Movies for a Future Revolution: Best Dystopian Movies
by VigilantProfessor | created - 09 Feb 2016 | updated - 08 Apr 2022 | PublicList of movies with dystopian themes. Specially selected for education: the ultimate redpill about the upcoming world.
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1. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,054,396 | Gross: $171.48M
2. Snowpiercer (2013)
R | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris
Votes: 389,158 | Gross: $4.56M
3. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,179,696 | Gross: $70.51M
4. Equilibrium (2002)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Director: Kurt Wimmer | Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs
Votes: 347,129 | Gross: $1.20M
5. Children of Men (2006)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Votes: 529,572 | Gross: $35.55M
6. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 323,350 | Gross: $12.34M
7. Chappie (2015)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In the near future, crime is patrolled by a mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.
Director: Neill Blomkamp | Stars: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver
Votes: 269,770 | Gross: $31.57M
8. Elysium (I) (2013)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In the year 2154, the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth. A man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
Director: Neill Blomkamp | Stars: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga
Votes: 471,202 | Gross: $93.05M
9. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
R | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper and a drifter named Max.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz
Votes: 1,087,093 | Gross: $154.06M
10. Oblivion (I) (2013)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.
Director: Joseph Kosinski | Stars: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, Olga Kurylenko
Votes: 553,328 | Gross: $89.02M
11. The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
R | 103 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Three groups of people intertwine and are left stranded in the streets on Purge Night, trying to survive the chaos and violence that occurs.
Director: James DeMonaco | Stars: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez
Votes: 162,333 | Gross: $71.96M
12. 1984 (1984)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 79,058 | Gross: $8.40M
13. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower
Votes: 145,567 | Gross: $13.01M
A little dated, but still redpilled and fun to the max.
14. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
PG-13 | 146 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 721,590 | Gross: $424.67M
15. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen is in District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 503,167 | Gross: $337.14M
16. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
PG-13 | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss and a team of rebels from District 13 prepare for the final battle that will decide the fate of Panem.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 373,504 | Gross: $281.72M
17. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,386,942 | Gross: $760.51M
18. In Time (2011)
PG-13 | 109 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Will Salas is accused of murder and on the run with a hostage.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde
Votes: 446,594 | Gross: $37.52M
19. The Island (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A man living in a futuristic sterile colony begins to question his circumscribed existence when his friend is chosen to go to the Island, the last uncontaminated place on earth.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 327,739 | Gross: $35.82M
20. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
R | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified advertisement seeking a companion for time travel.
Director: Colin Trevorrow | Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni
Votes: 130,870 | Gross: $4.01M
21. Turbo Kid (2015)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland in 1997, a comic book fan adopts the persona of his favourite hero to save his enthusiastic friend and fight a tyrannical overlord.
Directors: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell | Stars: Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright
Votes: 29,709 | Gross: $0.05M
22. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,285 | Gross: $9.93M
23. RoboCop (1987)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox
Votes: 283,263 | Gross: $53.42M
24. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,343 | Gross: $54.81M
Read between the lines: This movie is a satire of the industrial-military complex's propaganda system.
25. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 924,634 | Gross: $38.40M
26. THX 1138 (1971)
R | 86 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie
Votes: 54,638 | Gross: $2.44M
George Lucas' early masterpiece, this warning against technological oppression and media mass control reads like an artifact from a future that feels to much like the present.
27. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,174,672 | Gross: $204.84M
28. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,292 | Gross: $322.74M
At its core, it's the story of a group of rebels against a totalitarian technological dictatorship.
29. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,380,406 | Gross: $290.48M
30. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,121,880 | Gross: $309.13M
31. Black Mirror (2011– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Featuring stand-alone dramas -- sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia -- "Black Mirror" is a contemporary reworking of "The Twilight Zone" with stories that tap into the collective unease about the modern world.
Stars: Wunmi Mosaku, Monica Dolan, Daniel Lapaine, Hannah John-Kamen
Votes: 640,474
32. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,603 | Gross: $1.24M
The original blueprint for the future technological dystopia, as produced and envisioned by its architects during the Weimar Republic.
33. The Congress (2013)
Not Rated | 122 min | Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi
An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.
Director: Ari Folman | Stars: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Votes: 19,916 | Gross: $0.14M
A Black Mirror meets Jodorowsky look at Virtual Reality.
34. Uncanny Valley (II) (2015)
9 min | Short, Sci-Fi
A glimpse into a future where First Person Shooters have become a new drug for those disillusioned with society. The films examines the consequences of this on the global society.
Director: Federico Heller | Stars: Marcela Sandra Ballestero, Steve Kisicki, Iván Steinhardt, Agustin Olcese
Votes: 917
You can watch this 8 minute short film here: https://vimeo.com/147365861
35. Avalon (2001)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
In a dystopian world, a woman spends her time playing an illegal and dangerous game, hoping to find meaning in her world.
Director: Mamoru Oshii | Stars: Malgorzata Foremniak, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Jerzy Gudejko, Dariusz Biskupski
Votes: 13,702
36. High-Rise (2015)
R | 119 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.
Director: Ben Wheatley | Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans
Votes: 45,182 | Gross: $0.34M
37. Creative Control (2015)
R | 97 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In near future Brooklyn, an ad executive uses a new Augmented Reality technology to conduct an affair with his best friend's girlfriend...sort of.
Director: Benjamin Dickinson | Stars: Benjamin Dickinson, Nora Zehetner, Dan Gill, Alexia Rasmussen
Votes: 2,283 | Gross: $0.06M
La Dolce Vita as a dystopian film for millenials.
38. Snowden (2016)
R | 134 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto
Votes: 163,014 | Gross: $21.59M
Dystopia is now.
39. The Conspiracy (2012)
Not Rated | 84 min | Horror, Thriller
A documentary about conspiracy theories takes a horrific turn after the filmmakers uncover an ancient and dangerous secret society.
Director: Christopher MacBride | Stars: Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Ian Anderson, Peter Apostolopoulos
Votes: 13,108
Technology leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to questioning... to paranoia... to truth.
40. Upgrade (2018)
R | 100 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when the world of Grey, a self-labeled technophobe, is turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant.
Director: Leigh Whannell | Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen, Abby Craden
Votes: 206,889 | Gross: $11.98M
With a budget of 3.5 million dollars, this movie is a little masterpiece. Roko's Basilisk or Elon Musk's worst nightmare told as an intelligent superhero/supervillain origin story (think Unbreakable) full of twists, combining fun and depth and featuring excellent fx and camerawork. Leigh Whannell should be a household name.
41. The Square (2017)
R | 151 min | Comedy, Drama
A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
Director: Ruben Östlund | Stars: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, Terry Notary
Votes: 77,331 | Gross: $1.50M
I don't know how this movie manages to be a hilarious comedy, a poignantly realistic satire, and a brilliant look at post-modern society all at the same time, but it does. By opening a window into the world of art and marketing, the movie reveals the present as an Orwellian dystopia. Don't let the possibly underwhelming ending distract you from the core of the movie and enjoy the superb direction.
42. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,428 | Gross: $32.87M
43. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
R | 164 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista
Votes: 665,800 | Gross: $92.05M
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