Things to Come (1936): H.G. Wells predicts the future, and it’s… complicated (video).
Time to sit down with Things to Come—the 1936 cinematic crystal ball brought to us by none other than H.G. Wells himself, based on his 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come. It’s a film that boldly asks, “What will the future look like?” and then promptly answers, “Apparently like a very stylish art deco IKEA catalogue, with a side of global annihilation.”
Let’s set the scene: The year is 1940, and war has broken out. This was a bold prediction back in ’36, given that the Second World War was still three years away. Perhaps Wells had a time machine stashed away alongside his typewriter, or maybe he just saw how things were brewing on the continent and thought, “Right, better write this down before someone else does.” Either way, war kicks off and doesn’t stop—seriously, it grinds on for decades, which is exhausting just to think about. Imagine trying to keep your mobile data plan running through that.
Civilisation collapses, and we’re treated to scenes of people wandering around in rags, looking like they’ve been kicked out of a particularly aggressive Mad Max cosplay convention. Humanity, it seems, is not having a good time. Enter the real stars of the show: Wings Over the World, a group of well-dressed technocrats who arrive in sleek flying machines to put an end to all this messy, emotional governance with something far more efficient—benevolent dictatorship. Think less Democracy Now and more Apple Launch Event, but with fewer overpriced gadgets and more monolithic architecture.
Speaking of architecture, by the time we hit the film’s 2036 segment, the world has transformed into what can only be described as a giant Bauhaus fever dream. Gone are the grimy ruins, replaced by sweeping white cities, pneumatic tubes (because obviously), and more geometric shapes than a GCSE maths exam. People stroll about in futuristic tunics, looking like they’ve just stepped out of a Doctor Who episode from the ’60s. It’s utopia! Or is it?
Turns out, not everyone is thrilled about living in what resembles a high-concept art museum. Some folk—led by a man with more beard than sense—aren’t too keen on all this scientific progress and fancy space travel. They’d rather humanity stop fiddling with rockets and just enjoy the nice, clean world they’ve built. Honestly, you can’t please everyone. One minute it’s “Why can’t we have peace and prosperity?” and the next it’s “Whoa, slow down with the moonshots, mate!”
But here at SFcrowsnest, we can’t help but admire Wells’ audacity. Sure, Things to Come is a bit stiff in places (it’s more of a lecture with moving pictures than a film in the traditional sense), and yes, the acting can be a touch wooden—though that might just be the sheer weight of all that pontificating about mankind’s destiny. But it’s ambitious. It swings for the futuristic fences and gives us a world that feels at once eerily prescient and delightfully naïve.
Wells’ vision of 2036 might not have nailed everything—where are the smartphones, the internet trolls, and the endless streaming subscriptions?—but he did capture that restless human spirit, always reaching for the stars, even if we sometimes trip over our own feet on the way there. And let’s be honest: who wouldn’t want to live in a world where the biggest concern is whether we’re moving too fast into the future, rather than desperately trying to escape another reboot of 2020?
So, if you’ve never seen Things to Come, give it a watch. It’s like peering into the mind of a man who thought the future would be all about progress, science, and impeccable urban planning. And really, isn’t that the kind of optimistic chaos we could use a little more of?