The Best Dystopia Movies and TV Shows on The Criterion Channel
Finding a good Dystopia movie and TV show to watch can be hard, so we've ranked the best ones and included where to watch them. Check out our list of the best Dystopia movies and TV shows of all time streaming on The Criterion Channel.
1. Night of the Living Dead
What it's about: A group of people try to survive an attack of bloodthirsty zombies while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PlutoTV, Peacock, Plex & 4 others), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, Paramount+, fuboTV & 10 others), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Starz, Epix & Syfy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
2. Escape from New York
What it's about: In the future, crime is out of control and New York City's Manhattan is a maximum security prison. Grabbing a bargaining chip right out of the air, convicts bring down the President's plane in bad old Gotham. Gruff Snake Plissken, a one-eyed lone warrior new to prison life, is coerced into bringing the President, and his cargo, out of this land of undesirables.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
3. Stalker
What it's about: Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
4. Time Bandits
What it's about: Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Vudu).
5. Wings of Desire
What it's about: Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds -- with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).
6. Lord of the Flies
What it's about: Amidst a nuclear war, a plane carrying a group of schoolboys crash lands on a deserted island. With no adult survivors, the boys are forced to fend for themselves. At first they cooperate, but when the they split into two separate camps -- one led by the pragmatic Ralph and the other by militaristic Jack -- their society falls into disarray, leading to a disturbing examination of human nature and a chilling conclusion.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy), stream on a TV everywhere service (TCM) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).
7. Weekend
What it's about: A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel).
8. Things to Come
What it's about: The story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (IMDb TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel, Fandor & 3 others) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
9. Jubilee
What it's about: Queen Elizabeth I visits late twentieth-century Britain to find a depressing landscape where life has changed since her time.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy).
10. Until the End of the World
What it's about: Set in 1999, Claire's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with some bank robbers, who enlist her help to take the money to a drop in Paris. On the way she runs into another fugitive from the law Dr. Farber, an American who is being chased by the CIA. They want to confiscate a device his father invented which allows anyone to record their dreams and visions. On the run they travel the globe from Berlin to Lisbon to Moscow to Tokyo, ending up in Australia at his father's research facility, where they hope to play back the recordings Farber captured for his blind mother.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel).
11. Invasion of Astro-Monster
What it's about: Astronauts Glenn and Fuji investigate Planet X and encounter mysterious aliens known as the Xiliens, who ask Earth's people to help save their world from "Monster Zero". In exchange for borrowing Godzilla and Rodan, the Xiliens offer a cure for cancer. As Glenn investigates, he develops a romance with Miss Namikawa and uncovers the Xilien's true intentions.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).