10 Cool Movies About the Near Future That We, Unfortunately (or Fortunately), Will Not Live to See (11 photos)
We love to look ahead and imagine what the 22nd century will be like, but more often than not, movies present us not with utopias but with alarming predictions. In these stories, space, technology, and social experiments change people's lives, often in somewhat terrifying ways. 
Here, corporations rule planets, time becomes currency, and ideal societies turn out to be sterile and cruel. The heroes of these films try to survive, find themselves, or break a seemingly unshakable system.
We're thinking about films that take place partially or entirely between 2151 and 2205. This isn't a future that's too distant, but we, living in the first half of the 21st century, will clearly not experience it. It's a shame, of course, but we can at least see how this period was depicted in films.
2151 — Vanilla Sky 
Year of release: 2001
The world is depicted not as a cosmic future, but as a hyperreality: technology allows us to literally rewrite our own lives and experiences. By turning to the Life Extension Corporation, a person can live in an endless, idealized dream, ruled by their imagination. The protagonist (Tom Cruise) gets stuck in just such a dream, naturally forgetting that it's a dream and that he's consulted any specialists.
2154 — Avatar 
Year of film release: 2009
Earth is depleted, and corporations are extracting resources from the distant planet Pandora. This isn't the future we're used to—it's a colonial machine, transferring technology and human greed to a pristine world with little blue men. Soldiers and scientists transfer their consciousness into biological avatars to interact with the locals. Jake Sully, a former Marine, arrives in this world and finds himself caught between the corporate machine and Pandora's vibrant ecosystem.
The events of the sequel, "Avatar: The Path of Water," take place in the year 2170. Thanks to James Cameron, we definitely won't be visiting that future.
2154 — Elysium — Paradise Not on Earth 
Year of film release: 2013
On a depleted, overpopulated Earth (a classic cinematic depiction of the future), the poor remain, while the elite relocate to the orbital station "Elysium," where there is eternal cleanliness, medicine, and longevity. The world is built on extreme social division. The protagonist, Max, is a worker from the slums who, after an accident, tries to break through to "paradise" and upend the system that deprives people of a chance to live.
2156 — Interstellar 
Year of film release: 2014
The future here isn't high-tech, it's survival. Even Christopher Nolan couldn't come up with a more compelling premise. Earth is becoming unsuitable for agriculture, and dust storms and famine are rampant. Space is humanity's only chance. Former NASA pilot Cooper takes the helm of a ship to find a new planet. And the next thing you know: he'll be memorably crying, staring at the screen, and knocking on the past from the other side of the bookshelf.
2169 — Time 
Year of film release: 2011
Time is the new currency. People stop aging at 25 and live as long as they have minutes left. The poor work to earn hours, the rich accumulate centuries. The world is divided into zones where time flows literally differently. The protagonist, from the ghetto, gains a huge amount of time and tries to challenge the system where life is a privilege for the rich.
2197 — Starship Troopers 
Year of film release: 1997
Future society becomes militaristic, with mandatory military service, as humans wage an interstellar war with an insectoid race. The film's setting depicts humanity in the 22nd century as a unified military machine. The protagonist, Rico, initially romanticizes military service, but later sees how the system grinds people down in endless conflict.
2199 — The Matrix 
Year of release: 1999
People live in an illusion of the late 20th century, unaware that their bodies are being used by machines. The real world of the 22nd century (the exact year, as Morpheus admits, is unknown, so we simply add 200 years to the year the film was released) is dark and devastated after the war with AI. Thomas Anderson is a hacker who discovers the truth and escapes the Matrix. And the rest is history: he quickly masters kung fu, then begins dodging bullets, and finally defeats agents with one hand.
2200 — The Initiate 
Year of film release: 2014
At first glance, the world is perfect: there is no war, pain, or hunger; people live by the rules, without experiencing strong emotions. But behind the outward harmony lies sterility, a lack of choice, and the memory of the past erased. The young hero gains the ability to see and feel all sorts of forbidden things and realizes that the world is devoid not only of pain, but also of beauty.
2205 — The Bicentennial Man 
Year of film release: 1999
The future is a coexistence of humans and robot servants who gradually become individuals. Andryu is an android who, over the course of 200 years, evolves from a machine to a being who demands recognition of his humanity. The world is depicted as a technological paradise, but in it, one must fight not for survival, but for the right to be an individual. Now that's interesting.
2208 — City of Ember: Escape 
Year of film release: 2008
The 22nd century here looks not like a shining cosmos, but like a dark concrete cocoon. People have lived for generations in an underground city, intended as a temporary shelter but instead becoming their home. Ceiling lights replace the sun, food supplies are running low, and the electric generator is on its last legs—and the authorities pretend everything is normal. The main characters, two teenagers, accidentally discover lost exit instructions and begin to unravel a conspiracy that keeps everyone trapped below.
