One of the most distinctive periods of Gen-Z’s life was arguably the years from 2010 to 2015 when a new dystopian movie based on a book hit movie theaters every year. I honestly believe I am the person I am today because of how strongly my life was altered when I saw my favorite books appear on the big screen. Now strongly referred to as the “big three,” The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and many more dystopian adaptations were all such smashing successes that they brought a light to the dystopian genre and reading as a whole. However, this proved to be short-lived, considering the majority of these adaptations took place around 10 years ago. Despite this, it’s about time we bring back this iconic era.
Though I was only one year old when Suzanne Collins released her masterpiece, The Hunger Games, its impact on me when I first picked it up in 5th grade was life-changing. This book was one of the first major Gen-Z dystopian successes, setting the bar extremely high. The Hunger Games tells the story of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who is chosen to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games, where only one “tribute” makes it out alive. The series also contained a highly debated love triangle, which contributed to the overall mass popularity of The Hunger Games.
The first book’s raging success led to its adaptation into a movie, which made its premiere in 2012. To say this movie was ground-breaking would be an understatement. Not only did all three movies make a total of 3.3 billion dollars worldwide, but they showcased a powerful female lead who basically saved the entire world. Katniss Everdeen became an idolized figure not only for me but for girls everywhere.
Next up, Divergent. While some would argue that it’s not the strongest project out of this list, it certainly had a lasting impact on youth around the world. Veronica Roth has stated in the past that she wrote this book over her spring break from Northwestern University, and it’s hard to believe she changed so many lives in just three weeks. This series follows the main character, Beatrice Prior, aka Tris, as she navigates a, you guessed it, dystopian world. This series is in some ways very similar to The Hunger Games, as it follows a young woman’s fight against the oppressive government to create a better society.
The first book in the trilogy was released in 2011, the rest quickly followed with Insurgent in 2012 and Allegiant in 2013. The first movie was released in 2014 as a huge success. Because of all the traction around this genre at the time, the second movie racked in even more money before the third one kind of fell off. This was problematic, however, as they decided to split the third book into two movies, much like The Hunger Games did with Mockingjay. The downfall of the first Allegiant movie was so extreme that they just scrapped the second part altogether.
Closing out the “big three,” we have The Maze Runner, written by James Dashner. With the first book coming out in 2009, it took five years to get this story to the big screen. However, it was worth the wait. Starring Dylan O’Brien as Thomas, The Maze Runner follows a group of teenagers trying to escape from a maze they all wake up in with no recollection of how they got there in the first place. This unfolds into a three-book series filled with epic battles, betrayal, and found family. This cast was phenomenal and had some of the best acting of the whole dystopian era movies. The last movie, The Death Cure, came out fairly recently in 2018, but the whole series is still trending on social media.
Though some have strived to recapture the magic that was the 2010 dystopian era, few have succeeded. One notable example is a series that I actually loved: Shatter Me. I absolutely love this series, but it is more underground for people who aren’t avid readers. While the first book came out during this impressionable era in 2011, the series kept the magic alive for its fans until 2020, not so much for casual readers/viewers. I think it hits all the important plot points of the genre: action, romance, and an oppressive government while still feeling very original. Unfortunately, when they tried to adapt the series into a TV show, it got canceled before it even aired.
A more recent failed adaptation is Uglies. The movie starring Joey King and Chase Stokes premiered on Netflix on September 13, 2024, and now has a whopping score of 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. The book that inspired the film was released way back in 2005. This time gap might’ve been a reason for its failure, as readers who loved the original series had time to get their hopes up for this film. The movie has also been criticized for its cheap special effects and below-par acting.
The dystopian enigma has puzzled many throughout the years, but what was it that fed the fire? Why did it work so well, yet was so short-lived? The versatility of the genre played a huge role in its initial success. Readers of all ages, genders, and identities enjoyed them because they were not about only one thing: The strong female main characters drew a young women centered audience, the action aspect was a huge pulling factor for young men, and the underlying issues about authoritarian government brought it a lot of older readers that wouldn’t otherwise pick up a book written for teens. The popularity also could be attributed to the need for an escape; the worlds in these stories are far from perfect, but there is something almost idyllic about the found family tropes that are so present in these books that people just seem to crave.
As much as we would all love to see new dystopian worlds to indulge in, the concept is inherently flawed from the very beginning. These stories are great until there is nothing left to say; it seems that everything unique about the genre has already run its course and it’s now easier to see the repetitive and tropey nature. It seems that the only truly successful recent dystopian film was The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which is a prequel to the original Hunger Games series. I believe that this worked because it dug deep into the worldbuilding that wasn’t otherwise present in the original series and it still felt organic.
We hope that authors can in some way bring back this magic, but until then, we will be joyfully kicking back and rewatching “the big three.”