Films from the Future: How Sci-Fi Movies Shape the Way We See Tomorrow
Why do movies like Jurassic Park, Minority Report, or Ex Machina stay with us long after the credits roll? It’s not just the dinosaurs, futuristic tech, or special effects — it’s because these films reflect back to us the deeper questions of what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world.
In our latest Modem Futura episode, Andrew Maynard and I revisit his book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies and the class it inspired, The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future. The central idea? Films are not only entertainment — they’re cultural tools that help us grapple with profound questions about technology, ethics, and identity.
Take Never Let Me Go, a haunting exploration of cloning and the value of life itself. Or Minority Report, which foreshadowed today’s debates over predictive policing and surveillance technologies. Ex Machina pushes us to consider how easily humans can be manipulated by AI that learns our cognitive biases. And Elysium asks us to confront inequality in access to innovation, healthcare, and privilege. Even Contact, Carl Sagan’s love letter to science, brings us face-to-face with the tension between faith, science, and the human search for meaning.
What makes these films powerful isn’t scientific accuracy — it’s storytelling. Stories give us a playground for exploring possible futures. They allow us to ask “what if?” and to examine how technological choices shape human lives, for better and for worse. And when these stories are shared communally — in theaters, classrooms, or even podcasts like ours — they become catalysts for conversations that spill over into dinner tables, workplaces, and beyond.
For us, this is the heart of futures thinking. By examining the stories we tell, we can better understand the world we’re building, and perhaps make wiser choices about where we’re headed.
🎧 Listen to the full episode to dive deeper into how films shape our futures: https://apple.co/3VHmkka
📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura
🎬 What film has changed the way you think about the future? Drop a comment — we’d love to hear.
If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.
Subscribe and Connect!
Subscribe to Modem Futura on a favorite podcast platform, follow on LinkedIn, and join the conversation by sharing thoughts and questions. The medium may still be the massage, but everyone has a chance to shape how it kneads modern culture—and to decide what kind of global village we ultimately build.
🎧 Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3VHmkka
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cpIyNfnbveNmKC4eh4dV6?si=NiwZzFYNR5-fVrr0jgoNvg
📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/YHR1xEG4kAo
🌐 Website: https://www.modemfutura.com/