An increasingly prevalent trend and concept that has found repeated usage in modern films is that of the dystopian film; a film whose premise revolves around a near-future that is drastically worse off and near-apocalyptic compared to our own. These films use their worldbuilding and societal structures to act as effective messaging for real life events and themes of revolution, with films likeThe Hunger Games,The Lobster, and evenA Clockwork Orangebeing some of the genre’s best examples.
However, not every dystopian film is created equally, with several filmsfailing to live up to the standards of the genre and coming across as caricatures of themselves, bloated with cliches, bland characters, and uninteresting worldbuilding. Especially with the rise in popularity of the genre during the 2010s, there were many different creatives that attempted their own spin on the genre, and while some found success in the trend, there is a massive slew of terrible dystopian films as well.
10’Gamer' (2009)
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
The concept of a futuristic society that is based around a virtual world that citizens log into for day-to-day life has certainly found success over the years, but the lengths thatGamertakes to set up its world reach a point of immersion-breaking absurdity. The film sees a world where instead of a standard prison system, criminals are forced to act as puppets via mind-control technology as the avatars for an online multiplayer game, with the survivors of the game given a chance at freedom. After being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Kable (Gerard Butler) teams up with the pro gamer who controls him to make it out alive.
WhileGamerhas a few interesting ideas and concepts about the loss of humanity as a result of the shift to digital landscapes, it only ever toys with these ideas and is much more interested in a flashy, in-your-face action movie style. While this style of raunchy and chaotic filmmaking has worked for directorsMark NeveldineandBrian Taylorin the past with theCrankfilms,Gamerreaches a point of overwhelming abundance of camera movement and bright lightsthat is more likely to give one a headache than an enjoyable experience.
9’In Time' (2011)
Directed by Andrew Niccol
One of the strangest side-notes inJustin Timberlake’s acting filmography,In Timeis a strange and comically simple take on a dystopian world revolving around time. The film sees a future where aging has been halted in humanity once they reach 25, but to curb population, the literal time remaining in people’s lives has become the currency and the way that people pay for luxuries. The richest people in society have enough time to be considered immortal, while those at the bottom are fighting for each day. The film sees Timberlake as a poor young man fighting his way to the top of the world of high-class elites.
While its premise seems like it would make for some interesting concepts at first glance, it doesn’t take long beforeIn Time’s concepts and world begins folding in upon itself as a surface-level commentary on class divide. It doesn’t help that the film is constantly making cheeky puns and gags relating to time, almost as if it’s too worried to fully commit to its own serious worldbuilding. Despite some effective talent present within the film such as the likes ofAmanda SeyfriedandCillian Murphy,the film proved to be too basic and generic to leave a lasting impact.
8’The 5th Wave' (2016)
Directed by J Blakeson
Apocalyptic events caused by aliens are one of the most tried and true methods of bringing to life a dystopian future, yet there needs to be something more than this basic premise to entice audiences to care in the first place.The 5th Wavedid very little to make itself stand out among other sci-fi dystopian stories, with its story of teens attempting to survive in a world destroyed by an alien invasion being too overplayed to garner much attention. Its titular wave refers to the different periods that defined the alien invasion and the destruction that followed, with four waves having occurred, and the remaining survivors terrified of a possible fifth wave.
While there is certainly potential in combining the filmmaking aspects of dystopian films with high-scale disaster films,the result only managed to bring out the worst parts of each respective subgenre. Disaster films already don’t have a lot of focus placed on their characters and story, so combining this with a subgenre entirely defined by human connection during the worst of times only served to create an emotional disconnect with audiences. The film simply feels like a rehash of stories and thematics that audiences have already seen countless times before, with little in terms of setting itself apart.
The 5th Wave
7’The Giver' (2014)
Directed by Phillip Noyce
Adapted from one of the most acclaimed and beloved young adult dystopian novels of all time,The Giverhad massive potential and hype as many would hope it would live up to the book in the same vein asHarry PotterandThe Hunger Gamesbefore it. However, the film ended upmaking massive changes from the original book, serving to only annoy long-time fans and being largely underwhelming in the eyes of critics. The film takes place in a world that is devoid of war, pain, and suffering, with a young boy learning from an elderly man about the truth about the pain and the pleasures of the real world.
WhileThe Giver’s premise and themes on human expression and imagination served to work well in the medium of a written novel, these concepts and ideals simply weren’t able to translate well to the visual medium of film. It simply didn’t do justice to the strength and beauty of the original story, creatinga boring and underwhelming romp that simply never should have made the jump to film in the first place. While the likes ofJeff BridgesandMeryl Streeptry their best to elevate the material,The Giverquickly fell through the cracks as one of the biggest dystopian film disappointments.
6’Mortal Engines' (2018)
Directed by Christian Rivers
WhileMortal Engines’s massive budget take on a unique sci-fi future had many fans of the original book excited, the only true legacy that the film would create was asone of the biggest box-office bombs of recent memory. The film takes place thousands of years in the future, with the cities of Earth being mobile, traveling around on massive wheels and devouring smaller cities in a struggle for ever-diminishing resources. However, when a mysterious young woman from the wastelands ends up encountering a man from the old London, his perspective on the world will forever change.
While the world and concepts behindMortal Enginesseem like they would be a perfect fit for a massive, special-effects-focused blockbuster, the film’s major issue is lacking a cohesive voice or vision to tie everything together. It can show off as many massive machines, various characters, and interconnecting plotlines as they want, butwithout a true end goal or personality to connect with audiences,Mortal Enginesfeels more like a tech demo than a real story. The film’s only remaining notoriety is that of its infamous box office failure, losing upwards of $170 million.
Mortal Engines
5’Allegiant' (2016)
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Acting as what was meant to be the first in a two-part finale for theDivergentseries,Allegiantwiped away any enthusiasm remaining in the franchise, to the point where its cliffhanger ending was never followed up on. The film sees Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), and the rest of their friends traveling outside the confines of the fence in search of answers. After having escaped the city, they are promptly taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Warfare, where they learn new truths about their world.
TheDivergentseries was always considered an awkward, underwhelming young adult franchise that was largely in the shadows of other YA franchises likeThe Hunger Games. However,Allegiantwent above and beyond when it came to beingone of the most forgettable movies of recent memory, with its resounding failure marking the end of YA franchises as a massive cultural trend. Now, 8 years removed from the release of the film and without a true cinematic finale for these characters and story,Allegiantsticks out that much more as a jarring and uninteresting experience.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
4’Chaos Walking' (2021)
Directed by Doug Liman
While young adult dystopian films have largely fallen out of favor and are far from the box-office dominating titans that they once were,Chaos Walkingproves that there are still jarring misfires being released in the current decade attempting to tap into this subgenre. The film takes place on a far-off planet where people’s thoughts are seen and heard by everyone around them thanks to a phenomenon known as the noise. However, when plucky young Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) meets a mysterious visitor from another planet (Daisy Ridley), his entire worldview is shifted when he learns that she isn’t impacted by the noise.
Chaos Walkingalready touts a comically absurd premise with basic characters and a predictable plot, yet what cemented the film as a disaster was its never-ending production issues behind the scenes. The film saw constant delays, reshoots, and changes being passed along from various writers and filmmakers attempting to make the film work, withthe final result feeling less like a cohesive vision and more of a last attempt to make any sort of return on this mess. Even despite starring two blockbuster superstars near the height of their popularity, the film failed to garner any interest and received massive vitriol from the few who did seek it out.
Chaos Walking
3’The Host' (2013)
While many associateStephanie Meyerwith her largely successful work writing theTwilight Saga, few are aware of her other YA story that made its way to a film adaptation,The Host. The film takes place in a future where large portions of humanity have been taken over by parasitic alien souls who control the bodies of those they inhabit. However, one soul known as Wanda, after being injected into the body of Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), ends up forming a bond with Melanie instead of carrying out her duties to take over the Earth, setting out to help her free humanity from alien control.
The Host’s intricate and complicated concepts of aliens and soul possession simply don’t meld with the classic YA approach of having attractive young actors get close and personal with one another. It makes for a clash of tones and styles that, at best, is an offputting disconnect for general audiences, andat worst actively makes the story and characters more unlikeable and disturbing. While many were quick to tout the many flaws of theTwilightfilms,The Hostdeserves infinitely more attention as one ofthe most egregiously bad YA stories of all time.
2’Uglies' (2024)
Directed by McG
Ugliesvery existence and release in the current year is one that is shocking and confusing on a fundamental level, as it feels like the type of film that would be released a decade ago, yetmanages to be even worse and more tone-deaf than the worst of the young adult dystopian craze. The film combines the unaware muddled messaging of a Netflix teen movie like Tall Girl with one of the most generic and formulaic dystopian concepts ever put into film. The film takes place in a future where humans are forced to live the first 18 years of their lives in a secluded school, waiting for the day that they can have their mandatory cosmetic surgery and be a part of the perfect society of beautiful people.
The premise ofUgliestruly doesn’t sound like a genuine film that was released to be taken seriously and enjoyed by people across the globe,instead feels like the first rough draft of what a parody of generic dystopian films would be. Even considering the possibility of this premise working or being close to believable, the fact thatUgliesstill uses the prettiest of young Hollywood stars for its supposedly “ugly” characters makes its messages tone-deaf and comically ineffective. The film is easilyone of the worst films of 2024 so farand has created a new low for dystopian films from major studios.
1’The Thinning' (2016)
Directed by Michael J. Gallagher
Dystopian young adult stories were such an all-encompassing trend throughout the 2010s that, even out-of-touch YouTubers wanted to throw their hats in the ring to tap in on the popularity of the subgenre. One of the most comically inept attempts at being a topical and relevant story that tackled the struggles of 2010s teens wasThe Thinning, a dystopian film that took shots at standardized testing with its cast of influencers, includingLogan PaulandLia Marie Johnson. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where population control is dictated by a high school aptitude test, with those who fail the test being sentenced to death.
The Thinningis as blunt and abrasive with its themes as a sledgehammer to the face, yet at the same time has next to nothing interesting or profound to say about its topic aside from “standardized testing is bad”.It fundamentally misunderstands exactly what makes dystopian films so compelling in the first place, hoping to simply parallel the look and feel of these films and hope that’s enough to get by. While these types of internet influencer-led movies are a relic of a bygone era of filmmaking, their overwhelming low quality shows that modern film audiences are better off without these films being created anymore.
The Thinning
Rent on Google Play
NEXT:The 10 Worst Movies of the 2010s, Ranked
