If you happen to be in the future (but perhaps a future not so distant from today), Big Brother is watching, and resistance is brewing, you might be a character in a dystopian film. Not to be confused with post-apocalyptic films, which depict a world in the wake of a war, disaster, or outbreak, dystopian films are set in fully formed societies, albeit ones that are far from ideal. In fact, these movies are often about a rebellious protagonist’s “rage against the machine”. In this video, we take a look at this fascinating and foreboding genre and its classic tropes, as well as examine its enduring appeal to audiences who love to imagine the bad new days.