'

Things to Come

Play trailer

Things to Come

Released Apr 17, 1936

1h 35m

Sci-Fi

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

55%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

It's Christmas 1940, and Everytown resident John Cabal (Raymond Massey) fears that war is imminent. When it breaks out, the war lasts 30 years, destroying the city and ushering in a new dark age of plagues and petty despots. But there is hope in the form of Wings Over the World, a group of pacifist scientists and thinkers lead by Cabal. Their dream is to build a utopian society on the ruins of the old. But first they'll have to unseat the latest ruling tyrant (Ralph Richardson).

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Eerily prescient in its presentation of a dystopian future, Things to Come's special effects may be somewhat dated, but its potent ideas haven't aged at all.

Read Critics Reviews

Frank S. Nugent

New York Times

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

Full Review

Variety

This is England's first $1 million picture. It's an impressive but dull exposition of a bad dream.

May 31, 2007

Full Review

William Thomas

Empire Magazine

Spookily prescient in many of its ideas, this is fascinating whilst being a little clumsy and dated, even for its time.

Rated: 4/5

May 14, 2007

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

An early masterpiece of the sci-fi genre...

Mar 7, 2023

Full Review

Jorge Luis Borges

Sur

"Grandiose" in the worst sense of that bad word.

Dec 15, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The speculative qualities of this epic sci-fi drama are worth seeing, particularly due to the early year in which it was theatrically adapted.

Rated: 6/10

Jul 30, 2020

Full Review

Read all reviews

Doug P

"Things To Come" (1936, H.G. Wells and William Cameron Menzies) impressed me. Not right away. The first 35 minutes or so, I was skeptical of what seemed to be a rather raggedy story line with stereotypical characters. The Chief and his ambivalently loyal wife; the wise scientist and his beautiful daughter; the rugged individualist, friend of the scientist and drawn to the daughter. As the story progressed from 1940 to 1960, 1970, and to 2036, the theme of balancing scientific progress with humanism became clearer. The film's subject, conflict and peace, was integrated seamlessly with the theme. What made the film fully engaging was the special effects depicting a 2036 as imagined in 1936. Overall, "Things To Come" is a bit pedantic in tone, melodramatic in its characters and relationships, but impressive overall for its socio-political vision as well as for the SFX representing prescient technological vision.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/14/25

Full Review

David M

From a very different time, but must be seen for the exquisite design if nothing else.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

Full Review

Denny S

A must see for any fan of sci-fi movies. Way, way ahead of its time with visual impact and whole dramatic presentation. Some of it drags a bit and some clues date the film, but I'm just nitpicking.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/26/24

Full Review

Aldo G

Sensational early sci-fi film. Imaginative production design. Excellent cinematography. I bet George Miller studied this film before producing his first Mad Max film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/15/24

Full Review

Shioka O

I'm overwhelmed by the first 15-20 min seeing the endless bombings and catastrophic images, then being patient, majestic imagination came after. It's a very early take of Sci-fi dystopian in a pure Art Deco, and definitely ahead of its time. I find the visual, the technology, and the speeches dominate over the story by H.G.Wells.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

CodyZamboni Z

Some interesting visuals and montages. But a mainly boring sci fi, with cheap looking fx, with dull characters. Should be alot more exciting given it goes all the way to 1970, and predicts WW2 and features zombie infected hordes.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/13/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

William Cameron Menzies

Director

Raymond Massey

John Cabal

Ralph Richardson

The Boss

Margaretta Scott

Roxana

Cedric Hardwicke

Theotocopulos

Maurice Braddell

Dr. Harding

The Invisible Man

95%

85%

The Invisible Man

Watchlist

Mad Love

100%

81%

Mad Love

Watchlist

One Million B.C.

80%

32%

One Million B.C.

Watchlist

Dr. Cyclops

79%

56%

Dr. Cyclops

Watchlist

The Invisible Ray

63%

52%

The Invisible Ray

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Lion, Night of the Living Dead, The Salesman, and More on Netflix and Amazon Prime This Week

View more photos

Synopsis

It's Christmas 1940, and Everytown resident John Cabal (Raymond Massey) fears that war is imminent. When it breaks out, the war lasts 30 years, destroying the city and ushering in a new dark age of plagues and petty despots. But there is hope in the form of Wings Over the World, a group of pacifist scientists and thinkers lead by Cabal. Their dream is to build a utopian society on the ruins of the old. But first they'll have to unseat the latest ruling tyrant (Ralph Richardson).

Director: William Cameron Menzies
Producer: Alexander Korda
Screenwriter: H.G. Wells
Distributor: Madacy Entertainment Group Inc. [us], GoodTimes Home Video [us], Sinister Cinema, Unknown Video, LS Video, Film Classics Inc., United Artists, Network Enterprises [us]
Production Co: London Film Production
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 17, 1936, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

Most Popular at Home Now