Gripping New Dystopian Sci-Fi Documentary Thriller Finally Gets Release Date

The intriguing 2073, a hybrid documentary and science fiction thriller produced by Neon and directed by Asif Kapadia, will land in theaters on December 27, 2024, it has been revealed. The film blends speculative storytelling with nonfiction reporting and serves as a warning against climate change, the dwindling of global democracy, and authoritarian states, among other societal ills. Starring Samantha Morton (In America, Minority Report) and Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice), 2073 is inspired by Chris Marker’s landmark 1962 short film La Jetée, in which a time traveler attempts to change past events in order to save his own dismal future.

The short also inspired Terry Gilliam’s 1995 film 12 Monkeys, which starred Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, and Madeleine Stowe. The release date has now been revealed courtesy of Variety, and you can check out the film’s official logline is as follows:

“It’s the year 2073, and the worst fears of modern life have been realized. Surveillance drones fill the burnt orange skies and militarized police roam the wrecked streets, while survivors hide away underground, struggling to remember a free and hopeful existence. In this ingenious mixture of visionary science fiction and speculative nonfiction, Kapadia transports us to a future foreshadowed by the terrifying realities of our present moment.

Morton plays a survivor besieged by nightmare visions of the past – a past that happens to be our present, visualized through contemporary footage interconnecting today’s global crises of authoritarianism, unchecked big tech, inequality and global climate change. ‘2073’ is an urgent, unshakable vision of a dystopic future that could very well be our own.”

2073 Has Been Met With Positive Reviews Following Its Festival Debut

2073 made its debut in the summer of 2024 at the Venice International Film Festival. Though early reviews are mostly positive – with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian calling it “a relevant shout of rage against the authoritarian forces despoiling our democracy and our environment” – the film currently has a 67% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Time will tell if that score will increase or decrease after the film reaches more critics and audiences in December.

Kapadia, who co-wrote the script with Tony Grisoni, produced the film alongside George Chignell for Lafcadia Productions. Neon’s Tom Quinn and Dan O’Meara are executive producers, alongside Emily Thomas, Dana O’Keefe, Emily Selinger, Ollie Madden, Farhana Bhula and Nicole Stott for Concordia Studio, Chris King, Eric Sloss and John Sloss. Double Agent, Neon and Film4 also executive produced and co-funded 2073. The director also produced and helmed Amy, the 2015 documentary about Amy Winehouse that took home the best feature documentary Oscar at the 2016 Academy Awards. Grisoni has repeatedly worked with the aforementioned Terry Gilliam, penning the scripts for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Tideland, and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

Neon has had a banner year for film production and distribution this year, having shepherded the documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon, as well as fictional features Babes, Cuckoo, Immaculate, The End, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the horror hit Longlegs, and early Oscar contender Anora, among other titles.