Dystopia

Derived from Greek ("Δυς" = "Bad/Hard" and "Τόπος" = "Place"), the term dystopia was popularized by Positivist philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), and is used to describe a hypothetical future in which contemporary sociopolitical elements are exaggerated and extrapolated into worst-case scenarios that illustrate their explosive peril. Thus, this is a socially conscious subgenre whose main objective is to ward off undesirable political scenarios by depicting the inherent risks posed by a given real-life context.

Independent of their form and tone - such works commonly employ satire, for example - the films in question share a bitter undertone and a sense of injustice which tends to lend them a caustic bite. Dystopian alternate histories constitute a specific case, with stories based on the premise that a given historical event took a different turn from the one recorded in history books (the Third Reich's victory as imagined by Philip K. Dick in his 1962 novel "The Man in the High Castle" comes to mind).

The films grouped in this Tag share some common characteristics:

1. Authority as an expression of a ubiquitous and omniscient central power that impinges on personal liberty with impunity (citizens are persuaded to conform to a uniform standard of obedience and behavior);
2. The prominence that propaganda assumes, and, more generally, the key role of widespread, invasive messaging designed and carefully managed to serve the interests of the ruling regime;
3. The absence of social mobility, particularly due to firmly entrenched hierarchies and class divisions;
4. The ruthless repression of dissent;
5. The prominent role afforded to technological innovation, which the ruling regime uses to monitor and control the public in order to maintain the status quo.