Things to Come: A Hundred-Year Headache

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for sets that look like they cost a billion dollars in 1936, sure. If you get bored by people standing around in capes talking about the future of mankind for twenty minutes at a time, skip it. This movie isn't really for anyone anymore, but it's fascinating to look at.

The first half is pure misery. A war starts, the world falls apart, and people just wander around in rags. The pacing here is wild. It skips over years like it’s trying to catch a bus.

Then, suddenly, these airmen show up in shiny silver suits. They’re like space-age fascists who just want everyone to be organized and quiet. It’s all very clean and cold. You’ll probably spend half the movie wondering why everyone is shouting their lines.

Odd little things

• The miniatures of the ruined cities are better than most modern CGI. Seriously.
• Every time someone talks about the 'future,' they look like they’re trying to sell you a vacuum cleaner.
• The transition from the dark ages to the shiny utopia is so fast it gave me whiplash.
• The giant space gun at the end? It looks like a prop from a high school play that got way out of hand.

There’s this moment where Raymond Massey basically gives a lecture to the entire planet. He’s standing on a balcony, and it feels less like a movie scene and more like a guy realizing he’s got a captive audience and he’s not letting them go until he’s finished. I checked my watch twice.

It feels a lot more stiff than Deadline at Eleven, which at least had the decency to stick to one timeframe. Here, the movie is so busy trying to be important that it forgets to be human. It’s a bit like watching a very beautiful, very expensive museum exhibit that happens to have actors walking through it.

The sets are so huge they make the actors look like ants. I kept waiting for someone to trip over a cable, but nope. Everything is too perfectly designed. It’s almost a relief when the movie finally stops and lets you go.

Would I watch it again? Probably not. Is it a weird, sprawling mess that deserves a look? Yeah, I guess. Just don't expect it to make sense once the rockets start firing. 🚀