History Film / ThingsToCome

* AstralFinale: Mankind having mastered his own world, he know seeks to conquer the universe!

''Things to Come'' is a 1936 British ScienceFiction film based upon the novel ''Literature/TheShapeOfThingsToCome'' by Creator/HGWells. Directed by William Cameron Menzies and adapted for the screen by Wells himself, the film follows a concept and plot similar to the book, and is seen mostly through the eyes of cynical but visionary John Cabal (Creator/RaymondMassey) or one of his descendants ([[IdenticalGrandson also Raymond Massey]]) and centered on a fictional English city called "Everytown".

''Things to Come'' is a 1936 British ScienceFiction film based upon the novel ''Literature/TheShapeOfThingsToCome'' by Creator/HGWells. Directed by William Cameron Menzies and adapted for the screen by Wells himself, the film follows a concept and plot similar to the book, and is seen mostly through the eyes of cynical but visionary John Cabal (Raymond Massey) or one of his descendants ([[IdenticalGrandson also Raymond Massey]]) and centered on a fictional English city called "Everytown".

The war [[TimePassesMontage drags on for decades]], plunging human society into a ''Film/MadMax''-style AfterTheEnd state and unleashing a deadly, contagious and incurable [[ThePlague plague]]. When next we catch up with the residents of Everytown, in the then far-flung year 1970, it has become a shanty, all but overrun by plague-ridden citizens and ruled by a CorruptHick called "The Chief" who has taken [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim an extremist method for dealing with said plague-ridden citizens]] -- in stark contrast to a young doctor who, despite the now primitive conditions, is striving for a cure. Into this arrives a stranger: John Cabal himself, who reveals that human society has not been completely wiped out and is in the process of rebuilding itself. The Chief, however, is interested only in holding onto his own niche of power, and so Cabal must call down his military allies on the town.

* CorruptHick: The "Chief" of Everytown in the second segment.

* ImprobableInfantSurvival: A crippled Harding gives his gas mask to a girl whom he'd just dropped gas bombs on.

* ThePhilosopherKing: The finale shows a world governed entirely on principles of scientific progress.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Chief, who has no other given name in the film.[[note]]although the character is named "The Boss" in the opening credits.[[/note]]

* NextSundayAD: The first segment, set in 1940. The rest of the movie takes place ExtyYearsFromNow.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: As with the novel, double-subverted: the film predicts the onset of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which proceeds to go on for a couple decades.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Invoked almost word-for-word by The Chief concerning the plague-ridden populace. The fact that he alone thought of this is apparently what begins his rise to power.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. At the start of the film a child is marching the streets, playing Boy Soldier with his toy drum and pith helmet; after the city is bombed we see the boy among the rubble. Making it worse, he was the son of one of the main characters.
** Played straight when a crippled Harding gives his gas mask to a girl whom he'd just dropped gas bombs on.

Another [[{{Montages}} montage]] carries us farther into the future, showing mankind [[HardWorkMontage rebuilding his society]] into a [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas shiny plastic]] underground city. Now, in 2036, John Cabal's equally visionary great-grandson Oswald is spearheading mankind's [[FailedFutureForecast first expedition to the Moon]]. However, a radical dissident opposes the expedition on the basis that human technology and knowledge are advancing too fast [[GoodOldWays (or something to that effect)]]. The dissident's plot to stop the launch fails, and Cabal [[PatrickStewartSpeech waxes on about mankind's eternal quest for knowledge]]. The End.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/things_to_come_5075.jpg]]

''Things to Come'' is a 1936 film based upon the novel ''Literature/TheShapeOfThingsToCome'' by Creator/HGWells. Adapted for the screen by Wells himself, the film follows a concept and plot similar to the book, and is seen mostly through the eyes of cynical but visionary John Cabal (Raymond Massey) or one of his descendants ([[IdenticalGrandson also Raymond Massey]]) and centered on a fictional English city called "Everytown".

Wells had intended the film to be a [[SpiritualAntithesis response]] to Creator/FritzLang's ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', and he hoped to do everything he felt Lang had gotten wrong in envisioning the future. To that extent, the whole thing can basically be looked at as an extended author filibuster, with characters who are little more than two dimensional ciphers who don't do anything but talk earnestly about how self destructive and brutal the world is and how great the world would be if only it were governed rationally along socialist/modernist lines. Because, y'know, progress! Unfortunately for Wells, the movie bombed, and a lot of the ideas that informed his vision turned out to have severe defects that make the movie look really dated, and not just for aesthetic and historical reasons. But on the other hand, there's tons of SceneryPorn and the cinematography is pretty well done. It's also impossible to overstate how influential the movie was. Its ideas and general feel influenced Science Fiction writers well into the '70s. For example, Creator/GeneRoddenberry's ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Franchise/Foundation}}'' are more or less expanded versions of Wells' future.

* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Everytown in the future.