Writer and director Alex Garland isn’t shy about making grand statements with his movies, be it the collapse of society in 28 Days Later, surreal alien encounters in Annihilation, or an atmospheric trip to the sun in Sunshine. But his newest, Civil War, may be his best yet.
Civil War takes place during the ‘Second American Civil War’ and follows a group of journalists making a dangerous trek across the United States. It’s a glimpse into a bizarre and terrifying world that feels as if it may be just around the corner in reality. But if you’re hungry to see a dystopian future United States, the world of cinema has your back:
1. The Purge (and its sequels)
Many films tackle the topic of social commentary extremely well, but the most terrifying ones just get more relevant with age. In the alternate future featured in The Purge movies, an extreme political party called The New Founding Fathers legalized all crime, including murder.
The first film dabbles in resonant themes as a Black homeless veteran, Dante (Edwin Hodge), takes refuge in a house after a gang of prep school yuppies try to kill him. And if you thought that wasn’t subtle enough the first go-round, you’re in luck. The rest of the films dive even deeper into systemic issues prevalent in America. Purge Night is something widely accepted by Americans, fetishing firearms and praying at the altar of violence. Like Civil War, these themes only get more realistic as time goes on.
2. Dredd
Alex Garland cut his teeth on screenwriting films such as 28 Days Later and Sunshine, but Dredd was his directorial debut. Though Pete Travis is officially credited for helming the comic book adaptation, Garland is acknowledged as being its true director after taking creative control over the project and Dredd is a precursor to many of his later films.
Crime is so prevalent in this dystopia that “Judges” are a combination of police and executioner, with the film is essentially the Training Day of this society. Taking place in one day, Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) takes a young Judge, Cassandra (Olivia Thirlby), under his wing on a high-octane trip through the Peach Trees tenement building of Mega-City One. Dredd represents the fear of where civilization is heading, like so many films of its ilk.
3. Red State
There’s a thin line between horror and humor, expertly balanced in Kevin Smith’s 2011 film, Red State. Smith’s history in comedy applies well to his critique of organized religion in America. The independent film features three friends who get more than they bargained for after replying to an online invitation for group sex.
After arriving at the location, they find that the ad was a rouse when they are drugged. Instead of having a night of debauched fun, they are delivered to an ultra-conservative preacher (Michael Parks) and his sect of religious fanatics. The film is horrifying in its own right because of the cult’s access to firearms, but even more concerning is how this story could be true to life.
4. Children of Men
There are many ways to fracture a society, and one of those ways is to stop reproduction. In the world of Children of Men, women have lost the ability to have children anymore. This has led humanity to become despondent, especially following the death of the youngest person on the planet at only 18 years old.
Theo Faron (Clive Owen) is just going through the motions until one day when everything changes. His former partner, Julian (Julianne Moore) enlists him to take a woman to the coast to safety. Theo is surprised to learn that the woman in question, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey), is pregnant. The only hope for humanity, Theo gets back in the fight and does everything he can to escort her to safety. Alfonso Cuarón brings his visionary perspective to a film with incredibly bleak material but a shining light at the end of the tunnel.
5. District 9
In Neill Blomkamp’s found footage film, District 9, he posits an alternate world where unwanted entities in South Africa are cordoned off into slums. But these entities aren’t people. They’re aliens. A clear commentary on racism and xenophobia, the film follows Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) as he and his company attempt to relocate the aliens outside of the city.
This metaphor is thinly veiled, but impactful nonetheless. Wikus starts ingrained in prejudice against the aliens but, following his exposure to them, sees the issues prevalent in society. District 9 shows the value of empathy and what happens when you don’t get it.
6. Snowpiercer
While Chris Evans was playing Captain America, he was also pulling doing double duty as a survivor at the end of the world. Snowpiercer, takes place in a dystopian world where efforts to combat climate change froze the earth. The only survivors are on a constantly moving train separated into caste systems. Those in the back of the train are the lowest class that subsist off of protein bricks made out of bugs.
The further you get to the front of the train, the more luxury you find. “Know your place” is a common theme of the film, as it is the only way the train keeps functioning. But though reluctant, Curtis (Evans) ultimately understands that the system cannot continue. Once again, Bong Joon-ho can distill societal issues in another aesthetically fascinating film.
7. Elysium
While not as effective as District 9, Blomkamp’s follow-up, Elysium, is a worthy addition to his social commentary collection of films. Matt Damon stars as Max, a citizen of an Earth ravaged by disease, pollution, and overpopulation.
Only the exorbitantly rich can afford to make it to Elysium, a space station where there is no poverty and everyone is healthy. But it is a fabrication that you can somehow work your way off Earth. The rich stay rich, and the poor stay poor. A sickening allegory for the world we live in, Blomkamp shows just how bad society can get.
8. RoboCop
Blomkamp and Smith weren’t the first ones to think of social commentary. Paul Verhoeven was making socially conscious movies long before. His shining accomplishment is of course RoboCop. Not just a silly action movie about a robot shooting criminals, the 1987 film has a significant message at its heart.
In a dystopian version of Detroit, the police have become privatized and have gone forward with a program to make cyborg police forces. To do this, they lead police officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) into a standoff where he is killed. In using his body to create their machine, Alex retains none of his humanity and acts only on the whims of a private corporation. A wildly misunderstood film, RoboCop is as relevant today as it was when it was created — if not more so.
9. Red Dawn
If there is one thing that Red Dawn wants to communicate, it’s that war is hell. Even though the 1984 film stars all the young Hollywood actors of the time on the frontlines of World War III, it is an incredibly serious film.
After Russia invades the Midwest, high schoolers Jed (Patrick Swayze), Matt (Charlie Sheen), Robert (C. Thomas Howell), and Daryl (Darren Dalton) disappear into the woods to survive. Their families are thrown into camps and executed. And while some of them find love, many of them die or are hardened by their circumstances. Red Dawn is as anti-war as a film can get and more emotional than you may think.
10. V For Vendetta
Alan Moore may rip his film adaptations limb from limb, but V For Vendetta still has merit. The film by the Wachowski siblings shows an England that has turned fascist.
Evey (Natalie Portman) doesn’t support the government, but there is little she can do before meeting the titular V (Hugo Weaving). Labeled a terrorist by the government, V only wants to free the people from the yoke of an unjust system. While it splits off from the source material substantially, at its heart, V For Vendetta encourages people to stand up against corruption.
