User reviews

Let me start by saying that I agree with all of the politics, and all of the warnings in this movie.

Despite that, this is a terrible movie. There is no story, the characters are not developed, the plot is thin as wax paper, and I honestly don't think much effort was made for it to be otherwise. The film is a vehicle for delivering the political message.

For me, that's not good enough. Better to call it a documentary and to just explicitly make that argument.

The producers intersperse political history from 1980s-2024 to explain how the world tumbled into a fascist global system, where average people are serfs, and only a few wealthy people survive, on the backs of labor performed by robots and AI.

I agree. I agree. But a movie also has to be entertaining. This was slow, boring, depressing (as is the news today), and painful to watch.

The atmosphere this "movie" sets up is brilliant. The downtrodden, harrowing, depressing, soul crushing vision of the future. Had it told that story in the fictional 2073 world and simply tied it to the real life events, it would have worked fine just fine.

But then it drops back into early 2000's and starts weaving real life footage of events from all over the world into its tread... and loses what was built at the start.

It becomes a documentary that's trying to present itself like in a feature film form but it ends up being neither. There isn't just one message here, there are countless, each touching on everything you'd see on some conspiracy theory You Tube video or obscure website visited by people with questionable mental faculty. Reemergence of the far left in mainstream politics, corrupt interconnected politicians, systematic disassembly of democracy, abuse of power, abuse of social media, racism, environment, and so on and so forth.

Don't get me wrong, all of the topics it touches are worthy of your attention and should be addressed, sooner rather than later. But the moment you tangle real life events with fictional narrative... the relevance of the message becomes fictional itself.

This documovie offers causes to issues, exacerbates them as a stepping stone into the fictional environment and the offers nothing in the form of a solution, just a melancholic voice over from the main character that deliberately tip toes around what it really wants to say.

Shame. Because if this had been a fictional movie or a proper documentary... I think I would have loved it.

"A woman living in a ruined Earth tries to comprehend how the world was destroyed."

And thus begins some of the greatest hits of the dark side of humanity since the 1990's. As the trailer states, this is not fiction and it is not a documentary, so what is it?! It also states that what you view is a warning and that is exactly what it is. It starts with what seems like the usual apocalyptic scenario, but it quickly becomes obvious that is not the intention of this film. The film starts off in 2073 and backtracks constantly to actual events that have occurred from then to now and it is indeed a scary, punishing thing to view. Since this frequently returns to the present, it is quite clear what the warning is about and you should be frightened as the future is perilous as I write this. This is not entertainment. It is primarily clips of real events over the past few decades, but it also has some interesting visuals for what life might look like in 2073. To say it's not pretty would be putting it mildly. Humans! As smart as we can be, as much as we learn, so many just can never stop being greedy, power hungry and violent. Sadly, it has been this way since our existence began and clearly some never learn and seemingly never will. Good luck.

I almost skipped out on this movie after taking a glance at the lackluster reviews. But then I noticed a pattern: It really felt like a lot of the reviewers didn't even give the movie a chance before tuning out.

Samantha Morton truly shines in this film - she does a great job at conveying a staggering amount of emotion with her facial expressions alone. (Her character is mute.) The story is mainly told from her POV through narration that is both nostalgic and pensively depressing.

The movie paints a prescient and chilling vision of what our future could look like in the next ~50 years, given our current trajectory. Blending real-life archival footage and stark depictions of an authoritarian future, it offers a sobering reminder of how fragile our freedoms can be.

While the movie doesn't provide much hope or a clear way to fight back against 'the machine,' I felt this was intentional. The bleakness perfectly reflects the circumstances of the characters, leaving you with a haunting sense of inevitability.

It's not a light or hopeful film, but it's one that left an impression which will stick with me for a long time.

I was really really looking forward to a compelling post-apocalyptic movie, but "2073" was a huge disappointment. Instead of an engaging story set in a dystopian future, it turned out to be little more than a political documentary disguised as a film. The entire production feels empty, with only three actors trying to convince the audience that this is an actual movie. The lack of world-building, depth, and any real action made it a tedious watch. If you're expecting an exciting, immersive experience, this isn't it. Save your money and time for something actually worth watching.. I rented movie in early 2025 for viewing...

This production barely qualifies as a 'movie'; it feels more like an amateur attempt at storytelling, resembling a PowerPoint presentation with video clips haphazardly pulled from Facebook, X, and YouTube. The lack of coherence is glaring, with no meaningful structure or narrative flow to tie the footage together. Instead of presenting well-reasoned arguments or nuanced perspectives, the content relies on an authoritarian tone, stamping every message with an air of absolute certainty: 'Because I said so, it's the truth and the only truth.'

The over-simplistic approach assumes an audience incapable of critical thought, treating complex topics with the subtlety of a children's cartoon. It fails to challenge or engage viewers meaningfully, relying instead on condescension and a dismissive attitude toward alternate viewpoints. This might appeal to an audience of five-year-olds, but for anyone seeking depth, originality, or intellectual stimulation, it quickly becomes tiresome and patronizing.

In short, it's a frustrating watch for anyone expecting the creativity, depth, and authenticity that the term 'movie' implies. Instead, it feels like a poorly-executed slideshow that lacks the polish, insight, or effort to deserve its audience's attention.

Ignore this being called a "movie". It is not. It is a documentary punctuated by some illustrative fictional moments. Just keep in mind that this can be a very upsetting viewing experience.

As if we needed anything else to make us angry, divided, stressed, worried, etc, this hard slap across our faces is meant to wake us up to what is actually happening in our world...and where we are heading if we let it. No wonder the 1% want us to keep our eyes locked on our smartphones and Tik Tok.

I was not expecting this when I pressed play, but I'm glad I squirmed through it.

Be sure and stay beyond the credits, as there is an interesting hidden scene.

I need a drink...

This is not a film. This is not a documentary. This is a warning.

This is a quote from 2024's 2073, a dystopian docudrama that brilliantly uses news and television clips to weave a science fiction story we are already living. Imagine Facebook doom scrolling for one hour and twenty-four minutes and you have the emotional impact of this prescient movie. Unfortunately, I believe the title is as optimistic as the movie is bleak. 2028 would have been more appropriate, as we hurl toward Democracy's demise faster than the director, Asif Kapadia, could imagine.

2073 premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in the category "Out of Competition," which could not be more appropriate for Kapadia's dynamic, passionate, admirable and beautifully rendered imagining of our near future. At its heart, 2073 immerses us into a Meta-verse where humanity teeters between incredible technological advancements and deep ethical dilemmas.

Staring the frighteningly beautiful Samantha Jane Morton (Alpha from The Walking Dead), 2073 sets us in a vast metropolis that is both breathtaking and bleak, showcasing a stunning yet haunting city filled with vivid colors and dark shadows, the film maker using lighting to evoke emotions, and creating the documentary feel of this art piece. With skyscrapers towering into the clouds and streets pulsating with technological energy, each frame is meticulously designed and its this attention to detail that establishes a captivating visual language, beautifully complimenting the nearly extinct plot.

Morton is a brilliant actress, and riveting on screen, but there's only so much heavy lifting she can do in a film so obviously motivated to sway audiences to one side of the political debate. In today's polarized politics, this feels manipulative even while I silently scream "Yes, yes, yes!" It's as if the director is inside my head, capturing my dismay at today's state of affairs and my fear of what's to come.

This is a solid film. Very watchable. And at times, extraordinary in it's achievement of blurring fact and fiction. But at its core, its as shallow as the news anchors it highlights, reading from teleprompters with dead eyes and an emptiness that makes us feel as if we are reliving the news like a memory versus witnessing it in real time.

I encourage you to watch it. And I know it will change nothing.

God Bless the Americas.

This took me two weeks to digest. The apparent problems in our world are so plain to see. We are pitted against each through misinformation, disinformation, properganda, information warfare and deep fakes. Yet a film that I highly anticipated to watch was nothing more than the perspective of the far left. When we live in a society solely based on division from the world leaders they use race, religion, gender, sexuality, fear mongering and political differences to divide us. The distributaion of half the world's wealth is owned by the top 1% from both left and right its power and greed when people wake up and realise we can make a change its not just republican or democratic problem or left or right the whole system needs to change. There is currently 91 wars happening in the world yet most only know off two why is that ? Because the news networks are owned by the top 1% there is world famine while 80% live on less than $200 per month we are lucky to be in the 20%

It's a fact filled documentary that shows the trajectory that any honest person can see is happening already. It'll get rating bombed by the cult members of course, so no change there. Where I think it might be wrong is the alliance of dictators will eventually start a war between themselves once they have complete control of their regions which is what will probably be an extinction event.

It could be an explanation for the Fermi Paradox though because when civilisations reach a technological advancement at speed as we are now, when they're still childlike, they throw a tantrum and destroy themselves.

Oh well.the earth will recover at some point.

Most dystopian tales are about a place that could never exist. They exist in the stories and draw parallels to our time or serve as metaphors for our struggles. This movie is not a documentary, but it uses documentary to explain how the future will be created by what is happening now and by what's happened in the last 2, 5, 20, and 30 years.

It doesn't offer hope or answers. Answers aren't that easy. Hope may be a fantasy. What if this is all happening and there's nothing we can do about it? Is it too late already? "If we do not act when we can will we fall off the cliff?"

Will voting change anything? Will not voting change anything? Will continuing to consume and benefit from technological comforts yield any different result than going back to a simpler life that is unconnected to information collection?

These are not equations answered in this movie. But they're questions I have because of it.

I'm sure there many people who think this film is leftist propaganda. These same people don't see how bad things are in this country and the world. They're ok with making American great again. I'm not sure we are ever going to be ok again, neither is this film.

This is not for everyone.

Asif Kapadia has made some interesting documentaries in his time. Senna was probably his best offering. This fails on almost every level of being an either a balanced documentary or a film with a coherent plot and structure.

This a just propaganda. Cobbled together with a variety of YouTube clips and various news reports from the last thirty years in order to give a very biased view of one person on where the world is going.

The dramatic parts with Samantha Morton serve no real purpose.

Why did this get made? Probably just a scare tactic, a boogeyman if you will, to scare us all into accepting policies that will send us all into poverty, except the elites of the world.

Avoid.

2073 tries to pass itself off as a dystopian sci-fi film, but it's little more than a clumsy (one sided) political lecture wrapped in recycled footage and fear-mongering. Instead of a compelling story or meaningful commentary and solutions, we get a stitched-together mess of YouTube clips, out-of-context news segments, and a one-sided narrative that feels more like propaganda than filmmaking. There's no plot, no real characters, and no payoff-just an exhausting barrage of doom without direction. If you're looking for entertainment or insight, keep moving. This isn't a movie, it's a sermon. And not a particularly thoughtful one. Skip it.

The documentary parts and the fictional parts did not really link together well. Perhaps if the short running time had been extended a more involving narrative to connect the two could have been presented.

But it was well edited, with news footage included that is often censored from the mainstream media, making an uncomfortable watch for some. Whatever message you get is likely distorted by your own left/right biases, though its likely that those with right wing views will opt out after a few minutes, after all, there is much to think about here.

On the very day I watched this, the news was filled with out of control wildfires in California, mark Zuckerberg joining Elon Musk on his ' free unmoderated speech' crusade, The Trump proclaiming how he might invade Greenland, Canada, and Panama?

A few years back, crises would arise, take up all of the news, fade away, then everything back to normal. Its possible we might never see normal again?

2073: A British science fiction docudrama film set in a grim dystopian 2073, it is inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 featurette La Jetée. The future on display takes some inspiration from both 12 Monkeys and Terminator. Samantha Morton plays a woman in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, we hear about the event of 2036, but seemingly it was more of a process. She lives a hand-to-mouth existence, uses a windup torch and cooperates with others who live underground, facing capture or death from human security forces, drones and AIs. Some AI androids defect, one is a sort of friend of hers. She ruminates on how things changed, more public spaces privatised, public protests criminalized. We see an interrogation carried out by an AI. How did we get here? The film is interspersed with documentary footage of the rise of the Tech oligarchs, development of facial recognition technology, attacks on investigative journalists and indeed any media workers who question despotic politicians or the oligarchs. Maybe it's a bit too shotgun style in its approach and a tad didactic but it covers important issues. The future SF sections are interesting even if they are a bit mystifying at times.

This film seems more of a political indoctrination than an actual entertainment. The plot reads like a progressive's fever dream. I could get the same thing from watching CNN for 30 minutes and save an hour or so... It is short scenes of a distopian future and even longer edited news segments designed to make anyone who isn't progressive look like they are Adolf Hitler.

I don't like politicians of any party as a rule and watch movies to be entertained, not preached to with a leftist political slant. Not surprising Hollywood and movies aren't doing so great anymore -- they all have to have "the message" in them. What an ego trip I had not packed my bags for. Save your time and give this a hard pass.

The doccumentary is a good slap for existing rulers, so called politicians. It reveals the truth behind their power attitude and ambition. Where the news agency and the capitalist has also hiidden many truth for the sake of them only. General people are misguided. In this way, in the future the world will not be a happy place. Good presentation.

The doccumentary is a good slap for existing rulers, so called politicians. It reveals the truth behind their power attitude and ambition. Where the news agency and the capitalist has also hiidden many truth for the sake of them only. General people are misguided. In this way, in the future the world will not be a happy place. Good presentation.

As "2073" (2024 release from the UK; 84 min) opens, we are in the year 2073 in New San Francisco, "capital of the Americas". The US has become a very dystopian police state. We get to know a mute woman named Ghost, whose grandmother was disappeared years ago. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from Oscar-winning British director Asip Kapadia ("Amy"), Here he brings a movie that is half fiction and half fact. The fictional part looks at what it might be like in the year 2073. The factual part comes in flashbacks as we see the terrible things playing in the world with authoritarians and wanna-be authoritarians (take a bow, Mr. T., you're almost there), with climate change and worse, etc. Etc. It's just that fiction and fact don't mix very well. And yes, also this: it makes for a mostly depressing viewing experience. But I will give Kapadia credit for the audacity to try. And of course he simply reflects what 's playing out in the world, and it ain't a pretty picture, that's for sure...

"2071" premiered at last year's Venice film festival. Not sure if it ever got a US theatrical release (I kinda doubt it). But I stumbled on this on Max just the other night, and decided to give it a shot. The movie is currently rated only 53% Certified Fresh, and here also I believe it is more a reflection of the movie being anything but an uplifting viewing experience, rather than being a bad movie. If you have an interest in geopolitics (both current and projected), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Ok, this movie presents all the dangers growing up today, and a dystopian look into the future.

Yes, these dangers are true, and we all know that. The thing is, if we take a look at the diversified culture of today, both of these sides know these dangers already, one side supports them, and other side try to stand against them. Regardless of which side you're on, the movie brings nothing new.

If you support these actions, then you will not be asked a question about morality issues and such. If you are already against them, then you know if not all but many of these. And this time movie tells nothing against it, which can be done.

Even in dystopian comedy movies you get the sense of what's wrong and what can you do against the scenario. But this movie is weak in both aspects.

So, I went into this expecting a post apocalyptic..dystopian... End-of-the-world type of movie, which is one of my favorite genres! But, unfortunately that was not the case at all- This was more like putting on the news for 80 minutes. (Specifically.. CNN or MSNBC lol). I definitely blame myself for not watching the trailer beforehand, BUT, even after realizing, accepting and deciding to watch it until the end, it was still disappointing.😒 It was unfortunately nothing more than fear mongoring, (Again, similar to flipping on MSNBC): It felt like a desperate attempt to deliberately spread worry and fear- To alarm people and spread their political agenda. But, maybe that's just me due to the fact that I do not believe a single thing that comes from the far left anymore. They have lost every ounce of credibility and integrity, something they brought onto themselves and as the saying goes: You sleep in the bed you make. That's all there is to it. With that said, I couldn't take this movie seriously, I don't know any sane person who would.. "Let's advertise this as a post apocalyptic film when it's actually political indoctrination." Disappointing.

This is a collection of bits and pieces of events and interviews, shown out of context, and using the material for supporting a distorted narrative and simplistic polarized worldview of good and evil. In an era of fake news and junk information running rogue on social media, this piece is a good example of fact manipulation just to spread fear for doomsday.

The most dangerous part is that this piece is characterized as a documentary, which it is not at all. There is no journalistic integrity, no research, no quality analysis. It goes back and forth randomly from events in the past taken out of context to some dystopian future that doesn't even make sense.

While the rich divide us into left and right, most people are somewhere in the middle. These low budget propos are appearing all over to divide and scare us. Back in the day this would be considered a mockumentary as people still had critical thinking and attention spans. In addition to an understanding of the global landscape and politics.

Unfortunately decades of extreme corruption has allowed the billionaires to 10x their wealth and influence. And control the narrative by owning media, socials news et al. And yet people still be believe in the illusion of choice/ability to vote. While the reality is we already lost. It is was never right OR left, it's up versus down.

Documentaries like these show the issue without tackling the reasons why it came to pass. Or how to fix it. They lay blame on one side while ignoring the fact the other allowed it to happen. It is entirely possible there are dark times ahead but until we tackle the these methods of division we are slaves to their matrix.