Things to Come (1936)
73%RT Audience Score: 55%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Things to Come is a film that, despite its age, still manages to captivate audiences with its imaginative and prophetic vision of the future. While some may find it clumsy and dated, it remains a genre landmark and early masterpiece of sci-fi. The film’s grandiose spectacle and flashes of modern design recall Metropolis, and its ideas are expressed dramatically and with visual fascination. The speculative qualities of this epic sci-fi drama are worth seeing, particularly due to the early year in which it was theatrically adapted. And while some may find the Luddite character to be the most sympathetic, it is the film’s ability to explore the consequences of progress that makes it a powerful and thought-provoking work of art.
Things to Come is a sci-fi classic that’s worth watching, even if it’s a bit dated. It’s like Buck Rogers meets Flash Gordon, but with more brains and less brawn. The film’s predictions about the future are spookily accurate, but it’s the visual spectacle that really steals the show. Sure, it’s grandiose in the worst sense of the word, but that’s part of its charm. And who doesn’t love a good dystopian future wrapped in Cellophane? Plus, there’s a Luddite character who’s surprisingly relatable. All in all, Things to Come is a must-see for any sci-fi fan.
Production Company(ies)
Foreign Language, Psychological
Distributor
LS Video, Network Enterprises [us], Unknown Video, Film Classics Inc., United Artists, GoodTimes Home Video [us], Madacy Entertainment Group Inc. [us], Sinister Cinema
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Paris, France; Rhone-Alpes, France
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
Year of Release
1936
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 35m
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Language(s):French
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Country of origin:France, Germany, Lebanon
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 17, 1936 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 7, 2005
Genre(s)
Sci-fi
Keyword(s)
sci-fi, dystopian future, special effects, potent ideas, H.G Wells, William Cameron Menzies, Alexander Korda, Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, Maurice Braddell, Edward Chapman, LS Video, Network Enterprises, United Artists, GoodTimes Home Video, Madacy Entertainment Group Inc., Sinister Cinema, Mono, Flat, 1.37:1, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Frank S Nugent, William Thomas, Chris Wicking, Nell Minow, Don Druker, Brian Susbielles, Jorge Luis Borges, Mike Massie, Meyer Levin, Ann Ross, Eddie Falvey, Bill Newcott, MPAA rating, producer, director, writer, utopian society, pacifist scientists, ruling tyrant, Christmas 1940, war, plagues, petty despots, Wings Over the World, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, sociology, politics, history
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $2,100,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $58,005,671
Production budget ranking: 700
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $31,236,054
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ralph Richardson – The Boss
Margaretta Scott – Roxana, Rowena
Cedric Hardwicke – Theotocopulos
Maurice Braddell – Dr. Harding
Edward Chapman – Pippa Passworthy, Raymond Passworthy
Director – William Cameron Menzies
Producer – Alexander Korda
Writer – H.G. Wells
Director(s)
William Cameron Menzies
Writer(s)
H.G. Wells
Producer(s)
Alexander Korda
Film Festivals
Sundance, Berlin, Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (32) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (3)
Things to Come is an unusual picture, a fantasy, if you will, with overtones of the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon comic strips. But it is, as well, a picture with ideas which have been expressed dramatically and with visual fascination.
May 31, 2007
Frank S. Nugent
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Spookily prescient in many of its ideas, this is fascinating whilst being a little clumsy and dated, even for its time.
May 14, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
In the realm of ‘prophetic science fiction’, it is a genre landmark.
June 24, 2006
Chris Wicking
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
April 4, 2003 | Rating: 5/5
Nell Minow
Movie Mom
TOP CRITIC
[An] imaginative, only occasionally naive forecast of the age of nuclear warfare in 1936.
January 1, 2000
Don Druker
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
An early masterpiece of the sci-fi genre…
March 7, 2023
Brian Susbielles
InSession Film
“Grandiose” in the worst sense of that bad word.
December 15, 2021
Jorge Luis Borges
Sur
The speculative qualities of this epic sci-fi drama are worth seeing, particularly due to the early year in which it was theatrically adapted.
July 30, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Go out of your way to see Things to Come, for the occasional flashes of modern design that recall Metropolis…
May 4, 2020
Meyer Levin (Patterson Murphy)
Esquire Magazine
a huge, wonderful, fantastic spectacle film which shows civilization wiped out within the lifetime of the present generation, then restored, wrapped in Cellophane, for those of our descendants who think it worth while to survive.
July 22, 2019
Ann Ross
Maclean’s Magazine
Things to Come (L’avenir) is a masterclass in restraint that proves that a film does not need to be ostentatious in order to be powerful.
April 15, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Eddie Falvey
One Room With A View
Everyone in this Wellsian future loves it, except for a Luddite (Cedric Hardwicke). “What is the good of all this progress?” he declares. “We demand a rest!” He’s supposed to be the villain, but I find him to be the film’s most sympathetic character.
April 18, 2016 | Rating: 4 of 5
Bill Newcott
AARP Movies for Grownups…
Plot
In Things to Come, a pacifist group of scientists and thinkers led by John Cabal (Raymond Massey) strive to build a utopian society after a 30-year war destroys their city and ushers in a new dark age of plagues and petty despots.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Signed in on Fresh Kernels.
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