1984 (1984)

Nineteen Eighty-Four plunges you into an oppressive, claustrophobic future where Big Brother’s omnipresent state crushes privacy, truth and desire. You follow Winston Smith, a low-level Ministry of Truth bureaucrat who rewrites history by day and secretly longs for freedom by night; when he falls into a furtive, dangerous affair with Julia and begins to record his forbidden thoughts, the slow-burn tension escalates into a harrowing journey of discovery, betrayal and punishment. Expect a bleak, tightly controlled atmosphere — drab, decaying London, incessant telescreens, rocket bombs and rats — and scenes of psychological brutality as the Thought Police and the Ministry of Love strip away individuality and interrogate reality itself. The film is both intimate (an illicit romance and the small rebellions of one man) and vast (propaganda, Newspeak and permanent war), delivering powerful, unsettling performances and chilling visual and emotional beats. Viewers will come away shaken and provoked, confronting questions about language, power, conformity and what it means to be human under totalitarian rule — a haunting, thought-provoking experience that lingers long after the credits.

Actors: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton

Director: Michael Radford

Runtime: 113 min

Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi

6.4 /10 67 /100 7.1 /10 6.7 /10