November 28, 2024 – A lot of scary movies, like “The Exorcist” and “Halloween” aren't really that scary because they are not believable, whereas movies like “Jaws” and “Psycho” are scarier because they are more believable.

They all pale in comparison to “2073” however, which is the scariest of them all, because it is a documentary as well as movie about the future. No, it isn't scary in a way that makes me jump out of my seat, like that one underwater scene in “Jaws,” it is scary because it shows you just how terrible things are in the world. It shows how the situation probably will get much worse very soon.

This movie combines current and past videos and movies about the confluence of factors like oligarchies, dictators, artificial intelligence, the degradation and corruption of news sources, global warming, income inequality, the spread of misinformation in social media and the assault on democracies everywhere. It also highlights the loss of privacy through video surveillance, fingerprinting, retinal scans, facial recognition, online data mining, and increasingly intrusive identification document requirements for basic services.

The movie jumps around in time, to the past present and future. In the future, Samantha Morton of “She Said” plays a woman who has dropped out of society after her mother was taken away and disappeared by authorities. She, and her fellow refugees, live in an abandoned shopping mall, eking out a living from the garbage thrown away by those in the city.

Drones fill the skies in the future and cameras line the streets in this surveillance society. Everything that people do and say is monitored for compliance with strict laws which seem to leave little room for freedom. The future earth is a place where the oceans have risen to wipe out buildings on low-lying lands, and huge wildfires foul the air. Food is grown indoors in sterile environments.

Flashbacks to earlier times illustrate how the future arose from our present day. The woman of the future has dreams of the past when the earth was in better shape. She is afraid to speak to anyone. She cannot trust anyone. She keeps to herself. Even so, a drone scans her face, and she is targeted for questioning as a suspicious person.

Stay tuned for another chilling scene after the credits, in which a voice, possibly an artificial intelligence asks a series of questions, like “Do you have contacts with any illegals in the Americas? Have you ever signed a petition? What are your religious practices?” This goes on for some time. It is very creepy.

While the movie is largely dystopian, it also highlights a few journalists, like Maria Ressa, and Carole Cadwalladr and a handful of others are noted in 2073, as well as efforts by governments to suppress their reporting. As far as climate disasters, those are already happening, and we've probably already passed the tipping point. As far as the loss of democracy and personal freedoms, it may be too late to save those, too, but maybe there is still time. That's why this movie is so scary. It seems like we've already arrived at the apocalypse.

I already knew things were bad, especially given recent elections here in the U.S., but it wasn't until I saw how these elections fit into the context of political developments in the rest of the world that I really felt just how fast we are headed toward oligarchy. This is the scariest movie I've ever seen. It rates an A.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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