Things to Come (1936)

Written by H.G. Wells based on his own story, this follows approximately 100 years of human history from a decades-long, devastating war to a scientific age that leads to a mission to the moon. It’s a very weird film that quickly jumps through the ages but then just as suddenly drops into a very basic narrative involving generations of the same families. It’s incredible in scope, especially the futuristic sets in the last third, but if I’m to understand correctly, it fails in messaging. A post-war dystopia led with force by a intellect-less dictator leads to a different type of dictatorship pushed by science and progress, willing to gas the populace to get them to follow the ‘right’ path. It does have an interesting view for the future, especially fashions that make everyone look like some type of futuristic Roman gladiators.