If you’re reading this right now, there’s a very good chance the world has not actually ended yet, and in that case, yay! Though if someone saved all the text on the internet before society collapsed, and you’re reading this in some database, or on the printed page, and the usual method of accessing this web page is not available (because the internet died along with all the other world’s infrastructure), then oh no. That’s a shame the world ended and stuff.
But unless that does happen, it’s hard to fully assess how realistic movies about the end of the world are or aren’t. Maybe something likeMad Max: Fury RoadorFalloutwould happen; those dystopian stories might feel heightened or a little far-fetched now, but who’s to say, until it’s too late. So, who wants to say (for sure)?Anyway, that all means the following is a series of educated guesses, but hopefully, these movies are the closest any of us will get to living in a true post-apocalyptic dystopia (though whether we’re already there…well, that’s a matter of opinion).
Directed by Konstantin Lopushansky
The mostobscure movie in this ranking,Dead Man’s Lettersalso feels like one of the most uncompromising and eerily authentic. The dystopia here is caused by a nuclear war, and most of the film concerns a group of people forced to live in underground bunkers, with the outside world of old only accessible by wearing heavy protective gear and masks (and even then, it’s risky).
It’s the opposite of a good time at the movies, basically, butDead Man’s Lettersis successful in feeling raw and effectively miserable.
As the title suggests, letters also play a role here, too, with a central character writing them to his missing son, even though the two are separated and the latter is likely dead. It’sthe opposite of a good time at the movies, basically, butDead Man’s Lettersis successful in feeling raw and effectively miserable. It’s a post-apocalyptic dystopia devoid of flash, fun, and anything outlandish. It’s focused on survival, because that’s grim and arduous enough.
9’The Rover' (2014)
Directed by David Michôd
The Roveris aparticularly dirty, gritty, and bleak sci-fi film, probably feeling more like a drama in the process, and also being a weird sort of Western on top of all that. It takes place in the Australian outback, and picks up about a decade on from some sort of global economic collapse that’s plunged the world into chaos.
Comparisons to the firstMad Maxmovie might well be inevitable, given that one also takes place between the world breaking down and an all-out heightened post-apocalypse, but even compared to the originalMad Max,The Roveris bleak and rather slow.It’s a movie that makes you kind of wallow in misery for close to two hours, additionally serving as a warning of things to come, should a genuinely world-ending economic collapse ever happen.
8’A Clockwork Orange' (1971)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Okay, yeah,A Clockwork Orangeis a bit of a bold take here, since there are aspects of the world depicted that suggest a developing dystopia, rather than one where society has entirely broken down. But might that be more realistic, in itself? Things are collapsing inA Clockwork Orange, and though some might have lives that are almost normal, various criminals – and the justice system at large – are more chaotic and/or damaging.
You do also have to accept the whole Ludovico technique thing, a form of aversion therapy that doesn’t actually exist, but if you can buy that withinA Clockwork Orange’s world, everything else feels unsettlingly plausible.Stanley Kubrickpulled even fewer punches than usualwith this film (and that’s saying a lot),in turn crafting a singular – and uniquely harrowing – dystopian movie.
A Clockwork Orange
7’Elysium' (2013)
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkampis not exactly a subtle filmmaker, but he is someone who’s willing to tackle current-day social issues with some rather outlandish and usually exciting sci-fi/action movie premises.Hedoes it best in 2009’sDistrict 9, which might be slightly dystopian by some definitions, but he went fully into exploring dystopian themeswith his follow-up, 2013’sElysium.
LikeA Clockwork Orange, you have to accept some fairly futuristic things here, like the ultra-rich living out in space, on the titular space station, while conditions on Earth are almost unlivable for the poor, but with things taking place in 2154… like, maybe it’s possible? It’s a look at what could happen if the social divide between the rich and poor continues to grow over the coming century, and that it doesn’t seem utterly unbelievable (again, in 100 years) is kind of upsetting to think about.
6’The Lobster' (2015)
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Okay, one more time with the “just go with the wild stuff before you get to the realistic part,” here’sThe Lobster. It’s not, at least right now, accurate to suggest that people getting turned into animals is realistic. That’s part of the plot forThe Lobster, though. It’s about single people being made to find a partner within 45 days, and failure to do so leads to them being turned into an animal of their choosing.
The realistic part is more to do with how raw and uncomfortable so many of the scenes feel here.Yorgos Lanthimosmay havemade more extreme films, but few feel quite so believable; at least individual scenes here do, to an almost painful extent. The awkwardness of dating (in an admittedly absurd context) feels unbearably authentic, at certain points here.
The Lobster
5’Punishment Park' (1971)
Directed by Peter Watkins
Punishment Parkgoes to show that afilm can be a mockumentary without being comedic. The premise here centers on a film crew following members of the U.S. National Guard as they track down members of the counterculture through the desert. It’s all very unflinching, and the way it’s stylized to look like a documentary obviously has a great effect on how raw and uncomfortable it all feels.
Also, unlike some other dystopian movies,Punishment Parkdidn’t really go into the future, actually being set a year before the movie came out. It imagines an extreme response to the then-strong anti-war movement of the era, with the State-enacted violence here probably being ataste of things to come for the eventual dystopia that this film’s world will fall into… but it goes to great lengths to not be too different from the real world. That all, inevitably, adds to the horror.
Punishment Park
4’Children of Men' (2006)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Given it’s set in 2027,Children of Menfeels arguably more unsettling and potentially feasible when watched now, compared to 2006. And, back then, it still packed a punch as one ofthe most intense sci-fi movies ever made, with the narrative here concerning global infertility, and a sole pregnant woman who has to be protected from various groups who want her for their own reasons.
It’s not a mockumentary, but a good deal of the camerawork used throughoutChildren of Menis intended to make theviewer feel particularly close to the action. This is especially evident in some legendary long-takes, with the believable performances and booming sound effectsalso adding to how overwhelming this film can feel. It’s not a fun thought toconsider this film kind of close to reality, but that’s just how it is.
Children of Men
3’On the Beach' (1959)
Directed by Stanley Kramer
A movie that’s surprisingly uncompromising for something released in the 1950s,On the Beachrevolves around the aftermath of World War III.The nuclear warfare that came with it has killed all life in the Northern Hemisphere, with the Southern Hemisphere not being too far behind, thanks to wind carrying the fallout there over time.
Plenty of this film concerns accepting the inevitable: that, eventually, the after-effects of a nuclear war will devastate the whole planet, even those places that weren’t directly bombed. Like with some of the previously mentioned movies, it’s a far from nice thing to think about, for obvious reasons, but that could well be the ultimate conclusion of a sufficiently large nuclear conflict.On the Beachhas its charactersconfront the end in their own ways, and similarly asks the audience to think about the same.
On the Beach
Directed by John Hillcoat
Painfully real in so many ways,The Roadis often a go-to pick when it comes to crowning the grimmest of grim apocalyptic/dystopian fiction. It’s adapted froman also harrowingCormac McCarthynovel, and mostly concerns a father and son traveling through a hellish wasteland, trying to survive what feels like a worse-than-usual dystopia, but that’s to be expected, because McCarthy seldom holds back.
It’s a difficult movie to watch, for sure, but not a hard one to appreciate.The Roadfeels like it pretty accurately captures what trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic scenario would feel like, and so it kind of has to be rough to watch and difficult to think aboutonce it’s all over. It’s almost as real as this kind of film can feel, only bested by…
1’Threads' (1984)
Directed by Mick Jackson
Threadstakes the dystopian cake overThe Roadbecause of its presentation, which is even more stripped-back and formal, making you feel the immediacy of the lead-up to a nuclear war, the bombings themselves, and then the prolonged aftermath. That it can feel so authentic (and timeless)while also being a television moviemakes it all the more impressive.
Andthough it does count as a war movie, considering what it focuses on early on, it’s probably the dystopian scenes that linger the longest in one’s mind, once the whole thing is over.Threadsshows the human race dying a slow death, with survivors and their offspring gradually losing more humanity, until (presumably) nothing is left. This one feels like the real deal in the worst (or best?) of ways, and it’s hard to imagine a film being a more effective condemnation of nuclear war than this.
