Things to Come (1936): The Birth of Dystopian Cinema| EP01

The Origins of Dystopian Sci-Fi

In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we begin a brand-new series exploring one of the genre’s most powerful and enduring themes: dystopia.

Dystopian science fiction imagines societies that have gone wrong — worlds shaped by war, authoritarian power, technological control or environmental collapse. These stories often reflect the fears of the time in which they were created.

To start our journey, we’re going all the way back to one of the earliest and most ambitious dystopian films ever made: Things to Come (1936).

Written by legendary science-fiction author H. G. Wells and directed by William Cameron Menzies, the film presents an epic vision of the future spanning an entire century.

Because here on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we explore the history of science-fiction cinema one subgenre at a time

LISTEN BELOW:

What We Discuss In This Episode

In this episode we talk about:

• What makes a dystopian science-fiction story

• Why dystopian worlds appear throughout sci-fi history

• H. G. Wells’ influence on early science-fiction cinema

• The way Things to Come imagines the future of war and civilisation

• How early sci-fi films helped shape the dystopian genre

Things to Come (1936) – A Century of War and Collapse

Things to Come opens in the near future — Christmas Day, 1940 — where tensions between nations lead to the outbreak of a devastating global conflict.

The war continues for decades, destroying cities and plunging the world into chaos. Eventually civilisation collapses into a new dark age filled with disease, poverty and local warlords competing for power.

One of the most striking ideas in the film is the “wandering sickness,” a mysterious plague that spreads across the ruined world and leaves survivors wandering aimlessly before death.

But the film doesn’t stop with dystopia.

Eventually a group of scientists and engineers known as Wings Over the World emerges to rebuild civilisation using technology and rational planning.

By the year 2036, humanity has constructed a technologically advanced society and is preparing to launch humanity into space.

H. G. Wells and the Future of Humanity

Unlike many dystopian stories, Things to Come is not purely pessimistic.

H. G. Wells imagined the collapse of civilisation as part of a larger historical process — one that might eventually lead to a more advanced and unified human society.

The film was adapted from Wells’ book The Shape of Things to Come and was unusual for its time because Wells himself wrote the screenplay, giving the film a strong philosophical perspective.

Its enormous sets, futuristic designs and sweeping timeline made it one of the most ambitious science-fiction films of the 1930s.

Early Visions of Dystopia

Although dystopian stories are now extremely common in science fiction, films like Things to Come helped establish many of the genre’s core ideas:

• global war destroying civilisation

• authoritarian rulers emerging from chaos

• technology shaping the future of humanity

• societies rebuilt in radically different forms.

These ideas would later appear in countless sci-fi classics, from Blade Runner to The Hunger Games.

Beginning Our Journey Through Dystopia

This episode marks the beginning of our Journey Through Dystopia series.

Across the series we’ll explore how filmmakers have imagined dark futures shaped by politics, technology and social change.

From early sci-fi experiments like Things to Come to modern dystopian blockbusters, these stories reveal how science fiction reflects humanity’s deepest fears about the future.

Start Your Journey Through Sci-Fi

Journey Through Sci-Fi is a podcast exploring the strange, visionary and world-changing history of science-fiction cinema.

Each series focuses on a different sci-fi theme — from space exploration and artificial intelligence to time travel, virtual reality, cyberpunk and dystopian futures.

Join us as we explore the films and ideas that shaped science fiction.