The new movie Civil War, written and directed by Alex Garland, takes place in the near future as a team of journalists travel the country during a civil war that is quickly escalating due to a dystopian dictatorial government. With score of 82% on the Tomatometer, Civil War ranks among the best dystopian movies. 2024 also promises more top-notch dystopian tales, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (coming May 10) and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (May 24) furthering the stories of two of the titles on our list.
Imagining a future world where things are as bad as they could possibly be is a popular trope in movies, lending itself to all kinds of heroes and villains to emerge and entertain. And as you’ll see from this list, the only thing more popular than dystopian movies are dystopian novels, many of which have been adapted into the hits you’ve watched play out on the big screen.
With popular stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford, big-name directors from James Cameron to Ridley Scott eerily familiar settings as the driving force, these are the best dystopian movies of all time as ranked by Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.
Too Long, Didn't Read summary:
• Many of the best dystopian movies come from popular dystopian novels.
• The late 1990s and early 2000s produced an abundance of popular dystopian movies.
• From Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford to James Cameron and Ridley Scott, dystopian movies have featured a who’s who of Hollywood through the years, both behind and in front of the camera.
21. Never Let Me Go (2010)
71% on the Tomatometer
Based on the popular Kazuo Ishiguro novel from 2005, this piece of dystopian science fiction follows three friends – played by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield – who grow up at a boarding school together with seemingly perfect lives. But when they finally learn the horrifying truth of what the world has in store for them, the love triangle they have formed becomes the least of their worries. The screenplay for Never Let Me Go was written by Alex Garland, who would go on to write and direct other dystopian movies like Ex Machina (2014) and 2024’s Civil War.
20. The Fifth Element (1997)
71% on the Tomatometer
Set in the year 2263, this science fiction film stars Bruce Willis as a taxi driver and former special forces major who gets tasked with recovering four mythical stones and one mysterious fifth element in order to save planet Earth from destruction. With an impressive supporting cast that includes Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich and Chris Tucker, The Fifth Element was a box office hit and, ultimately, an unexpected career highlight for those involved.
19. 1984 (1984)
73% on the Tomatometer
1984 is based on one of the most famous pieces of dystopian fiction ever, George Orwell's 1949 novel of the same name. The film stars John Hurt as a low-ranking civil servant in war-torn London who is trying to keep his sanity while the totalitarian regime in charge persecutes all hints of individualism and freedom. 1984 also stars Richard Burton as the main antagonist, in what would be the final role of the Welsh actor’s career.
18. V for Vendetta (2006)
73% on the Tomatometer
This dystopian political thriller stars Natalie Portman as a young woman in totalitarian Britain who gets caught up with a masked anarchist, played by Hugo Weaving, who is fighting against the fascist regime that runs things. The screenplay, complete with plenty of social commentary and a famous scene where Portman buzzes off her hair, was written by sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski from The Matrix franchise, and is based on the 1988 DC Vertigo Comics limited series of the same name.
17. The Road (2009)
74% on the Tomatometer
The Road stars Viggo Mortensen as a man trying to survive a bleak post-apocalyptic world along with his young son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, while they try to keep hope for civilization alive. The film is based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel of the same name, and gives a dark look at survival and just how potentially savage desperate humans can be.
16. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
76% on the Tomatometer
With director and screenplay writer Steven Spielberg at the helm – and backed by a score from the legendary John Williams – this hit film was a long-time in the making and yet proved to be ahead of its time. Loosely based on a Brian Aldiss short story from 1969 and initially developed by Stanley Kubrick in the 1970s, A.I. Artificial Intelligence was finally brought to, uh, life at the turn of the century with Haley Joel Osment starring as a childlike android with the ability to love.
15. Gattaca (1997)
82% on the Tomatometer
Led by stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, this film takes place in a future society where eugenics are used to conceive children with the most desirable hereditary traits. Hawke plays a man conceived outside of the eugenics program who deals with discrimination as he tries to follow his dream of going into space. Gattaca, written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his feature directorial debut, touches on major themes like the nature of human destiny and the consequences of reproductive technologies.
14. Total Recall (1990)
82% on the Tomatometer
Just a year before reviving his role in the popular Terminator franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in this dystopian movie about a construction worker in the year 2084 who tries having false memories of a trip to Mars planted in his head. But when he discovers that his life was already a false memory, the former Martian secret agent is suddenly trying to avoid being killed. Based on a Phillip K. Dick short story, Total Recall was directed by Paul Verhoeven of RoboCop (1987) fame and won an Academy Award for visual effects. It was remade in 2012 with much less fanfare.
13. The Matrix (1999)
83% on the Tomatometer
Keanu Reeves stars as a computer hacker named Neo who uncovers an evil cyber-intelligence. In what turned out to be a cultural phenomenon at the turn of the century, The Matrix popularized a visual effect known as "bullet time" and went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects. It was written and directed by the Wachowski sisters, Lana and Lilly, who have stayed heavily involved as the franchise has expanded with more sequels and plenty of other media.
12. The Hunger Games (2012)
84% on the Tomatometer
The Hunger Games is based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film takes place in a dystopian world where Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, takes her younger sister’s place in a nationally televised ultimate fight to the death called the Hunger Games. The movie was a huge hit at the box office, paving the way for three quick sequels over the next three years, and a prequel film released in 2023. "Safe and Sound," a track from the Hunger Games soundtrack, sung by Taylor Swift and featuring The Civil Wars, won a Grammy Award.
11. Planet of the Apes (1968)
87% on the Tomatometer
In the movie that launched a franchise that is still going strong 55 years later, Planet of the Apes stars Charlton Heston as part of an astronaut crew in the distant future that discovers a strange world where apes with human-like intelligence are the dominant species and humans are mute. The film is loosely based on Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel, and won an honorary Academy Award for its groundbreaking prosthetic makeup techniques. The film spawned four sequels, a Tim Burton remake in 2001 and a current reboot series that's set to release a fourth installment on May 10.
10. Minority Report (2002)
87% on the Tomatometer
Based on a 1956 novella by Philip K. Dick and originally developed as a sequel to Total Recall -- another Dick-inspired movie on this list -- Minority Report ended up as a standalone project directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. It takes place in Washington D.C. in 2054, where Cruise’s character leads a specialized police department that uses foreknowledge provided by psychics to stop crimes before they happen. But his world is turned upside down when he finds himself accused of the future murder of a man he hasn't even met.
9. Blade Runner (1982)
89% on the Tomatometer
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner takes place in a dystopian Los Angeles in 2019 – a pretty far-off future back in 1982. Harrison Ford stars as a former cop forced back into his old job to hunt down some rogue androids, known as replicants, which have been bioengineered to work on space colonies. Blade Runner is an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel, and its release led to more of his work being made into dystopian Hollywood blockbusters like Total Recall (1990) and Minority Report (2002). This film would go on to achieve cult classic status, spawning a 2017 sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve and with Harrison Ford returning to star alongside franchise newcomer Ryan Gosling.
8. RoboCop (1987)
92% on the Tomatometer
Set in a crime-ridden Detroit in the near future, RoboCop stars Peter Weller as a police officer who is murdered by criminals but then revived as a law enforcement cyborg, with only fragments of his former sense of humanity remaining. Director Paul Verhoeven used extreme violence as a social commentary about American society, which the censors didn’t love but fans and critics were on board with, as this became considered one of best science fiction movies of the late 1980’s. Jose Padilha's 2014 remake was met with decidedly less enthusiasm.
7. Children of Men (2006)
92% on the Tomatometer
Directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men is set a dystopian 2027 society is on the brink of collapse due to decades of human infertility. Clive Owen stars as a civil servant trying to help out a refugee, played by Clare-Hope Ashitey, who is looking to flee the chaos that is her reality. Children of Men, which is based on P.D. James’ 1992 novel, also stars Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam and Michael Caine.
6. Looper (2012)
93% on the Tomatometer
This mind-twisting film takes place in 2044. We quickly come to learn that mob bosses from 2074 use illegal time travel to send their enemies three decades into the past so a hired gun, like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Joe character, can take them out undetected. But when Joe’s future self, played by Bruce Willis, shows up for assassination, things get messy. Looper was written and directed by Rian Johnson and also features Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels.
5. Snowpiercer (2013)
94% on the Tomatometer
Snowpiercer, based on a French graphic novel, was directed by Bong Joon-ho, now best known for the Academy Award-winning film Parasite (2019). With a cast that includes Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer and Ed Harris, this tale takes place aboard a train that is carrying the last remnants of humanity in a post-apocalyptic ice age brought about by climate change. Snowpiercer remains one of the most expensive South Korean productions ever, with a budget of $40 million, and was later adapted into a series for TNT.
4. WALL-E (2008)
95% on the Tomatometer
From the magical pairing that is Disney and Pixar, this deeply affecting movie follows a trash-collecting robot named WALL-E on an uninhabitable Earth in 2805, who falls in love with a visiting robot called EVE and pursues it across the galaxy. WALL-E was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, who also directed Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016), and was the first Pixar film in the company's history to be nominated for six Academy Awards, winning one for Best Animated Feature.
3. Metropolis (1927)
97% on the Tomatometer
Fritz Lang's classic silent film was arguably the first sci-fi blockbuster. Metropolis introduces us to a machine-dominated future in which privileged citizens enjoy idyllic lives, while the working class slaves away underneath the city. When the son of one of the city's architects falls in love with a working-class prophet, he resolves to bring the two worlds together. His covert activities excite the workers but put him at odds with his father, who recruits the inventor of Maschinenmensch -- the grandmother of all cinema robots -- to quell the uprising.
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
97% on the Tomatometer
While this movie didn’t kick off or create the Mad Max franchise – that was done with the 1979 film Mad Max – it did bring the franchise back after a 20-year pause. George Miller, the director of the first three films, was once again behind the camera, and Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron joined as the new stars. The film was conceived as one continuous chase, with Miller using mostly practical effects to pull it off. The result was 10 Academy Award nominations with six wins, and a Furiosa prequel film due out in 2024 -- once again directed by Miller.
1. The Terminator (1984)
100% on the Tomatometer
The Terminator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cybernetic assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill a woman, played by Linda Hamilton, and stop her unborn son from eventually saving mankind. It was directed and co-written by James Cameron, who came up with the premise after a fever dream he had while making his first film, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982). The success of The Terminator led to a franchise consisting of several sequels, a television series, comic books, novels and video games. And while the movie has reached icon status in part because of Schwarzenegger's famous line, "I'll be back," it’s worth noting that it was originally scripted as, "I'll come back."
