While real life is often stranger than fiction, sometimes fiction can be a window into the real world. I’m not just talking about themes or stories that pull from reality and hold up a sobering mirror to society. Sometimes an older movie can have its own ideas of what the future might look like, and let’s face it, it’s often much sillier or boring than reality would prove to be.
Sometimes, though, fiction can get it right in the most eye-raising of ways. At times, it feels like certain movies and shows from the past had an oracle right out of mythology just hanging out in the writer’s room, screaming into the void about the future to come.
The Truman Show
Watch The Truman Show on Tubi
Well, I’m not sure how accidental it was, but The Truman Show is one of those films that’s aged like a fine wine. A man (Jim Carrey) unknowingly lives inside a reality television show world and is unable to escape. Millions of people worldwide watch him live this life, unaware, almost at an obsessive level. If that’s not a precursor to our society’s level of obsession with reality television and media in general, I don’t know what is.
Surprisingly, The Truman Show is a meta movie that is more relevant than ever. And even if it was intentionally commenting on the direction we were headed, I doubt it could foresee just how much we have become a viewing audience that longs for The Truman Show-like level of parasocial relationships with those on our screens.
Robocop
Stream Robocop on MGM+
Well, this is one to navigate carefully, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the unsettling parallels our reality now shares with Robocop, a dystopian thriller. From the militarization of the police to the privatization of public services. But also less controversial advances, like the rise of smart technology and things like GPS. But mostly, it’s a satire of America that details a supposedly ridiculous future in which none of this can happen.
Well, unfortunately, the present doesn’t care what an ’80s movie thinks should be satire. Still, it all sort of makes Robocop a timeless film in many ways, even though it is very much of its time. There’s a reason that it remains a popular film among audiences, and even led to a less-than-stellar remake that sort of forgot that it was supposed to be a satire.
Star Trek
Watch Star Trek on Paramount+
I could probably spend an entire list talking about the technological advances the Star Trek franchise just happened to predict. From cell phones in the original series to tablets and voice-activated computers in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this is science fiction that really leaned into the former part of that sentence. Sure, a lot of it was delightfully silly, but it’s amazing just how much of Star Trek feels weirdly prophetic.
But what I’m really waiting for is the holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation in all its glory to actually become a thing someday. Just let me live out elaborate fictional scenarios in a world indistinguishable from my own, because VR just isn’t really cutting it. But in the meantime, I guess I’ll take their rudimentary idea of what a cell phone would someday look like.
The Last Man on Earth
Watch The Last Man on Earth on Hulu
Released in 2015, The Last Man on Earth deals with the fallout of an extremely deadly pandemic that wipes out most of the human race. The year this takes place? 2020. While obviously COVID hasn’t been nearly as devastating as that fictional pandemic, the timing is still eerie. What was a funny, diverting show during its original run is almost eerie to watch nowadays.
This is especially true when The Last Man on Earth uses flashbacks to the early stages of its fictional pandemic, which feel distinctly like the early days of COVID. Still, The Last Man on Earth is a hilarious show that deserves way more attention than it gets. I’d be surprised if it isn’t a major cult hit in another few years.
Minority Report
Watch Minority Report on Paramount+
Technologically speaking, Minority Report has accurately predicted many things. From tech that requires the right gestures to unlock to facial recognition being as advanced as it is. The self-driving cars we have now are also very close to how they function in the film, with some differences, of course. Still no precogs who can predict crime, however.
There’s a big reason why so much of the technology in Minority Report seems so realistic, too. Apparently, during pre-production, director Steven Spielberg consulted many different scientists and futurists to try and predict what a plausible future could look like. Over twenty years later, that level of dedication proved to be a good move, at least in terms of realism.
Current films will also likely predict the future
After compiling this list, I couldn’t help but wonder which films from now will predict the future in ten or even twenty years. Hopefully, it’s less on the dystopian side and more on fun technology that can make life a little bit easier for humanity. But for now, these shows and movies will have to do. On another note, if you’re looking for some of the best detective series to binge in a weekend, look no further.
