Like There's No Tomorrow

This video essay surveys fifteen mainstream science fiction films of the 21st century, highlighting the conspicuous and melancholy recurrence of 20th century culture (songs, fashion, movies) in their diegetic worlds. I bring attention to this trend through the lens of the end of history, the ‘mythic umbrella’ under which narratives of the future are cultivated. The persistence of culture from before the digital era proper, along with the prevalence of dystopian fiction, posits the transition to a globalised digital world as a fall from grace, or the ‘afterlife’ of history.