Southland Tales (2006)
Near-Future L.A.
Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame makes a work set in a near-future L.A., a sprawling film bursting at the edges with too many characters and subplots but not uninteresting
Near Future Settings
Near Future Settings take place in a future that is not too distant from today. Exactly how close is not something that is clearly defined – it can be a few months to a few years to 10-20 years, although usually less than a 100 years or more.
As opposed to a Future setting, a Near Future Setting looks very much like the world does now. People generally maintain the same fashion styles, drive the same vehicles and behave as they do today. By contrast, a full future setting might have become a Dystopian society, a Cyberpunk world, a Post-Apocalyptic setting, a point when humanity has expanded out into space, or even a Far Future where the world has radically changed and is barely recognisable.
The near future setting might presume a technological advance (usually only a single one) or some social change. Often a near future setting will be used by a story to predict current trends in society, particularly those of a socio-political nature, extended a little further beyond what it is now.
The Space Between Us (2017)
First Kid Born on Mars Comes to Earth
Following the huge success of films like Gravity and The Martian that portray space travel with scrupulous realism, this can be considered the Young Adult version. It pays surprising attention to getting its science right; on the other hand, that doesn’t excuse the gaping implausibilities elsewhere
Spiderhead (2022)
Illicit Behaviour Modifying Pharmaceutical Experiments
From Joseph Kosinski, then riding high as the director of Top Gun: Maverick, Chris Hemsworth is cast in an interestingly ambiguous role as a scientist conducting illicit experiments with behaviour altering drugs
Split Second (1992)
Satanic Alien Serial Killer
A mishmash of Alien copy and supernatural serial killer film set in a drowned future London with a script that makes no real sense. The film’s buddy cop relationship starring Rutger Hauer does have its amusements.
Stealth (2005)
Artifically Intelligent Fighter Plane Amok
Action film about an artificially intelligent fighter plane that goes amok. Rob Cohen directs in all the cliches of the genre and the seeming need to have something spectacular happening every few minutes
Story of Ricky (1991)
Gonzo Splatter/Ultra-Tough Future Prison
An outrageous Hong Kong prison film that comes filled with mind-bogglingly over-the-top splatter effects
Strange Days (1995)
Near Future Social Disorder/The Millennium/Virtual Memories
A Kathryn Bigelow directed Cyberpunk film scripted by James Cameron concerning an illicit technology that can replay memories. This offers a powerful vision of a socially divided L.A. on the eve of the millennium
Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)
Post-Holocaust Surfer Gangs/Troma Film
A classic Troma title that is actually more interesting than the actual film, which concerns wars between surf gangs in a collapsed future. The film does eventually achieve a bizarre over-the-top lunacy
Swan Song (2021)
Cloning Film
SF film in which a terminally ill Mahershala Ali has a clone copy created to take his place but then begins to have second thoughts
Target (2011)
Russian Science Fiction Film/Rejuvenation Process
Russian SF film about a rejuvenation process where an interesting set-up tapers off into telling the stories of the newborns, not all of which are developed enough despite the lengthy time the film takes telling them
Terminal Island (1973)
Future Prison
Film from director Stephanie Rothman about a future where prisoners are exiled to an island whey they create their own ideal society
Terminus (2015)
Alien Artefact/Prophecy of Nuclear War
Australian SF film about a man’s discovery of an alien artifact that helps regenerate body parts and gives him prophetic dream warnings of a coming nuclear war. An odd little film more than it is necessarily one that keeps you interested or dramatically engaged
This Was America (2020)
Near-Future Totalitarian USA
A film that offers the depiction of a totalitarian future USA where Donald Trump has refused to leave office. This was made at the end of Trump’s first term and before his second term return to power.
The Time Capsule (2022)
Man’s Teenage Love Returns Unaged from a Space Journey
This has an interesting premise where a middle-aged man suddenly faces his teenage girlfriend returned unaged from a relativistic space voyage
The Titan (2018)
Bio-Engineering Humans to Live on Titan
Conceptually highly ambitious SF film about humans being biologically modified in order to be able to live on Saturn’s moon Titan. After a highly promising beginning, the film falls apart in a badly cliched unethical scientist and lab experiment amok ending
Tokyo Tribe (2014)
Near-Future Gang Warfare
Shion Sono is a director who has gained cult acclaim in recent years. This astonishes with the brashness of his approach, set among the street gang warfare of the near future where all of the dialogue is delivered in rap. On the other hand, the film lacks the budget to sustain such energy
Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (1935)
Massive Engineering Project
Early sound era depiction of the attempts to build a tunnel between the UK and USA. The film conjures something of the epic architectural imagination of Metropolis but is crippled by dull, static scenes with characters sitting around talking (a novelty for early sound audiences)
The Trial of Tony Blair (2007)
Political What If Scenario
Political What if scenario that sees British Prime Minister Tony Blair being publicly shamed and then placed on trail for his part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The biting points are undone by the film being directed in a tone of strident farce
Trouble in Mind (1986)
Futuristic Film Noir
Alan Rudolph makes a modern film noir that takes place in a vaguely futuristic setting. Starring Kris Kristofferson and Divine
Turkey Shoot (2014)
Human Hunting/Near Future Reality TV Show
Remake of the Ozploitation film where the original’s Most Dangerous Game scenario set in a dystopian future is lamely rewritten as a reality tv show and another Hunger Games ripoff. The original was fairly terrible; this has a lack of conviction in most regards that makes it even worse
Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)
Nuclear Missile Silo Hijacking
Robert Aldrich makes a thriller in which rogue general Burt Lancaster hijacks a nuclear missile silo and demands the truth about the Vietnam War be released. A big muscular production that attained some controversy at the time
Upgrade (2018)
A.I Transforms a Wheelchair-Ridden Man Into a Fighting Machine
Leigh Whannell, James Wan’s BFF and co-writer on the Saw and
Virtuosity (1995)
Android Serial Killer
Director Brett Leonard started the fascination with Virtual Reality off with The Lawnmower Man but shot himself in the foot with this absurd braindead follow-up in which Denzel Washington pursues a madly OTT Russell Crowe as an android serial killer
Way … Way Out (1966)
Space Mission Comedy
Comedy in which Jerry Lewis and Connie Stevens are forced to marry to go to The Moon. The sexual politics play out pretty embarrassingly today
Wedlock (1991)
Future Prison Escape
SF action where Rutger Hauer is sentenced with a collar that will explode if he moves 100 yards apart from Mimi Rogers
The White King (2016)
Future Totalitarian Regime
An acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel about a childhood growing up under Soviet rule is filmed translated to a near-future dystopian setting
Wrong is Right (1982)
International Political Thriller/Stolen Nuclear Weaponry
A sprawling international political thriller/satire about stolen nuclear weapons starring Sean Connery as a journalist
Years and Years (2019)
Near Future Family Saga
Exceptionally written UK mini-series from Doctor Who producer Russell T. Davies following a diverse family throughout the 2020s that become a projection of current trends turned nightmarish
Zoe (2018)
Android Relationship Film
Films about androids and artificial intelligence have taken off in the 2010s. This comes produced by Ridley Scott who made Blade Runner, the defining classic on the theme; on the other hand, it ends up in the hands of a director who specialises in relationship dramas