Dystopia On Screen

11th February 2014

A typical dystopian film is one which is often, but not always, set in the future, in a society where the government is corrupt and/or ineffectual which makes a great premise for film making. In How I Live Now, starring Saorise Ronan and EE BAFTA Rising Star nominee George Mackay, we see a world that faces a daily threat of being ruled by the destruction and chaos of war and shows the harshness of love, loss and belonging!

To celebrate the release of the highly anticipated How I Live Now on Blu-ray and DVD from 10^th February, we take a look at some of the top dystopian films of all time.

Mad Max (1981)

George Miller’s vision of an apocalyptic future in Mad Max is set in the wastelands of Australia. Total social decay is just around the corner in this spectacular cheap budget gang orientated road movie. Where the cops do their best to lay down the law and the outlaw gangs try their hardest to defy the system. Leather clad Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) husband, father and cop turns judge, juror and executioner after his best friend, wife and baby are killed. Here we see the final days of normality of a man who had everything to live for, slip into the abyss of madness. With its astounding car stunts, unbelievable bike chases and constant ultra violence Mad Max is the antihero on the road to vengeance and oblivion.

The Matrix (1999)

In the first of a trilogy, The Matrix follows protagonist Neo (Keanu Reeves) as he becomes aware that the world he thinks he exists in is not in fact reality. Referencing past science fiction films and combining a cyberpunk subculture, The Matrix makes use of allegorical metaphors to convey a theory that what people think is real, may not actually be the true reality.

Children of Men (2006)

A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended into chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute martial law. The warden’s ability to keep order is threatened when a woman finds that she is pregnant with what would be the first child born in 27 years.

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Director Mark Romanek and writer Alex Garland team up to adapt Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro’s introspective sci-fi novel about a group of unsuspecting boarding-school students who make a horrifying discovery about themselves. Sheltered teens Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley), and Tommy (Andrew Garfield) all grew up at a remote English boarding school, and now they’re hungry to explore the real world. Their dreams of freedom are soon stifled, however, upon learning that they are nothing more than clones created specifically for organ harvesting. Now, in addition to confronting their own mortality, all three must come to terms with a lifetime of emotions and unfulfilled longings while pondering their true purpose.

The Hunger Games (2013)

With The Hunger Games’ dystopian view of the future of North America, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to compete.

How I Live Now

American teenager Daisy (Saorise Ronan) has attitude to burn. Her mother died giving birth to her, and now her dad has sent her away for the summer to live with her aunt and cousins in the English countryside to stay with relatives. In How I Live Now she finds love and purpose while fighting for her survival as war envelops the world around her.

How I Live Now is released on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand from 10^th February 2014, courtesy of eOne Home Entertainment.

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