The story originates after the youngest person in the world, an 18-year old teenage male has been killed. Theo Faron (Owen) a former activist turned bureaucrat, hears the news in a coffee shop which moments after he departs it is blown up. As he leaves the scene, he is kidnapped by a militant immigrant-rights group calling themselves The Fishes, and led by Theo’s estranged wife Julian (Moore) who separated from him after their son’s death in a flu pandemic 19 years prior. Julian asks for Theo’s help to get a young refugee woman named Kee to a secretive scientific group located in the Azores (a group of islands off the coast of Portugal), who are trying to cure the world’s infertility. They believe Kee could well be humanities last hope, as she is pregnant. Julian offers Theo money in exchange for his aid, and he accepts, despite not believing that the group actually exists. The trio, joined by Fishes members Luke (Ejiofor, one of the leaders) and former midwife Miriam (Ferris), embark on a journey to reach the Azores; however, they meet several dangerous challenges along the way and it soon becomes clear that not everyone can be trusted.
Despite a surprising lack of marketing and receiving only a limited release, Children of Men gained critical acclaim and was loved by the audiences that managed to see it., appearing on many a critics top 10 lists of the best films of 2006. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine even ranked it as the best Sci-fi film of the 21st Century. It was nominated for 3 Oscars and 3 Baftas, winning 2 Baftas for cinematography and production design; Roger Ebert stated of it, “Cuarón fulfils the promise of futuristic fiction”, adding the settings “look just like today, except tired and shabby.” It also got the author’s approval of a faithful adaptation of her work. The movie was mainly praised for its more realistic views of what the future might look like, and based upon how things are now in 2023 (only 4 years earlier than the film was set), it isn’t that far from the truth. You can watch this unnerving and spectacular entry now on e-stream. View the trailer by clicking the link below:
Entering the world of Cyberpunk dystopias, our next entry is the Japanese manga inspired Alita: Battle Angel (2019). Inspired by Yukio Kishiro’s much-loved manga series Battle Angel Alita (or Gunnm in its native country), it was directed by Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City) and produced/written by the legendary James Cameron (T2: Judgement Day, Avatar). Set in the year 2563, 300 years after Earth was devastated by a catastrophic war known as ‘The Fall’, it features the likes of: Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, CHiPs), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Spectre), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Labyrinth), Mahershala Ali (Green Book, Moonlight), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Shutter Island) and Keean Johnson (Midway).
The story begins when scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Waltz) discovers a disembodied female cyborg (with a human brain) while scavenging for parts in a massive scrapyard in Iron City. He later attaches a new body to the brain and names her Alita (Salazar) after his deceased daughter. Despite having no memory of her past or who she is, Alita quickly befriends Hugo (Johnson), a scrapper who dreams of moving to the wealthy city of Zalem (situated in the sky). Hugo, however also secretly robs cyborgs of their parts for Vector (Ali) who owns a racing sport called Motorball and is the de factor ruler of the city’s government ‘The Factory’. Alita additionally meets Dr. Chiren (Connelly), Ido’s ex-wife (this film has few things in common with Children of Men then…)
When Alita follows Ido one night, the two are ambushed by a gang of cyborg killers led by Grewishka (Haley), The Factory’s chief enforcer. Ido is injured but Alita manages to save him & fight off the cyborgs using skills she didn’t know she had. After discovering these unique fighting abilities, Alita determines to become a Hunter-Warrior (like those who came after her) to take down Grewishka and his gang, though Ido is vehemently against the idea. After registering as one and continually finding herself in fights, Alita gains more confidence, yet also more notoriety and the unwanted attention of Zapan (Skrein), a bullying fellow Hunter-Warrior. Alita must fight to survive the deadly assassins pursuing her (at the behest of a shadowy overlord) while also trying to protect the ones she came to love.
Receiving mostly positive reviews, this movie was praised for its visual effects and actions sequences, though its screenplay was criticized by some. Michael Nordine (IndieWire) had this to say, it “lives up to its potential while leaving you wanting more.” It has heartfelt emotion, fast paced action and even some romance, what more could you want? It’s a good job several sequels are potentially on the way. Now this is the only entry this month only available to loan on DVD, so you’ll need to pop into the Library for this one folks, don’t worry we are open all summer! (apart from Bank Holidays). Experience just one of the many epic fight scenes in this feature by clicking the link below:
Finally, we finish with the oldest release in this list, Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). It features then famous child actor Haley Joel Osment (Forrest Gump, The Sixth Sense) as David, a prototype android child desperate to become human. Additional cast includes: Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes 2009, Captain Marvel), Frances O’Connor (Bedazzled), Brendan Gleeson (Braveheart, Harry Potter) and the late William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk). This one, like Alita was also based on a short story, Brian Aldiss “Superboys Last All Summer Long” (1969) and was originally intended to be a Stanley Kubrick film (before his death in 1999), though according to Spielberg half the story is still Kubrick’s original work.
Taking place in the 22nd Century, rising sea levels from global warming have wiped out coastal cities, effectively reducing the world’s population, which like the future of Children of Men sounds eerily possibly to happen in real life! In the aftermath, Mecha humanoid robots (capable of thought but lacking emotion) have been created and are available to homes around the world. In Madison, New Jersey (USA), Henry & Monica Swinton (O’Connor) are gifted a prototype Mecha child (David) who is seemingly capable of experiencing love. The couples own son Martin having contracted a rare disease some time prior and has been placed in suspended animation (the temporary stopping or slowing of bodily functions) until a cure can be found.
Despite feeling uneasy at first, Monica eventually warms to David even more so than Henry. She activates his imprinting protocol, leading to him gaining a childlike love for her, feelings he soon wishes to have reciprocated. David additionally forms a strong bond with Teddy, Martin’s robotic teddy bear. Things get complicated however, when Martin is unexpectedly cured of his disease and returns home, immediately becoming jealous and feeling threatened by the new ‘boy’ in his parent’s life. Martin resolves to make people believe David is defective and dangerous. Soon enough after tricking David into doing various things, the neighbourhood begins to see him as a danger to living people. Henry & Monica decide to return him to his parent company; though David escapes in transit. David sets out on a perilous journey to become a real boy and win back Monica’s love but he must deal with the harsh realities of a Mecha despising society first, teaming up with a new friend in Gigolo Joe (a wronged male prostitute Mecha played by Law).
While it originally received a mixed reception from critics and audiences, A.I. Artificial Intelligence has since been recognised as one of Spielberg’s best works and one of the greatest feature films of both the 2000’s and the 21st Century as a whole. Roger Ebert himself changed his rating for it from three stars out of four to the full four, calling it “wonderful and maddening”; whereas BBC film critic Mark Kermode described it as Spielberg’s ‘enduring masterpiece’ after a rewatch. This masterpiece is available to watch now on e-stream. Glimpse this emotional movie by viewing the spinetingling teaser in the link below:
And there you have it, four films showcasing Dystopian Drama at its best. Thought not all are well known, all are worth a watch (even if a little too realistic at times). Don’t worry about having to come in to college to see them, because three of the films are available to watch on e-stream anytime, anyplace, anywhere; however, if Alita happens to take your fancy, remember we are open throughout the summer so you can reserve it and collect any weekday you want! Wishing a Happy and safe Holiday to all and see you next month!
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