Movies influence society in many ways, not just by how they appear on the screen, but also because actors themselves have a heavy influence on trends and the way people view the movie, movies also have the advantage that they have plenty of time to get their intended message across, and not to mention that special effects have gotten so advanced that the imagery in movies lives up to the expectations that other dystopian genres, such as books or artwork, set so high. I think that movies are therefore one of the better dystopian genres, as they are able to incorporate all of the best aspects of having a dystopian theme, without having to sacrifice something crucial to the typical formatting of this genre. Additionally, this genre relates to some of the others, as many dystopian books, and even some video games, have been made into movies. Some examples of this include: The Hunger Games (See the page “You’re Ruining My Life… Literally”) Divergent, or The Handmaiden’s Tale.

Dystopian movies are extremely popular, everywhere you look there is another movie about some type of dystopia or another, some focusing on the positive of improving the obviously corrupt society, some on the negative, and some on turning the dystopia into a utopia. This is such an expansive genre, that there are few people that are not effected by it. From the screen writers, to the directors, actors, camera men, film editors, and then the thousands of people who watch each movie, this genre is hard to avoid in a way. Below are two vastly different movies, but both can be described as dystopian due to their themes of human suffering and turmoil with a governing authority.

Gattaca

Some movies, such as Gattaca, use technology as the way society has been ruined. This is a pretty common dystopian theme.

Mad Max

Movies such as the Mad Max series utilize apocolyptic themes. The “appocolypse” is often blamed on man kind or climate change.