10 Dystopian Movie Futures You Really Wouldn't Want To Live In

Too often the future is depicted as a horrible experience for everyone involved.

A dystopian future is a well-worn setting for many science fiction films, simply because there's a tremendous amount of potential to be explored. It's a way to warn audiences about the ramifications of our current behavior, and what a slippery slope the progression of human history can be. You don't normally see too many utopian futures in science fiction films -- we're too cynical for that. There's something intrinsically frightening about the future, that we can't help but be drawn to the type of films that depict the worst possible future for humanity. But despite the potential government interference and/or alien overlords, it€™s only natural that some dystopian futures would be better or worse than others for the average person. In some, maybe if you're a big hero of the rebellion your life might be a little difficult, but the average baker or garbageman wouldn't face too many more problems than they do now. But then there are others that just seem like quite frankly a horrible experience for everyone involved. Here are a few that we€™d like to give a hard pass on.

10. Soylent Green

Soylent Green is a film about a futuristic society in which there is a massive crisis resulting from overpopulation and the depletion of resources. Most people survive by eating processed food rations, Soylent Red, Yellow, and Green. Supposedly, the newest product Soylent Green contains high energy plankton, which is more nutritious than Red and Yellow. But as we now know thanks to Charlton Heston, Soylent Green is people. That's right: the rations doled out to the general populace are made out of human remains, making everyone complicit in cannibalism, one of the biggest taboos known to most societies. We consider ourselves to be an open-minded sort, but the idea of eating re-purposed human flesh is something that makes us submit to the honorable delegation from Hollywood a World of No. This is, of course, to say nothing of the state-assisted suicides pretty much whenever anyone feels like it (hey, the world is overpopulated) and the generally abominable living conditions of the cities. When a jar of strawberry jam looks like the pinnacle of luxury, you done screwed up.
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Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.