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Filming the Future

3,923 views · Published 11 May 2018 · 3:37 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: Fandor · 2018 · Entertainment

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Movies are obsessed with the future, and since the 1920s countless films have depicted futuristic settings. In 2018, we have already passed what many films referred to as “the distant future,” so it’s fun to see what they got right or wrong. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example, was fairly accurate in predicting video-calling and tablet computers, and Siri is basically a less evil version of HAL 9000.  On the other hand, we are still anxiously awaiting the hoverboards promised by the Back to the Future films (we’re looking at you, Robert Zemeckis). 

Even more interesting is what cinematic illustrations of the future can tell us about their present day, as films are always reflections of the societies in which they are made. Before space travel existed, most cinematic “futures” revolved around the idea of visiting and inhabiting space. This can be seen as an example of humanity’s fascination with the unknown, or even as a reflection of the World Wars that were happening when these films were made. Can you blame people for dreaming of other planets?

There’s plenty of symbolic reasoning behind the ways in which various eras of cinema have depicted the future, and it’s a wonder how much analyzing cinema’s imagined futures can tell us about our own pasts and presents.

Curious about how other movies interpret the future? Visit the Fandor library to check out films like Futureworld, Metropolis, and Dark Star.

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