Movies and TV series about dystopias
The 60 best titles about dystopias, ranked by the iRank Score — our composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb. Every page includes cast, where to watch and similar recommendations.
Metropolis
1927 · Fritz Lang
MovieDramaScience FictionIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the son of the city's mastermind meets a prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Attack on Titan
2013 · Manabu Otsuka
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & Fantasy100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
2021 · Kazuya Tsurumaki
MovieActionAnimationDramaIn the aftermath of the Fourth Impact, stranded without their Evangelions, Shinji, Asuka and Rei find refuge in one of the rare pockets of humanity that still exist on the ruined planet Earth. There,
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
2012 · Jay Oliva
MovieActionAnimationMysteryBatman has not been seen for ten years. A new breed of criminal ravages Gotham City, forcing 55-year-old Bruce Wayne back into the cape and cowl. But, does he still have what it takes to fight crime i
The Great Escape
1963 · John Sturges
MovieAdventureDramaWarThe Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
2022 · Taiki Sakurai
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationDramaIn a dystopia riddled with corruption and cybernetic implants, a talented but reckless street kid strives to become a mercenary outlaw — an edgerunner.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991 · James Cameron
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerTen years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, he fights to stop Sky
Blade Runner
1982 · Ridley Scott
MovieDramaScience FictionThrillerIn the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way t
The Terminator
1984 · James Cameron
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerIn the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgen
Children of Men
2006 · Alfonso Cuarón
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerIn 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help sc
Tokyo Ghoul
2014 · Kazumichi Ueda
SeriesAnimationDramaSci-Fi & FantasyKen Kaneki, a bookworm college student, meets Rize, a girl his own age with whom he shares many interests.
The Promised Neverland
2019
SeriesAnimationDramaMysteryEmma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean c
Black Mirror
2011 · Bisha K. Ali
SeriesDramaMysterySci-Fi & FantasyTwisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.
Ghost in the Shell
1995 · Mamoru Oshii
MovieActionAnimationScience FictionIn the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker k
The Matrix
1999 · Lana Wachowski
MovieActionScience FictionSet in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Akame ga Kill!
2014 · Masanori Fujita
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationDramaYoung Tatsumi travels to the capital of the Empire in order to earn money for his starving people and encounters a world of unimaginable depravity, dominated by the ruthless Prime Minister who control
A Clockwork Orange
1971 · Stanley Kubrick
MovieCrimeScience FictionIn a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. Th
Gurren Lagann
2007
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyWhen a young laborer escapes to the world aboveground, he discovers a violent land in which humans battle robots controlled by a power-hungry noble.
Kill la Kill
2013
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationComedyHonnouji Academy is forcefully ruled by the iron-fisted control of its student council and its president, Satsuki Kiryuin. Transfer student, Ryuko Matoi, arrives on campus carrying a giant sword, that
Blade Runner 2049
2017 · Denis Villeneuve
MovieDramaScience FictionThirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery lea
District 9
2009 · Neill Blomkamp
MovieScience FictionThirty years ago, aliens arrive on Earth. Not to conquer or give aid, but to find refuge from their dying planet. Separated from humans in a South African area called District 9, the aliens are manage
Batman Beyond
1999 · Jean MacCurdy
SeriesAction & AdventureAnimationSci-Fi & FantasyAs new villains overrun Gotham City of the future, the aging Bruce Wayne hangs up the cape of the once invincible Batman. But when troubled teenager Terry McGinnis stumbles upon the Dark Knight's secr
Fight Club
1999 · David Fincher
MovieDramaThrillerA ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every
The Handmaid's Tale
2017 · Kim Todd
SeriesAction & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & FantasySet in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
Planet of the Apes
1968 · Franklin J. Schaffner
MovieActionAdventureDramaAstronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a
War for the Planet of the Apes
2017 · Matt Reeves
MovieDramaScience FictionWarCaesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins
Twelve Monkeys
1995 · Terry Gilliam
MovieMysteryScience FictionThrillerIn the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivor
Interstellar
2014 · Christopher Nolan
MovieAdventureDramaScience FictionThe adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2014 · Matt Reeves
MovieActionDramaScience FictionA group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.
Edge of Tomorrow
2014 · Doug Liman
MovieActionScience FictionMajor Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with hi
Battle Royale
2000 · Kinji Fukasaku
MovieActionDramaThrillerIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Snowpiercer
2013 · Bong Joon Ho
MovieActionDramaScience FictionIn a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer; a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engi
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
2013 · Francis Lawrence
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionAfter surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta struggle with the consequences of their victory as unrest spreads across Panem. Forced back into the spotlight, they become symbols of hope and resi
The Little Prince
2015 · Mark Osborne
MovieAdventureAnimationFamilyBased on the best-seller book 'The Little Prince', the movie tells the story of a little girl that lives with resignation in a world where efficiency and work are the only dogmas. Everything will chan
The Animatrix
2003 · Koji Morimoto
MovieAnimationScience FictionStraight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide
The Lobster
2015 · Yorgos Lanthimos
MovieComedyDramaRomanceIn a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into anima
For All Mankind
2019 · Kira Snyder
SeriesDramaSci-Fi & FantasyWar-politicsExplore an aspirational world where NASA and the space program remained a priority and a focal point of our hopes and dreams as told through the lives of NASA astronauts, engineers, and their families
Angel's Egg
1985 · Mamoru Oshii
MovieAnimationFantasyMysteryIn the ruins of a strange city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms. She bonds with a boy who is searching for a bird he saw in a dream.
Escape from New York
1981 · John Carpenter
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerIn a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011 · Rupert Wyatt
MovieActionDramaScience FictionA highly intelligent chimpanzee named Caesar has been living a peaceful suburban life ever since he was born. But when he gets taken to a cruel primate facility, Caesar decides to revolt against those
The Man in the High Castle
2015 · Frank Spotnitz
SeriesDramaSci-Fi & FantasyExplore what it would be like if the Allied Powers had lost WWII, and Japan and Germany ruled the United States. Based on Philip K. Dick's award-winning novel.
V for Vendetta
2006 · James McTeigue
MovieActionScience FictionThrillerIn a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as “V” conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When V rescues a young woman fr
The Hunger Games
2012 · Gary Ross
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionIn a dystopian society where the Capitol forces each district to send two young tributes to fight to the death in a televised spectacle, a girl volunteers to take her sister’s place, setting the stage
Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources