6 Movies That Eerily Predicted the Future: From RoboCop to Her

A lot of fiction seems to be written by people who can see the future. It happens in sci-fi novels all the time, but there are plenty of movies that have turned out to be pretty prophetic too.

Of course, in many cases it’s just because we’re interpreting them broadly, or just the luck of the draw (most movies don’t predict the future), but with these movies they really do seem eerily prescient.

6

RoboCop (1987) Saw Corporate Takeover of Public Services

The movie so nice, I bought it twice—on Blu-ray. Maybe a few more times in other formats, but let’s not get off-topic here. Suffice it to say that Robocop is one of my favorite movies of all time, and this ultra-violent satire doesn’t feel all that satirical any more today.

Dystopian cyberpunk is built on the idea that governments fail and that megacorps will eventually rule the world. The idea seemed cartoonish in the late ’80s, but today, many public services have been privatized or outsourced. From for-profit prisons to private security firms and the creeping involvement of tech giants in everything from education to healthcare, RoboCop’s dystopian corporate stranglehold doesn’t feel far-fetched anymore, does it?

RoboCop

Release Date

July 17, 1987

Runtime

102 minutes

Director

Paul Verhoeven

Writers

Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner

Producers

Arne Schmidt

Cast

• 

  Peter Weller

  Officer Alex J. Murphy / RoboCop

• 

  Nancy Allen

  Officer Anne Lewis

• 

  Dan O’Herlihy

  The Old Man

• 

5

They Live (1988) Anticipated Culture Wars and Subliminal Ads

Another iconic movie from the 80s, the premise is that aliens walk among us and use subliminal messaging in advertising to influence our decisions, like “OBEY” and “CONSUME.”

Of course, there has always been a tradition of conspiracies revolving around how the media controls us and influences us unconsciously. Serious studies of this haven’t shown influences as strong as, for example, deliberate propaganda, but obvious the media people consume do have some effects on them.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with algorithm-driven social media and feeds these days. With sophisticated systems watching how we react and building precise profiles of us on an individual basis, it’s hard not to see the parallels between manipulating people into (for example) voting a particular way by controlling the specific things they see online. Add to that the latest generative AI technology, and I’m starting to feel like I need special glasses that let me see through all the lies.

They Live

Release Date

November 4, 1988

Runtime

94 minutes

Director

John Carpenter

Writers

John Carpenter

4

The Truman Show (1998) Predicted the Age of Influencers and Mass Surveillance

Another personal favorite of mine, The Truman Show tells the story of a man whose entire life is a lie. Literally owned by a media company, every moment of Truman’s life is scripted and watched by millions of people around the world. It’s basically how real-world reality TV works, the only difference being that Truman doesn’t know he’s being watched.

What feels more like prophecy today is that millions of people voluntarily livestream their daily lives, build careers as influencers, and curate content for audiences of strangers. Add in the reality of mass surveillance through smart devices, cameras, and tracking apps, and The Truman Show doesn’t seem like fiction so much as what many of us willingly subject ourselves to every day.

The Truman Show

Release Date

June 5, 1998

Runtime

103 minutes

Director

Peter Weir, peter

Writers

Andrew Niccol

3

Demolition Man (1993) Guessed at a Sanitized, Over-Policed Future

Demolition Man is a smorgasbord of ideas so ridiculous that they could never become real. Except people are nostalgic for old marketing jingles, people have less intimate relationships, we are hyper-sensitive about language, we do use strange euphemisms, we all use biometrics, self-driving cars are a thing, and yeah, I just tap a thing to pay for stuff now. Pretty good hit rate, I’d say! Now we just have to figure out cryogenic freezing and laser rifles.

Demolition Man

Release Date

October 8, 1993

Runtime

115 minutes

Director

Marco Brambilla

Writers

Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau, Daniel Waters

When I first watched Idiocracy in 2006, it was funny as heck, eminently quotable, and only mildly plausible. It’s a future where the dumbest people have the most kids, and as a result America’s collective intelligence drops so much that society falls apart.

Clearly satirical, and things aren’t that bad, but now we have viral content designed for the lowest common denominator, anti-science attitudes, and media designed to keep us passively scrolling. Even the idea of crops being watered with energy drinks doesn’t feel that far off in an era of corporate greenwashing.

Some of the prophecies weren’t even long-term. Mike Judge famously picked Crocs as the shoes for characters to wear, because, of course, they were too stupid to ever become popular, surely?

Idiocracy

Release Date

September 1, 2006

Runtime

84 minutes

Director

Mike Judge

Writers

Etan Cohen

Producers

Elysa Koplovitz Dutton

Cast

• 

• 

• 

• 

  Terry Crews

  President Camacho

1

Her (2013) Envisioned AI Companionship Before Chatbots

Of all the movies on the list, Her is by far the most prophetic. In fact, the events of the movie are playing out as I write this. A decade ago, the idea of an emotionally intelligent AI that could chat, flirt, and evolve felt like pure speculative fiction.

However, right now, people are literally becoming infatuated with AI companions, and even having emotional breakdowns when ChatGPT changes to a new model. Though it has to be said that some of the people creating these AI companions might have been copying the movie on purpose, which is why there’s a lawsuit between OpenAI and Scarlett Johansson for the alleged copying of her voice from the film.

It was a harsh revelation for the main character in the movie to learn that his AI girlfriend wasn’t exclusive to him, but it seems in the real world people don’t care as long as they feel loved. Go figure.

Her

Release Date

December 18, 2013

Runtime

126minutes

Director

Spike Jonze

Writers

Spike Jonze

There are so many other movies cursed with the gift of foresight I could mention. Such as Network, WarGames, Children of Men, and the recent Don’t Look Up, but having a list of the top 100 prophetic movies would feel like cheating. Let’s leave it at that!