Is the 90’s movie ‘Strange Days’ like a documentary about 20’s LA?
It’s 2023, and if you’ve ever squinted at today’s chaotic Los Angeles and thought, Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?, you might be right on the money. Flashback to 1995’s Strange Days, a sci-fi thriller that feels less like fiction and more like a prophetic documentary. Lenny Nero’s dystopian world of VR headsets, ubiquitous surveillance, and civil unrest eerily mirrors our modern reality. Was this Kathryn Bigelow flick truly ahead of its time, or have our screens simply caught up? Dive in and get ready to question if Strange Days was less sci-fi and more sci-fy real.
Reel life meets real life
Strange Days, a Kathryn Bigelow classic from 1995, eerily mirrors today’s Los Angeles more than we’d care to admit. Set in the not-so-distant future of 1999, the movie’s chaotic backdrop—brimming with racial tension, police brutality, and a media-obsessed society—sounds like a documentary filmed in 2023 rather than a 90s sci-fi flick.
In the film, Ralph Fiennes’ character, Lenny Nero, peddles illicit virtual reality devices that allow users to experience other people’s memories. Sound familiar? The movie anticipated the age of immersive technologies like VR and AR headsets. People today clamor for the latest gadgets to escape reality—the lines between virtual and actual experience blur more each year.
Moreover, the portrayal of systemic corruption in Strange Days rings true. The movie’s dark reflection of society’s underbelly—where government and police forces are complicit in maintaining the status quo—is today’s headlines. It’s as if we’re stuck in a dystopian loop. This unsettling parallel fuels the film’s enduring relevance, drawing uncomfortable connections to our current world.
Screens as crystal balls
Critics initially brushed off Strange Days as another Y2K flop, but nostalgia’s a funny thing—spins opinions on a dime. People soon saw it was a fiery crucible of futuristic anxieties. Lenny Nero, played by Ralph Fiennes, navigated underbelly trades like escapist VR experiences that hit too close to today’s Instagram reels and TikTok time warps.
Today’s landscape is plastered with surveillance cameras, à la Big Brother on steroid supplements. Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, in their dystopian wisdom, offered us a peek into a world where people’s lives are recorded and scrutinized. A bit like today when getting cancelled trumps gossip columns and videotapes. One UCLA study even pegged an increase in public anxiety directly to this media overconsumption.
Civil unrest? Quite the understatement when considering the George Floyd protests or the Capitol storming. Strange Days illustrated an LA on the brink—police brutality, racial tensions, social upheaval—uncannily analogous to our timeline. It’s as if Bigelow looked through a VR crystal ball, capturing a screen-lit future fraught with the same convulsions as 2020’s headlines.
Tomorrow’s predictions yesterday
Strange Days didn’t just beam into the future—it feels like it foresaw the chaotic heartbeats of 2023 LA. Throw in civil unrest, the veils of police corruption, and our addiction to screens, and you’ve got a recipe that’s more sci-fy real than fiction. It’s a 90’s fever dream that won’t quit.
Lenny Nero’s black-market VR isn’t some wild fantasy—it’s basically our tech-obsessed society on steroids. Virtual reality, augmented reality—these gadgets mirror our attempts to escape and view life through a different lens. Can we call it prescient when our news feeds look like deleted scenes from Bigelow’s opus?
Let’s talk about protests and civil chaos. The settings of 1999 look disturbingly contemporary. Burning trash cans littering Hollywood Blvd. Racial tensions and corrupt authorities are issues we’re far too familiar with today. If you need proof, just scroll through recent headlines. Strange Days isn’t just revisiting old wounds; it’s highlighting sores that never really healed.
Art imitating strife
The eeriest part? Strange Days showcased VR as pure escapism. Lenny Nero’s tapes offering other people’s experiences echo today’s social media feeds, where influencers live our dream lives and augmented reality apps give us filtered versions of ourselves. Kathryn Bigelow unknowingly projected 2023, where virtual escapes become psychological mainstays.
Take police corruption and civil unrest—key Strange Days themes. These aren’t mere plot points; they’re our nightly news. With movements like Black Lives Matter, the film’s portrayal of institutional distrust rings disturbingly current. Bigelow wasn’t just making cinema; she was scripting social prophecy we’re living through in real-time.
Remember the film’s climax, revealing police violence caught on tape? Swap tapes for smartphones, and you’ve got modern America’s protest culture. The pervasive need to document, share, and agitate for justice is straight out of Lenny Nero’s VR underworld. As we scrutinize our reality through screens both big and small, Strange Days grows less fiction, more forewarning.
Art meets dark
In the final analysis, Strange Days isn’t just a product of 90s paranoia—it’s a prophetic mirror reflecting our 2023 lives with unsettling clarity. Kathryn Bigelow crafted a world where virtual escapism, rampant surveillance, and social turmoil are the grim norm; sound familiar? It’s like she peeked through the fabric of time and sketched our current reality.
You might’ve dismissed Strange Days as another dystopian yarn, but today’s tech-obsessed, unrest-ridden society proves otherwise. From VR headsets to civil unrest, the film’s plotlines echo our news feeds and social media scrolls. Maybe we’re not living in a dystopian movie, but it’s getting hard to tell where reel life ends and real life begins. So, if you catch yourself wondering why Strange Days feels so uncannily familiar, remember: sometimes, fiction forecasts fate.
Frances D Vine is an itinerant journalist, producer, and director. A polymath with a love of fashion, Frances has dedicated her life to storytelling. When not chasing the news or running the show, she can be found dancing to Latin rhythms, tending to her menagerie of rare animals, swimming, and singing.
Talk to me about scoops, guest posts, brand partnerships, your short movie screener, tips, trends, your music, fashion and advertising at editor@filmdaily.co.
Is the 90’s movie ‘Strange Days’ like a documentary about 20’s LA?
It’s 2023, and if you’ve ever squinted at today’s chaotic Los Angeles and thought, Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?, you might be right on the money. Flashback to 1995’s Strange Days, a sci-fi thriller that feels less like fiction and more like a prophetic documentary. Lenny Nero’s dystopian world of VR headsets, ubiquitous surveillance, and civil unrest eerily mirrors our modern reality. Was this Kathryn Bigelow flick truly ahead of its time, or have our screens simply caught up? Dive in and get ready to question if Strange Days was less sci-fi and more sci-fy real.
Strange Days, a Kathryn Bigelow classic from 1995, eerily mirrors today’s Los Angeles more than we’d care to admit. Set in the not-so-distant future of 1999, the movie’s chaotic backdrop—brimming with racial tension, police brutality, and a media-obsessed society—sounds like a documentary filmed in 2023 rather than a 90s sci-fi flick.
In the film, Ralph Fiennes’ character, Lenny Nero, peddles illicit virtual reality devices that allow users to experience other people’s memories. Sound familiar? The movie anticipated the age of immersive technologies like VR and AR headsets. People today clamor for the latest gadgets to escape reality—the lines between virtual and actual experience blur more each year.
Moreover, the portrayal of systemic corruption in Strange Days rings true. The movie’s dark reflection of society’s underbelly—where government and police forces are complicit in maintaining the status quo—is today’s headlines. It’s as if we’re stuck in a dystopian loop. This unsettling parallel fuels the film’s enduring relevance, drawing uncomfortable connections to our current world.
Critics initially brushed off Strange Days as another Y2K flop, but nostalgia’s a funny thing—spins opinions on a dime. People soon saw it was a fiery crucible of futuristic anxieties. Lenny Nero, played by Ralph Fiennes, navigated underbelly trades like escapist VR experiences that hit too close to today’s Instagram reels and TikTok time warps.
Today’s landscape is plastered with surveillance cameras, à la Big Brother on steroid supplements. Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, in their dystopian wisdom, offered us a peek into a world where people’s lives are recorded and scrutinized. A bit like today when getting cancelled trumps gossip columns and videotapes. One UCLA study even pegged an increase in public anxiety directly to this media overconsumption.
Civil unrest? Quite the understatement when considering the George Floyd protests or the Capitol storming. Strange Days illustrated an LA on the brink—police brutality, racial tensions, social upheaval—uncannily analogous to our timeline. It’s as if Bigelow looked through a VR crystal ball, capturing a screen-lit future fraught with the same convulsions as 2020’s headlines.
Strange Days didn’t just beam into the future—it feels like it foresaw the chaotic heartbeats of 2023 LA. Throw in civil unrest, the veils of police corruption, and our addiction to screens, and you’ve got a recipe that’s more sci-fy real than fiction. It’s a 90’s fever dream that won’t quit.
Lenny Nero’s black-market VR isn’t some wild fantasy—it’s basically our tech-obsessed society on steroids. Virtual reality, augmented reality—these gadgets mirror our attempts to escape and view life through a different lens. Can we call it prescient when our news feeds look like deleted scenes from Bigelow’s opus?
Let’s talk about protests and civil chaos. The settings of 1999 look disturbingly contemporary. Burning trash cans littering Hollywood Blvd. Racial tensions and corrupt authorities are issues we’re far too familiar with today. If you need proof, just scroll through recent headlines. Strange Days isn’t just revisiting old wounds; it’s highlighting sores that never really healed.
The eeriest part? Strange Days showcased VR as pure escapism. Lenny Nero’s tapes offering other people’s experiences echo today’s social media feeds, where influencers live our dream lives and augmented reality apps give us filtered versions of ourselves. Kathryn Bigelow unknowingly projected 2023, where virtual escapes become psychological mainstays.
Take police corruption and civil unrest—key Strange Days themes. These aren’t mere plot points; they’re our nightly news. With movements like Black Lives Matter, the film’s portrayal of institutional distrust rings disturbingly current. Bigelow wasn’t just making cinema; she was scripting social prophecy we’re living through in real-time.
Remember the film’s climax, revealing police violence caught on tape? Swap tapes for smartphones, and you’ve got modern America’s protest culture. The pervasive need to document, share, and agitate for justice is straight out of Lenny Nero’s VR underworld. As we scrutinize our reality through screens both big and small, Strange Days grows less fiction, more forewarning.
In the final analysis, Strange Days isn’t just a product of 90s paranoia—it’s a prophetic mirror reflecting our 2023 lives with unsettling clarity. Kathryn Bigelow crafted a world where virtual escapism, rampant surveillance, and social turmoil are the grim norm; sound familiar? It’s like she peeked through the fabric of time and sketched our current reality.
You might’ve dismissed Strange Days as another dystopian yarn, but today’s tech-obsessed, unrest-ridden society proves otherwise. From VR headsets to civil unrest, the film’s plotlines echo our news feeds and social media scrolls. Maybe we’re not living in a dystopian movie, but it’s getting hard to tell where reel life ends and real life begins. So, if you catch yourself wondering why Strange Days feels so uncannily familiar, remember: sometimes, fiction forecasts fate.